Chapter VII: Appendix (3)

The other versions agree with #A a# in the material points. Inverey’s numbers are diminished. In #B# 10, #C# 11, Brackley has only his brother with him, meaning, perhaps, when he leaves his house. The fight was not simply at the gates, but was extended over a considerable distance (#A# 33, #B# 11), and other men joined the Gordons in the course of it. In #B# 12 we learn that the miller’s four sons (#D# 10, the miller and his three sons) were killed with the Gordons (and William Gordon’s wife, or bride, in #A# 25, is ‘bonnie Jean, the maid o the mill’). In #B# 15, #D# 12, Craigevar comes up with a party, and might have saved Brackley’s life had he been there an hour sooner. In #A a#, #b#, #C#, #D#, Brackley’s wife is Peggy (Peggy Dann, wrongly, #D# 14, 15); in #B# 19 (wrongly) Catharine Fraser. #D# makes Catharine the wife of Gordon of Glenmuick (Alexander Gordon, #A a# 35), who rives her hair, as Brackley’s wife does not (14, 15, 18, 19). In #C#, Peggy Gordon, besides feasting Inverey, keeps him till morning, and then shows him a road by which he may go safely home. #C b# adds, for poetical justice, that Inverey at once let this haggard down the wind.

This affray occurred in September, 1666. The account of it given by the Gordons (the son of the murdered laird and the Marquis of Huntly) was that John Gordon of Brackley, having poinded cattle belonging to John Farquharson of Inverey, or his followers, Inverey “convoked his people, to revenge himself on Brackley for putting the law in execution; that he came to the house of Brackley, and required the laird to restore his cattle which had been poinded; and that, although the laird gave a fair answer, yet the Farquharsons, with the view of drawing him out of his house, drove away not only the poinded cattle but also Brackley’s own cattle, and when the latter was thus forced to come out of his house, the Farquharsons fell on him and murdered him and his brother.”

A memorandum for John Farquharson of Inverey and others, 24 January, 1677, “sets forth that John Gordon of Brackley, having bought from the sheriff of Aberdeen the fines exigible from Inverey and others for killing of black-fish, the said Brackley made friendly arrangements with others, but declined to settle with Inverey; whereupon the latter, being on his way to the market at Tullich,[62] sent Mr John Ferguson, minister at Glenmuick, John McHardy of Crathie, a notary, and Duncan Erskine, portioner of Invergelder, to the laird of Brackley, with the view of representing to him that Inverey and his tenants were willing to settle their fines on the same terms as their neighbors. These proposals were received by Brackley with contempt, and during the time of the communing he gathered his friends and attacked Inverey, and having ‘loused severall shotts’ against Inverey’s party, the return shots of the latter were in self-defence. The result was that the laird of Brackley, with his brother William and their cousin James Gordon in Cults, were killed on the one side, and on the other Robert McWilliam in Inverey, John McKenzie, sometime there, and Malcom Gordon the elder.” The convocation of Inverey’s friends is accounted for in the same document by the fact that Inverey was captain of the watch for the time; that he and his ancestors had been used to go to the market with men to guard it; and that it is the custom of the country for people who are going to the market to join any numerous company that may be going the same way, either for their own security or out of “kindness for the persons with whom they go,” and also the custom of that mountainous country to go with arms, especially at markets. (Abstract, by Dr. John Stuart, of a MS. of Col. James Farquharson of Invercauld, Historical MSS Commission, Fourth Report, p. 534).

Another account, agreeing in all important points with the last, is given in a history of the family of Macintosh.[63] It will be borne in mind that Inverey belonged to this clan, and that acts of his would therefore be put in a favorable light. Brackley had seized the horses of some of Inverey’s people on account of fines alleged to be due by them for taking salmon in the Dee out of season. Inverey represented to Brackley that the sufferers by this proceeding were men who had incurred no penalty, and offered, if the horses should be restored, to deliver the guilty parties for punishment. Brackley would not return the horses on these terms, and Inverey then proposed that the matter in dispute should be left to friends. While Brackley was considering what to do, Alexander Gordon of Aberfeldy came to offer his services, with a body of armed men, and Brackley, now feeling himself strong, rejected the suggestion of a peaceful solution, and set out to attack Inverey. When a collision was impending, Inverey at first drew back, begging Brackley to desist from violence, which only made Brackley and Aberfeldy the keener. Two of Inverey’s followers were slain; and then Inverey and his men, in self-defence, turned on their assailants, and killed Gordon of Brackley, his brother William, and James Gordon of Cults.

The Gordons, this account further says, began a prosecution of Inverey and his party before the Court of Justiciary. Inverey had recourse to Macintosh, his chief, who exerted himself so effectually in behalf of his kinsman that when the case was called no plaintiff appeared. Nevertheless Dr John Stuart (Historical MSS, as above) produces a warrant “for apprehending John Farquharson of Inverey and others his followers, who had been outlawed for not compearing to answer at their trial, and had subsequently continued for many years in their outlawry, associating with themselves a company of thieves, murderers, and sorners; therefore empowering James Innes, Serjeant, and Corporal Radnoch, commanding a party of troops at Kincardine O’Neill, to apprehend the said John Farquharson and his accomplices.” From this warrant Dr Stuart considers that we may infer that Inverey was the aggressor in the affray with Brackley. But there is nothing to identify the case, and the date of the warrant is February 12, 1685, nearly twenty years from the affair which we are occupied with, during which space, unless he were of an unusually peaceable habit, Inverey might have had several broils on his hands.

Gordon of Brackley, as reported by Mrs Brown, from what she may have heard in her girlhood, a hundred years after his tragical end, was “a man universally esteemed.”[64] “Farquharson of Inverey,” says Jamieson, without giving his authority, “a renowned freebooter on Deeside, was his relation, and in habits of friendly intercourse with him. Farquharson was fierce, daring, and active, exhibiting all the worst characteristics of a freebooter, with nothing of that blunt and partially just and manly generosity which were then not uncommonly met with among that description of men. The common people supposed him (as they did Dundee, and others of the same cast who were remarkable for their fortunate intrepidity and miraculous escapes) to be a warlock, and proof against steel and lead. He is said to have been buried on the north side of a hill, which the sun could never shine upon, etc.” All which, as far as appears, is merely the tradition of Jamieson’s day, and will be taken at different values by different readers.

The ‘Peggy’ of #A a#, #b#, #C#, #D# was Margaret Burnet, daughter of Sir Thomas Burnet of Leys, and own cousin of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury.[65] This lady married Gordon of Brackley against her friends’ wishes, or without their consent, and so probably made a love-match. After Brackley’s death she married one James Leslie, Doctor of Medicine,[66] a fact which will suffice to offset the unconfirmed scandal of the ballad.

It is now to be noted that a baron of Brackley had been murdered by caterans towards the end of the preceding century. “The Clanchattan, who, of all that faction, most eagerly endeavored to revenge the Earl of Murray his death, assembling their forces under Angus Donald Williamson his conduct, entered Strathdee and Glenmuick, where they invaded the Earl of Huntly his lands, and killed four