Chapter V: Appendix (1)

#A# 26
And aft she cried, ‘Ohon! alas! alas!
A sair heart’s ill to win;
I wan a sair heart when I married him,
And the day it’s well returned again.’

My friend the late Mr Norval Clyne thought that this obscure
stanza might perhaps be cleared up by the following verses,
communicated to him in 1873 by the Rev. George Sutherland,
Episcopal clergyman at Tillymorgan, Aberdeenshire.

YOUNG TOLQUHON

Word has come to Young Tolquhon,
In his chamber where he lay,
That Sophia Hay, his first fair love,
Was wedded and away.

‘Sophia Hay, Sophia Hay,
My love, Sophia Hay,
I wish her anes as sair a heart
As she’s gien me the day.

‘She thinks she has done me great wrang,
But I don’t think it so;
I hope to live in quietness
When she shall live in woe.

‘She’ll live a discontented life
Since she is gone from me;
Ower seen, ower seen, a wood o green
Will shortly cover me.

‘When I am dead and in my grave,
Cause write upon me so:
“Here lies a lad who died for love,
And who can blame my woe.”’

Mr Sutherland wrote: This fragment I took down from the recitation
of my mother, twenty or twenty-five years ago. She was born in
1790, and her great-grandmother was a servant of the last Forbes
of Tolquhon. She had a tradition that Sophia Hay was one of the
Errol family, and married Lord John Gordon, who was burned at
Frendraught. Mr Clyne remarked: The Young Tolquhon at the time
of this marriage, about 1628, was Alexander Forbes, eldest son
of William Forbes of Tolquhon. Alexander is recorded to have
died without issue, and the following additional particulars,
singularly suggestive of a determination on the unfortunate
lover’s part to renounce the world, have been communicated to me
by Dr John Stuart. In 1631 William Forbes granted a charter of
the lands of Tolquhon to his second son Walter and his heirs
male, and in 1632 another deed of the same sort to Walter, with
the express consent of Alexander, his elder brother. In 1641
Alexander is supposed to have been dead, as Walter is then
styled “of Tolquhon.” The lady’s somewhat enigmatical
exclamation,

‘I wan a sair heart when I married him,
And the day it’s well returned again,’

may have its explanation in the words of Young Tolquhon,

‘I wish her anes as sair a heart
As she’s gien me the day.’

Mr Clyne did not fail to observe that Father Blakhal has recorded
of Lady Melgum that he had often heard her say that she had
never loved anybody but her husband, and never would love
another (Narration, p. 92). This testimony, if not decisive, may
be considered not less cogent as to the matter of fact than
anything in ‘Young Tolquhon’ to the contrary. But it may be that
stanza 24 became attached to the Frendraught ballad in
consequence of the coexistence of this or some similar ballad of
Young Tolquhon.

197

JAMES GRANT

Motherwelll’s MS., p. 470, communicated apparently by
Buchan; ‘The Gordons and the Grants,’ Buchan’s Ballads

of the North of Scotland, II, 220.

There was an implacable feud between the Grants of Ballindalloch
and the Grants of Carron, “for divers ages,” Sir Robert Gordon
says, certainly for ninety years after 1550. This fragment has
to do with the later stage of their enmity. In 1628, John Grant
of Ballindalloch killed John Grant of Carron. James Grant of
Carron, uncle of the slain man, burnt all the corn, barns, and
byres of Ballindalloch young and old, and took to the hills
(1630). The Ballindallocbs complained to Murray, the lieutenant,
and he, “to gar ane devil ding another,” set the Clanchattan
upon James Grant. They laid siege to a house where he was with a
party of his men; he made his way out, was pursued, and was
taken after receiving eleven arrow-wounds. When he was well
enough to travel, he was sent to Edinburgh, and, as everybody
supposed, to his death; but after a confinement of more than a
year he broke ward (October, 1632). Large sums were offered for
him, alive or dead; but James Grant was hard to keep and hard to
catch, and in November, 1633, he began to kythe again in the
north. A gang of the forbidden name of McGregor, who had been
brought into the country by Ballindalloch to act against James
Grant, beset him in a small house in Carron where he was
visiting his wife, having only his son and one other man with
him; but he defended himself with the spirit of another
Cloudesly, shot the captain, and got off to the bog with his
men.[29]

“The year of God one thousand six hundred thirty-six, some of
the Marquis of Huntly’s followers and servants did invade the
rebel James Grant and some of his associates, hard by
Strathbogy. They burnt the house wherein he was, but, the night
being dark and windy, he and his brother, Robert Grant,
escaped.”[30]

This last escapade of James Grant may perhaps be the one to
which this fragment has reference, though Ballindalloch was not
personally engaged in the assault on the house, and I know of no
Douglas having sheltered Grant of Carron. One almost wonders
that this mettlesome and shifty outlaw was not celebrated in a
string of ballads.

Early in 1639, James Grant got his peace from the king; later in
the year, he joined the “barons” at Aberdeen with five hundred
men, and in 1640, we are told, “he purchased his remission
orderly and went home to his own country peaceably (against all
men’s expectation, being such a blood-shedder and cruel
oppressor) after he had escaped so many dangers.”[31]

* * * * *

1
‘Away with you, away with you, James de Grant!
And, Douglas, ye’ll be slain;
For Baddindalloch’s at your gates,
With many brave Highland men.’

2
‘Baddindalloch has no feud at me,
And I have none at him;
Cast up my gates baith broad and wide,
Let Baddindalloch in.’

3
‘James de Grant has made a vaunt,
And leaped the castle-wa;
But, if he comes this way again,
He’ll no win sae well awa.

4
‘Take him, take him, brave Gordons,
O take him, fine fellows a’!
If he wins but ae mile to the Highland hills,
He’ll defy you Gordons a’.’

* * * * *

_As printed by Buchan:_

1^3, 2^{1,4}. Balnadallach.

1^4. man.

2^4 come in.

3^4. nae won.

4^3. on the Highland hill.

198

BONNY JOHN SETON

#A.# ‘Bonny John Seton,’ Maidment’s North Countrie Garland, p. 15;
Buchan’s Gleanings, p. 161; Maidment’s Scotish Ballads and Songs,
Historical and Traditionary, I, 280.

#B.# ‘The Death of John Seton,’ Buchan’s Ballads of the North of
Scotland, II, 136.

Buchan had another copy, sent him in manuscript by a young lady in Aberdeen, in which the Earl Marischal was made prominent: Ballads, II, 321. Aytoun, I, 139, had a copy which had been annotated by C. K. Sharpe, and from this he seems to have derived a few variations. The New Deeside Guide [1832], p. 5 (nominally by James Brown, but written by Dr Joseph Robertson), gives #A#, with a few trifling improvements which seem to be editorial.

#A, B, 1–8.# The ballad is accurate as to the date, not commonly a good sign for such things. On Tuesday, the eighteenth of June, 1639, Montrose began an attack on the bridge of Dee, which had been fortified and manned by the royalists of Aberdeen to stop his advance on the city. The bridge was bravely defended that day and part of the next by Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston (not Middleton; Middleton was of the assailants). The young Lord of Aboyne, just made the king’s lieutenant in the north, had a small body of horse on the north side of the river. Montrose’s cavalry were sent up the south side as if to cross (though there was no ford), and Aboyne’s were moved along the opposite bank to resist a passage. This exposed the latter to Montrose’s cannon, and the Covenanters let fly some shot at them, one of which killed “a gallant gentleman, John Seton of Pitmeddin, most part of his body above the saddle being carried away.” Johnston’s leg was crushed by stones brought down from one of the turrets of the bridge by a cannon-shot, and he had to be carried off. The loss of their commander and the disappearance of Aboyne’s horse discouraged the now small party who were holding the bridge, and they abandoned it. Aboyne rode off, and left Aberdeen to to shift for itself.[32]

#A 9–12, B 9–13.# The spoiling of John Seton by order of Sir William Forbes of Craigievar is not noticed by Gordon and Spalding, though other matters of not greater proportion are.

#A 13–15.# The reference is to the affair called the Raid of Stonehaven, June 15, three days before that of the Bridge of Dee. Aboyne’s Highlanders, a thousand or more, were totally unused to artillery, and a few shots from Montrose’s cannon lighting among them so frightened them that “they did run off, all in a confusion, never looking behind them, till they were got into a moss.”[33]

#B 14–17.# “When Montrose entered Aberdeen,” says James Gordon, “the Earl Marischal and Lord Muchall pressed him to burn the town, and urged him with the Committee of Estates’ warrant for that effect. He answered that it were best to advise a night upon it, since Aberdeen was the London of the north, and would prejudice themselves by want of it. So it was taken to consideration for that night, and next day the Earl Marischal and Lord Muchall came protesting he would spare it. He answered he was desirous so to do, but durst not except they would be his warrant. Whereupon they drew up a paper, signed with both their hands, declaring that they had hindered it, and promising to interpose with the Committee of Estates for him. Yet the next year, when he was made prisoner and accused, this was objected to Montrose, that he had not burned Aberdeen, as he had orders from the Committee of Estates. Then he produced Marischal and Muchall’s paper, which hardly satisfied the exasperated committee.”[34]

* * * * *

A

Maidment’s North Countrie Garland, p. 15.

1
Upon the eighteenth day of June,
A dreary day to see,
The southern lords did pitch their camp
Just at the bridge of Dee.

2
Bonny John Seton of Pitmeddin,
A bold baron was he,
He made his testament ere he went out,
The wiser man was he.

3
He left his land to his young son,
His lady her dowry,
A thousand crowns to his daughter Jean,
Yet on the nurse’s knee.

4
Then out came his lady fair,
A tear into her ee;
Says, Stay at home, my own good lord,
O stay at home with me!

5
He looked over his left shoulder,
Cried, Souldiers, follow me!
O then she looked in his face,
An angry woman was she:
‘God send me back my steed again,
But neer let me see thee!’

6
His name was Major Middleton
That manned the bridge of Dee,
His name was Colonel Henderson
That let the cannons flee.

7
His name was Major Middleton
That manned the bridge of Dee,
And his name was Colonel Henderson
That dung Pitmeddin in three.

8
Some rode on the black and grey,
And some rode on the brown,
But the bonny John Seton
Lay gasping on the ground.

9
Then bye there comes a false Forbes,
Was riding from Driminere;
Says, Here there lies a proud Seton;
This day they ride the rear.

10
Cragievar said to his men,
‘You may play on your shield;
For the proudest Seton in all the lan
This day lies on the field.’

11
‘O spoil him! spoil him!’ cried Cragievar,
‘Him spoiled let me see;
For on my word,’ said Cragievar,
‘He had no good will at me.’

12
They took from him his armour clear,
His sword, likewise his shield;
Yea, they have left him naked there,
Upon the open field.

13
The Highland men, they’re clever men
At handling sword and shield,
But yet they are too naked men
To stay in battle field.

14
The Highland men are clever men
At handling sword or gun,
But yet they are too naked men
To bear the cannon’s rung.

15
For a cannon’s roar in a summer night
Is like thunder in the air;
There’s not a man in Highland dress
Can face the cannon’s fire.

* * * * *

B

Buchan’s Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 136.

1
It fell about the month of June,
On Tuesday, timouslie,
The northern lords hae pitchd their camps
Beyond the brig o Dee.

2
They ca’ed him Major Middleton
That mand the brig o Dee;
They ca’ed him Colonel Henderson
That gard the cannons flee.

3
Bonny John Seton o Pitmedden,
A brave baron was he;
He made his tesment ere he gaed,
And the wiser man was he.

4
He left his lands unto his heir,
His ladie her dowrie;
Ten thousand crowns to Lady Jane,
Sat on the nourice knee.

5
Then out it speaks his lady gay,
‘O stay my lord wi me;
For word is come, the cause is won
Beyond the brig o Dee.’

6
He turned him right and round about,
And a light laugh gae he;
Says, I wouldna for my lands sae broad
I stayed this night wi thee.

7
He’s taen his sword then by his side,
His buckler by his knee,
And laid his leg in oer his horse,
Said, Sodgers, follow me!

8
So he rade on, and further on,
Till to the third mile corse;
The Covenanters’ cannon balls
Dang him aff o his horse.

9
Up then rides him Cragievar,
Said, Wha’s this lying here?
It surely is the Lord o Aboyne,
For Huntly was not here.

10
Then out it speaks a fause Forbes,
Lived up in Druminner;
‘My lord, this is a proud Seton,
The rest will ride the thinner.’

11
‘Spulyie him, spulyie him,’ said Craigievar,
‘O spulyie him, presentlie;
For I could lay my lugs in pawn
He had nae gude will at me.’

12
They’ve taen the shoes frae aff his feet,
The garters frae his knee,
Likewise the gloves upon his hands;
They’ve left him not a flee.

13
His fingers they were sae sair swelld
The rings would not come aff;
They cutted the grips out o his ears,
Took out the gowd signots.

14
Then they rade on, and further on,
Till they came to the Crabestane,
And Craigievar, he had a mind
To burn a’ Aberdeen.

15
Out it speaks the gallant Montrose,
Grace on his fair body!
‘We winna burn the bonny burgh,
We’ll even laet it be.’

16
Then out it speaks the gallant Montrose,
‘Your purpose I will break;
We winna burn the bonny burgh,
We’ll never build its make.

17
‘I see the women and their children
Climbing the craigs sae hie;
We’ll sleep this night in the bonny burgh,
And even lat it be.’

* * * * *

#B.#

11^{1,2}. Spulzie.

_Readings in Aytoun which may have been derived from Sharpe:_

#A.#

4^2. The tear stood in.

8^3. But bonny John Seton o Pitmeddin.

#B.#

8^3. And there the Covenanters’ shot.

8^4. It dang him frae his.

10^2. Was riding frae D.

10^3. This is the proudest Seton of a’.

14^3. And wha sae ready as Craigievar.

15^1. Then up and spake the gude.

16^2. As he rade owre the field.

16^3. Why should we burn the bonny.

16^4. When its like we couldna build.

_Readings in The New Deeside Guide:_

#A.#

1^3. lords their pallions pitched.

2^2. A baron bold.

3^1. To his.

4^1. and came.

5^5. your steed.

11^4. He bore: to me.

15^4. cannon’s rair.

199

THE BONNIE HOUSE O AIRLIE

#A. a.# Sharpe’s Ballad Book, p. 59, No 20. #b.# ‘The Bonnie House o
Airly,’ Finlay’s Ballads, II, 25. #c.# Skene MS., pp. 28, 54. #d.#
‘The Bonny House of Airly,’ Campbell MSS, II, 113. #e.# ‘The Bonny
House of Airly,’ an Aberdeen stall-copy, without date. #f.# ‘The
Bonny House o Airly,’ another Aberdeen stall-copy, without date.
#g.# Hogg’s Jacobite Relics, II, 152. #h.# Kinloch MSS, VI, 5, one
stanza.

#B.# Kinloch MSS, V, 273.

#C. a.# ‘The Bonny House of Airley,’ Kinloch MSS, V, 205. #b.# ‘Young
Airly,’ Cromek’s Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, p. 226.
#c.# ‘The Bonny House o Airlie,’ Smith’s Scottish Minstrel, II, 2.
#d.# ‘The Bonny House o Airlie,’ Christie’s Traditional Ballad Airs,
II, 276, 296.

#D.# Kinloch MSS, V, 106; Kinloch MSS, VII, 207; Kinloch’s Ancient
Scottish Ballads, p. 104.

The earliest copy of this ballad hitherto found is a broadside of about 1790 (a hundred and fifty years later than the event celebrated), which Finlay combined with two others, derived from recitation, for his edition (#A b#). #C b#, #c#, #d#, are not purely traditional texts, and #A g# has borrowed some stanzas from #C b#. #C b# is transcribed into the Campbell MSS, I, 184. Aytoun’s edition, 1859, II, 270, is compounded from #A a#, #A b#, with half a dozen words changed, and it is not quite clear how the editor means to be understood when he says, “the following, I have reason to believe, is the original.”

One summer day, Argyle, who has a quarrel with Airlie, sets out to plunder the castle of that name. The lord of the place is at the time with the king. Argyle (something in the style of Captain Car) summons Lady Ogilvie to come down and kiss him; else he will not leave a standing stone in Airlie. This she will not do, for all his threat. Argyle demands of the lady where her dowry is (as if it were tied up in a handkerchief). She gives no precise information: it is east and west, up and down the water-side. Sharp search is made, and the dowry is found in a plum-tree (balm-tree, cherry-tree, palm-tree, #A a#, #b#, #d#, #e#, #g#). Argyle lays or leads the lady down somewhere while the plundering goes forward. She tells him that no Campbell durst have taken in hand such a thing if her lord had been at home. She has born seven (ten) sons, and is expecting another; but had she as many more (a hundred more), she would give them all to King Charles.

In #A d# 7 Lady Ogilvie asks the favor of Argyle that he will take her to a high hill-top that she may _not_ see the burning of Airlie; the passage is of course corrupt. In #A g# 7 she more sensibly asks that her face may not be turned that way. In #C a# 5, 6, #b# 5, 6, the rational request is made that she may be taken to some dark dowey glen[35] to avoid the sight; but Argyle leads her “down to the top of the town,” and bids her look at the plundering, #a#; sets her upon a bonnie knowe-tap, and bids her look at Airlie fa’ing, #b#. #D# 7, 8, goes a step further. The lady asks that she may be thrown over the castle-wall rather than see the plundering; Argyle lifts her up ‘sae rarely’ and throws her over, and she never saw it.

In #C a# 8 Argyle would have Lord Airlie informed that one kiss from his lady would have saved all the plundering. In #D# 5 he tells Lady Ogilvie that if she had surrendered on the first demand there would have been no plundering; and this assurance he repeats to ‘Captain’ Ogilvie, whom he meets on his way home.

#A b# 2, #D# 1, 2, represent Argyle to be acting under the orders of Montrose, or in concert with him.

A piece in five or six stanzas which appears, with variations, in Cromek’s Remains, p. 195, Hogg’s Jacobite Relics, II, 151, Cunningham’s Songs of Scotland, III, 218, under the caption of ‘Young Airly’ (the title of #C b# also in Cromek), moves forward the burning of Airlie to “the 45;” not very strangely (if there is anything traditional in these verses), when we consider the prominence of the younger Lord Ogilvie and his wife among the supporters of Charles Edward. (The first three of Cromek’s stanzas are transcribed into Campbell MSS, I, 187.) No doubt the Charlie and Prince Charlie of some versions of our ballad were understood by the reciters to be the Young Chevalier.

The Committee of Estates, June 12, 1640, gave commission to the Earl of Argyle to rise in arms against certain people, among whom was the Earl of Airlie, as enemies to religion and unnatural to their country, and to pursue them with fire and sword until they should be brought to their duty or else utterly subdued and rooted out. The Earl of Airlie had gone to England, fearing lest he should be pressed to subscribe the Covenant, and had left his house to the keeping of his eldest son, Lord Ogilvie. Montrose, who had signed the commission as one of the Committee, but was not inclined to so strenuous proceedings, invested Airlie, forced a surrender, and put a garrison in the place to hold it for the “public.” Argyle did not interpret his commission in this mild way. He took Airlie in hand in the beginning of July, and caused both this house and that of Forthar, belonging to Lord Ogilvie, to be pillaged, burned, and demolished. Thereafter he fell upon the lands both of the proprietor and his tenantry, and carried off or destroyed “their whole goods, gear, corns, cattle, horse, nolt, sheep,” and left nothing but bare bounds.

According to one writer, Lady Ogilvie was residing at Forthar, and, being big with child, asked leave of Argyle to stay till she was brought to bed; but this was not allowed, and she was put out, though she knew not whither to go. By another account, Argyle accused Montrose of having suffered the lady to escape.[36]

The ballad puts Lady Airlie in command of the house or castle, but none of the family were there at the time it was sacked. She is called Lady Margaret in #A b# 4, but her name was Elizabeth. The earl, James, is called the great Sir John in #C a# 9. #A# 10 and the like elsewhere are applicable to the younger Lady Ogilvie in respect to the unborn child. Chambers says that Lady Airlie had three children and Lady Ogilvie but one, and “the poet must be wrong.” “The poet,” besides being inaccurate, does not tell the same story in all the versions, and this inconsistency is again observable in ‘Geordie,’ #A# 9, #B# 18, #C# 8, etc.

‘Gleyd Argyle’ is “generally described as of mean stature, with red hair and squinting eyes.”[37] His morals appear to some disadvantage again in ‘Geordie,’ #I a# 23.

* * * * *

A

#a.# Sharpe’s Ballad Book, p. 59, No 20, 1823. #b.# Finlay’s
Ballads, II, 25, 1808, from two recited copies and “one printed
about twenty years ago on a single sheet.” #c.# Skene MS., pp. 28,
54, from recitation in the north of Scotland, 1802–3. #d.# Campbell
MSS, II, 113, probably from a stall-copy. #e, f.# Aberdeen stall
copies, “printed for the booksellers.” #g.# Hogg’s Jacobite Relics,
II, 152, No 76, “Cromek and a street ballad collated, 1821.” #h.#
Kinloch MSS, VI, 5, one stanza, taken down from an old woman’s
recitation by J. Robertson.

1
It fell on a day, and a bonny simmer day,
When green grew aits and barley,
That there fell out a great dispute
Between Argyll and Airlie.

2
Argyll has raised an hunder men,
An hunder harnessd rarely,
And he’s awa by the back of Dunkell,
To plunder the castle of Airlie.

3
Lady Ogilvie looks oer her bower-window.
And oh, but she looks weary!
And there she spy’d the great Argyll,
Come to plunder the bonny house of Airlie.

4
‘Come down, come down, my Lady Ogilvie,
Come down, and kiss me fairly:’
‘O I winna kiss the fause Argyll,
If he should na leave a standing stane in Airlie.’

5
He hath taken her by the left shoulder,
Says, Dame where lies thy dowry?
‘O it’s east and west yon wan water side,
And it’s down by the banks of the Airlie.’

6
They hae sought it up, they hae sought it down,
They hae sought it maist severely,
Till they fand it in the fair plumb-tree
That shines on the bowling-green of Airlie.

7
He hath taken her by the middle sae small,
And O but she grat sairly!
And laid her down by the bonny burn-side,
Till they plundered the castle of Airlie.

8
‘Gif my gude lord war here this night,
As he is with King Charlie,
Neither you, nor ony ither Scottish lord,
Durst avow to the plundering of Airlie.

9
‘Gif my gude lord war now at hame,
As he is with his king,
There durst nae a Campbell in a’ Argyll
Set fit on Airlie green.

10
‘Ten bonny sons I have born unto him,
The eleventh neer saw his daddy;
But though I had an hundred mair,
I’d gie them a’ to King Charlie.’

* * * * *

B

Kinloch MSS, V, 273.

1
It fell on a day, a clear summer day,
When the corn grew green and bonny,
That there was a combat did fall out
‘Tween Argyle and the bonny house of Airly.

2
Argyle he did raise five hundred men,
Five hundred men, so many,
And he did place them by Dunkeld,
Bade them shoot at the bonny house of Airly.

3
The lady looked over her own castle-wa,
And oh, but she looked weary!
And there she espied the gleyed Argyle,
Come to plunder the bonny house of Airly.

4
‘Come down the stair now, Madam Ogilvie,
And let me kiss thee kindly;
Or I vow and I swear, by the sword that I wear,
That I winna leave a standing stone at Airly.’

5
‘O how can I come down the stair,
And how can I kiss thee kindly,
Since you vow and you swear, by the sword that you wear,
That you winna leave a standing stone on Airly?’

6
‘Come down the stair then, Madam Ogilvie,
And let me see thy dowry;’
‘O ’tis east and it is west, and ’tis down by yon burn-side,
And it stands at the planting sae bonny.

7
‘But if my brave lord had been at hame this day,
As he is wi Prince Charlie,
There durst na a Campbell in all Scotland
Set a foot on the bowling-green of Airly

8
‘O I hae born him seven, seven sons,
And an eighth neer saw his daddy,
And tho I were to bear him as many more,
They should a’ carry arms for Prince Charlie.’

* * * * *

C

#a.# Kinloch MSS, V, 205, recited by John Rae. #b.# Cromek’s Remains
of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, p. 226, 1810. #c.# Smith’s Scottish
Minstrel, II, 2. #d.# Christie’s Traditional Ballad Airs, II, 276,
“from the recitation of a relative.”

1
It fell on a day, on a bonny summer day,
When the corn grew green and yellow,
That there fell out a great dispute
Between Argyle and Airley.

2
The great Argyle raised five hundred men,
Five hundred men and many,
And he has led them down by the bonny Dunkeld,
Bade them shoot at the bonny house of Airley.

3
The lady was looking oer her castle-wa,
And O but she looked weary!
And there she spied the great Argyle,
Came to plunder the bonny house of Airley.

4
‘Come down stairs now, Madam,’ he says,
‘Now come down and kiss me fairly;’
‘I’ll neither come down nor kiss you,’ she says,
‘Tho you should na leave a standing stane in Airley.’

5
‘I ask but one favour of you, Argyle,
And I hope you’ll grant me fairly
To tak me to some dark dowey glen,
That I may na see the plundering of Airley.’

6
He has taen her by the left shoulder,
And O but she looked weary!
And he has led her down to the top of the town,
Bade her look at the plundering of Airley.

7
‘Fire on, fire on, my merry men all,
And see that ye fire clearly;
For I vow and I swear by the broad sword I wear
That I winna leave a standing stane in Airley.

8
‘You may tell it to your lord,’ he says,
‘You may tell it to Lord Airley,
That one kiss o his gay lady
Wad hae sav’d all the plundering of Airley.’

9
‘If the great Sir John had been but at hame,
As he is this night wi Prince Charlie,
Neither Argyle nor no Scottish lord
Durst hae plundered the bonny house of Airley.

10
‘Seven, seven sons hae I born unto him,
And the eight neer saw his dady,
And altho I were to have a hundred more,
The should a’ draw their sword for Prince Charlie.’

* * * * *

D

Kinloch MSS, V, 106, in the handwriting of James Beattie, and from
the recitation of Elizabeth Beattie.

1
O gleyd Argyll has written to Montrose
To see gin the fields they were fairly,
And to see whether he sh_oul_d stay at hame,
‘Or come to plunder bonnie Airly.

2
Then great Montrose has written to Argyll
And that the fields they were fairly,
And not to keep his men at hame,
But to come and plunder bonnie Airly.

3
The lady was looking oer her castle-wa,
She was carrying her courage sae rarely,
And there she spied him gleyd Arguill,
Was coming for to plunder bonnie Airly.

4
‘Wae be to ye, gleyd Argyll!
And are ye there sae rarely?
Ye might hae kept your men at hame,
And not come to plunder bonnie Airly.’

5
‘And wae be to ye, Lady Ogilvie!
And are ye there sae rarely?
Gin ye had bowed when first I bade,
I never wad hae plunderd bonnie Airly.’

6
‘But gin my guid lord had been at hame,
As he is wi Prince Charlie,
There durst not a rebel on a’ Scotch ground
Set a foot on the bonnie green of Airly.

7
‘But ye’ll tak me by the milk-white hand,
And ye’ll lift me up sae rarely,
And ye’ll throw me outoure my [ain] castle-wa,
Let me neuer see the plundering of Airly.’

8
He’s taen her by the milk-white hand,
And he’s lifted her up sae rarely,
And he’s thrown her outoure her ain castle-wa,
And she neuer saw the plundering of Airly.

9
Now gleyd Argyll he has gane hame,
Awa frae the plundering of Airly,
And there he has met him Captain Ogilvie,
Coming over the mountains sae rarely.

10
‘O wae be to ye, gleyd Argyll!
And are you there sae rarely?
Ye might hae kept your men at hame,
And no gane to plunder bonnie Airly.’

11
‘O wae be to ye, Captain Ogilvie!
And are you there sae rarely?
Gin ye wad hae bowed when first I bade,
I neer wad hae plunderd bonnie Airly.’

12
‘But gin I had my lady gay,
Bot and my sister Mary,
One fig I wad na gie for ye a’,
Nor yet for the plundering of Airly.’

* * * * *

#A. b.#

1^2. When the corn grew green and yellow.

2^{1,2}. The Duke o Montrose has written to Argyle To come in the
morning early.

2^3. An lead in his men by.

2^4. the bonnie house o Airly.

3^1. The lady lookd oer her window sae hie.

4^1. down Lady Margaret he says.

4^{2,3}. (_cf._ #f.#).

‘Or before the morning clear day light,
I’ll no leave a standing stane in Airly.’

‘I wadna kiss thee, great Argyle,
I wadna kiss thee fairly,
I wadna kiss thee, great Argyle,
Gin you shoudna leave a standing stane in Airly.’

5^1. by the middle sae sma.

5^2. Says, Lady, where is your drury?

5^{3,4}. It’s up and down by the bonnie burn-side, Amang the
planting of Airly.

6^2. They sought it late and early.

6^3. And found: bonnie balm-tree.

7^1. by the left shoulder.

7^3. And led: to yon green bank.

8^1 (10^1). lord had been at hame.

8^2 (10^2). As this night he is wi C.

8^3 (10^3). There durst na a Campbell in a’ the west.

8^4 (10^4). Hae plundered the bonnie house.

9. _Wanting._

10^1 (9^1). O it’s I hae seven braw sons, she says.

10^2 (9^2). And the youngest.

10^3 (9^3). had as mony mae.

10^4 (9^4). to Charlie.

#c.#

_1–5^1 are repeated at p. 54, with some differences._

1^1. fell about a [the] Lammass time.

1^2. corn [the corn] grew green and yellow.

2^1. has gathered three hunder.

2^2. Three hunder men and mair O.

2^3. is on to.

2^4. the bonnie house o A.

3^1. The lady lookit oure the castle-wa.

3^2. she was sorry.

3^3. Whan she saw gleyd Argyle an his [300] men.

4^1. Come down the stair, Lady Airly [he says].

4^2. An it’s ye maun kiss [An kiss me fairly].

4^3. I wad na kiss ye, gleyd Argyll.

4^4. Atho [Tho] ye leave na.

5^1. Come down the stair, Lady Airly, he says.

5^2. An tell whar.

5^3. Up and down the bonnie.

5^4. And by the bonnie bowling-green o.

6. _Wanting._

7^1. took: the milk-white hand.

7^2. And led her fairly.

7^3. Up an down the bonnie water-side.

7^4. the bonnie house o Airly.

8^1. But an: were at hame (=9^1).

8^2. awa wi Charley.

8^3. The best Campbell in a’ your kin.

8^4. Durst na plunder the b. h. o. A.

9. _Wanting._

10^1 (7^1). Seven sons have I born, she says.

10^2 (7^2). The eight: its.

10^3 (7^3). Altho: as many mare.

10^4 (7^4). a’ to fight for Charley.

#d.#

1^2. When corn grew green.

2^1. has hired.

2^2. A hundred men and mairly.

2^3. to the.

2^4. the b. h. of A.

3^1. The lady lookit over her window.

3^2. lookit waely.

3^3. she saw.

3^4. Coming.

4^3. I wadna kiss the great.

4^4. Tho you.

5^1. by the milk-white hand.

5^2. Lady, where’s your.

5^3. It’s up and down yon bonny burn-side.

5^4. It shines in the bowling-green of A.

6^2. sought it late and early.

6^3. They’ve found: the bonny cherry-tree.

6^4. That grows in.

_Between 6 and 7_:

There is ae favour I ask of thee,
I beg but ye’ll grant it fairly:
That ye will take me to yon high hill-top,
That I maunna see the burning of Airly.

7^1. by the left shoulder.

7^2. lookit queerly.

7^4. he’s led.

7^4. the b. h. of A.

_Between 7 and 8_:

He’s taen her by the milk-white hand,
He’s led her right and fairly;
He’s led her to yon high hill-top,
Till they’ve burned the bonny house of Airly.

8^2. away wi Prince Charlie.

8^3. The great Argyle and a’ his men.

8^4. Wadna hae plunderd the b. h. of A.

9. _Wanting._

10^3. And if I had a hundred men.

10^4. to Prince.

#e.#

1^2. When the corn grew green and yellow.

2^2. A hundred men and mairly.

2^3. he has gone to.

2^4. the bonny house of Airly.

3^1. The lady looked over her window.

3^2. looked.

3^4. Coming.

4^1. down, madam, he says.

4^3. thee, great Argyle.

4^4. If you.

5^1. by the middle so small.

5^2. Says, Lady, where is your.

5^3. It is up and down the bonny burn-side.

5^4. Among the plantings of A.

6^2. They sought it late and early.

6^3. And found it in the bonny palm-tree.

7^1. by the left shoulder.

7^2. she looked weary.

7^3. down on the green bank.

7^4. he plundered the b. h. of A.

8^1. O if my lord was at home: this night _wanting_.

8^2. As this night he’s wi Charlie.

8^{3,4}. Great Argyle and all his men Durst not plunder the b. h.
of A.

9. _Wanting._

10^1. ’Tis ten: unto him _wanting_.

10^3. But though.

10^4. to Charlie.

#f.#

1^2. When the clans were a’ wi Charlie.

2^1. has called a hundred o his men.

2^2. To come in the morning early.

2^3. And they hae gane down by.

2^4. plunder the b. h. of A.

3^1. L. O. looked frae her window sae hie.

3^2. she grat sairly.

3^3. To see Argyle and a’ his men.

4^1. down, Lady Ogilvie, he cried.

4^{3,4}. Or ere the morning’s clear daylight I’ll no leave a
standing.

_After 4_:

I wadna come doon, great Argyle, she cried,
I wadna kiss thee fairly,
I wadna come doon, false Argyle, she cried,
Though you shouldna leave a standing stane in Airly.

5–7. _Wanting._

8.
But were my ain guid lord at hame,
As he is noo wi Charlie,
The base Argyle and a his men
Durstna enter the bonny house o Airly.

9. _Wanting._

10^1. O I hae seven bonny sons, she said.

10^2. And the youngest has neer seen.

10^3. had ane as mony mae.

10^4. They’d a’ be followers o Charlie.

_After 10 this spurious stanza_:

Then Argyle and his men attacked the bonny ha,
And O but they plundered it fairly!
In spite o the tears the lady let fa,
They burnt doon the bonny house o Airly.

#g.#

1^2. When the flowers were blooming rarely.

2^2. An hundred men and mairly.

2^4. the b. h. of A.

3^1. The lady lookd oer her w.

3^2. she sighd sairly.

4^3. No, I winna kiss thee.

4^4. Though ye.

5^1. by the middle sae sma.

5^2. Says _wanting_: Lady where is your.

5^{3,4}.
It’s up and down by the bonny burn-side,
Amang the plantings o Airly.

6^2. it late and early.

6^3. under the bonny palm-tree.

6^4. That stands i.

_After 6 (cf. #A d#, #C# 5):_

A favour I ask of thee, Argyle,
If ye will grant it fairly;
O dinna turn me wi my face
To see the destruction of Airly!

_The remainder of #g# is taken from #C b#, with two or three
slight variations._

#h.#

8.
An my gude lord had been at hame,
As he’s awa wi Charlie,
There durstna a gleyd duke in a’ Argyle
Set a coal to the bonnie house o Airlie.

#B.#

5^1, 8^1. Oh.

#C. b.#

_No reliance can be placed upon the genuineness of this copy, and
a particular collation is not required._

1^{1,2}. It fell in about the Martinmas time, An the leaves were
fa’ing early.

4. _Two stanzas, much as in #A b#, #f#._

5.
But take me by the milk-white hand,
An lead me down right hoolie,
An set me in a dowie, dowie glen,
That I mauna see the fall o Airly.

6.
He has taen her by the shouther-blade
An thurst her down afore him,
Syne set her upon a bonnie knowe-tap,
Bad her look at Airly fa’ing.

_Here follows a stanza (6) not found elsewhere, no doubt
Cunningham’s_:

Haste! bring to me a cup o gude wine,
As red as ony cherrie;
I’ll tauk the cup, an sip it up;
Here’s a health to bonnie Prince Charlie!

7, 8. _Wanting: found only in #a#._

9. _Nearly #e#, #f#, 8._

10^1. I hae born me eleven braw sons.

_A concluding stanza may be assigned to Cunningham._

Were my gude lord but here this day,
As he’s awa wi Charlie,
The dearest blude o a’ thy kin
Wad sloken the lowe o Airly.

_Another copy is said in the editor’s preface to begin thus_:

The great Argyle raised ten thousand men,
Eer the sun was waukening early,
And he marched them down by the back o Dunkel,
Bade them fire on the bonnie house o Airlie.

#c.#

_Made over from a copy resembling #B#, #C a#._

4. _Two stanzas here, as in #B#: kisses are dropped for
propriety._

5, 6. _The last half of these is substantially preserved in #c# 7,
8._

#d.#

_A blending, perhaps not accidental, of various copies; mainly of
#A g#, #C b#, #C c#._

1, 2. _Nearly #A g# 1, 2._

3. _Nearly #c# 3._

4^{1,2}. _Nearly #A g# 4^{1,2}._

4^{3,4}. _Nearly #c# 4^{3,4}._

5. _Nearly a compound of #A b#_ (Finlay) _5_ and _#c# 5; cf. #B#
5._

6. _Cf. #b# 4 (5 above), #c# 7._

7. _Nearly #c# 8._

8. _#b# 6 altered_.

_The stanza cited by Christie at p. 296 is the spurious
conclusion_ of _#c#._

200

THE GYPSY LADDIE

#A.# ‘Johny Faa, the Gypsy Laddie,’ Ramsay’s Tea-Table Miscellany,
vol. iv, 1740. Here from the edition of 1763, p. 427.

#B. a.# The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany (vol. lxxx of
the Scots Magazine), November, 1817, p. 309. #b.# A fragment recited
by Miss Fanny Walker, of Mount Pleasant, near Newburgh-on-Tay.

#C.# ‘Davie Faw,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 381; ‘Gypsie Davy,’
Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, 1827, p. 360.

#D.# ‘The Egyptian Laddy,’ Kinloch MSS, V, 331.

#E.# ‘The Gypsie Laddie,’ Mactaggart’s Scottish Gallovidian
Encyclopedia, 1824, p. 284.

#F.# ‘Johnny Faa, the Gypsey Laddie,’ The Songs of England and
Scotland [P. Cunningham], London, 1835, II, 346.

#G. a.# ‘The Gypsie Loddy,’ a broadside, Roxburghe Ballads, III, 685.
#b.# A recent stall-copy, Catnach, 2 Monmouth Court, Seven Dials.

#H.# ‘The Gipsy Laddie,’ Shropshire Folk-Lore, edited by Charlotte
Sophia Burne, p. 550.

#I.# Communicated by Miss Margaret Reburn, as sung in County Meath,
Ireland, about 1860.

#J. a.# ‘The Gipsey Davy,’ from Stockbridge, Massachusetts. #b.# From
a lady born in Maine.

#K.# ‘Lord Garrick,’ #a#, #b#, communicated by ladies of New York.

The English ballad, though derived from the Scottish, may perhaps have been printed earlier. A conjectural date of 1720 is given, with hesitation, to #G a#, in the catalogue of the British Museum.

The Scottish ballad appears to have been first printed in the fourth volume of the Tea-Table Miscellany, 1740, but no copy of that edition has been recovered. From the Tea-Table Miscellany it was repeated, with variations, some traditional, some arbitrary, in: Herd’s Ancient and Modern Scots Songs, 1769, ‘Gypsie Laddie,’ p. 88, ed. 1776, II, 54; The Fond Mother’s Garland, not dated, but earlier than 1776; Pinkerton’s Select Scotish Ballads, 1783, I, 67; Johnson’s Museum, ‘Johny Faa, or, The Gypsie Laddie,’ No 181, p. 189; Ritson’s Scotish Songs, 1794, II, 176; and in this century, Cromek’s Select Scotish Songs, 1810, II, 15; Cunningham’s Songs of Scotland, 1825, II, 175. A transcript in the Campbell MSS, ‘The Gypsies,’ I, 16, is from Pinkerton.

“The people in Ayrshire begin this song,

‘The gypsies cam to my lord Cassilis’ yett.’

They have a great many more stanzas ... than I ever yet saw in any printed.” Burns, in Cromek’s Reliques, 1809, p. 161. (So Sharpe, in the Musical Museum, 1853, IV, 217, but perhaps repeating Burns.) #B#, from Galloway, has eight more stanzas than #A#, and #E#, also from Galloway, fourteen more, but quite eight of the last are entirely untraditional,[38] and the hand of the editor is frequently to be recognized elsewhere.

Finlay, Scottish Ballads, 1808, II, 39, inserted two stanzas after #A# 2, the first of which is nearly the same as 5, and the second as #B# 3, #C# 3. The variations of his text, and others in his notes, are given under #A#. Kinloch MSS, V, 299; Chambers, Scottish Ballads, 1829, p. 143; Aytoun, 1859, I, 187, repeat Finlay, with a few slight changes. The Ballads and Songs of Ayrshire, I, 9, follows Chambers.

The copy in Smith’s Scotish Minstrel, III, 90, is derived from #B a#, but has readings of other texts, and is of no authority. That in Maidment’s Scotish Ballads and Songs, 1868, II, 185, is #B a# with changes. Ten stanzas in a manuscript of Scottish songs and ballads, copied 1840 or 1850 by a granddaughter of Lord Woodhouselee, p. 46, are from #B a#. This may be true also of #B b#, which, however, has not Cassilis in 1^1.

#C# is from a little further north, from Renfrewshire; #D# from Aberdeenshire. #F# is from the north of England, and resembles #C#. The final stanza of #G a# is cited by Ritson, Scotish Songs, II, 177, 1794. ‘The Rare Ballad of Johnnie Faa and the Countess o Cassilis,’ Sheldon’s Minstrelsy of the English Border, p. 326, which the editor had “heard sung repeatedly by Willie Faa,” and of which he “endeavored to preserve as much as recollection would allow,” has the eleven stanzas of the English broadside, and twelve more of which Sheldon must have been unable to recollect anything. #H-K# are all varieties of the broadside.

The Rev. S. Baring-Gould has most obligingly sent me a ballad, taken down by him from the singing of an illiterate hedger in North Devon, in which ‘The Gypsy Laddie,’ recomposed (mostly with middle rhyme in the third verse, as in #A# 1, 8), forms the sequel to a story of an earl marrying a very reluctant gypsy maid. When the vagrant who has been made a lady against nature hears some of her tribe singing at the castle-gate, the passion for a roving life returns, and she deserts her noble partner, who pursues her, and, not being able to induce her to return to him, smites her “lily-white” throat with his sword. This little romance, retouched and repaired, is printed as No 50 of Songs and Ballads of the West, now publishing by Baring-Gould and Sheppard. Mr Baring-Gould has also given me a defective copy of the second part of ‘The Gipsy Countess’ (exhibiting many variations), which he obtained from an old shoemaker of Tiverton.

Among the Percy papers there is a set of ballads made over by the Bishop, which may have been intended for the contemplated extension of his Reliques. ‘The Gipsie Laddie,’ in eighteen stanzas, and not quite finished, is one of these. After seven stanzas of #A#, not much altered, the husband ineffectually pursues the lady, who adopts the gipsy trade, with her reid cheek stained wi yallow. Seven years pass, during which the laird has taken another wife. At Yule a wretched carline begs charity at his gate, who, upon questioning, reveals that she had been a lady gay, with a comely marrow, but had proved false and ruined herself.

#A.# Gypsies sing so sweetly at our lord’s gate as to entice his lady to come down; as soon as she shows herself, they cast the glamour on her (so #B-F#, #G b#). She gives herself over to the chief gypsy, Johny Faa by name, without reserve of any description. Her lord, upon returning and finding her gone, sets out to recover her, and captures and hangs fifteen gypsies. (It is extremely likely that this version has lost several stanzas.)

Our lord, unnamed in #A#, is Lord Cassilis in #B#, #C#, #F# (so Burns, and Johnson’s Museum). Cassilis has become Cassle, Castle in #E#, #G#, Corsefield[39] in #D#, Cashan in Irish #I#, Garrick[40] in American #K#. The Gypsy Laddie is again Johnie, Jockie, Faa in #B#, #D#, #E#; but Gipsy Davy in #C# (where Lady Cassilis is twice called Jeanie Faw), and in American #I a b#; and seems to be called both Johnnie Faw and Gypsie Geordie in #F#. The lady gives the gypsies the good wheat bread #B#, #E# (beer and wine, Finlay); they give her (sweetmeats, #C#) ginger, nutmeg, or both, and she gives them the ring (rings) off her finger (fingers), #B#, #C#, #E#, #G#, #I#, (and Finlay).

#B a# has a full story from this point on. The gypsy asks the lady to go with him, and swears that her lord shall never come near her. The lady changes her silk mantle for a plaid, and is ready to travel the world over with the gypsy, #B a# 5, #A# 3, #C# 4, #D# 3, #E# 4, #F# 4, (#B a# 6 is spurious). They wander high and low till they come to an old barn, and by this time she is weary. The lady begins to find out what she has undertaken: last night she lay with her lord in a well-made bed, now she must lie in an old barn, #B a# 7, 8, #A# 4, #C# 6, #D# 7, #F# 5 (reeky kill #E# 8, on a straw bed #H# 7, in the ash-corner #I# 6). The gypsy bids her hold her peace, her lord shall never come near her. They wander high and low till they come to a wan water, and by this time she is weary. Oft has she ridden that wan water with her lord; now she must set in her white feet and wade, #B a# 11, #C# 5, #D# 5, 6, #E# 7, (and carry the gipsie laddie, #B a# 11, badly; follow, #B b#). The lord comes home, is told that his lady is gone off with the gypsy, and immediately sets out to bring her back (so all). He finds her at the wan water, #B a# 14; in Abbey Dale, drinking wi Gipsey Davy, #C# 10; near Strabogie, drinking wi Gypsie Geordie, #F# 10;[41] by the riverside, #J a# 4; at the Misty Mount, #K# 5, 6. He asks her tenderly if she will go home, #B a# 15, #E# 15, #F# 12, he will shut her up so securely that no man shall come near, #B a# 15, #E# 15; he expostulates with her, more or less reproachfully, #C# 11, #F# 11, #G# 9, #H# 5, #J# 5. She will not go home; as she has brewed, so will she drink, #B a# 16, #G# 10; she cares not for houses or lands or babes (baby) #G# 10, #H# 6, #J# 6. But she swears to him that she is as free of the gypsies as when her mother bare her, #B a# 17, #E# 16.

Fifteen gypsies are hanged, or lose their lives, #A# 10, #B# 18, #D# 14; sixteen, all sons of one mother, #C# 12, 13; seven, #F# 13, #G# 11, (cf. #I# 1).[42]

#D# 8–11 is ridiculously perverted in the interest of morals: compare #B a# 17, #E# 16. ‘I swear that my hand shall never go near thee,’ #D# 8, is transferred to the husband in #I# 5: ‘A hand I’ll neer lay on you’ (in the way of correction).

In #G# 4 the lady, in place of exchanging her silk mantle for a plaidie, pulls off her high-heeled shoes, of Spanish leather, and puts on Highland brogues. In #I# 7 gypsies take off her high-heeled shoes, and she puts on Lowland brogues. The high-heeled shoes, to be sure, are not adapted to following the Gypsy Laddie, but light may perhaps be derived from #C# 12, where the gypsies ‘drink her stockings and her shoon.’ In #K# these high-heeled shoes of Spanish leather are wrongly transferred to Lord Garrick in the copy as delivered, but have been restored to the lady.

It is not said (except in the spurious portions of #E#) that the lady was carried back by her husband, but this may perhaps be inferred from his hanging the gypsies. In #D# and #K# we are left uncertain as to her disposition, which is elsewhere, for the most part, to stick to the gypsy. #J#, a copy of very slight authority, makes the lord marry again within six months of his wife’s elopement.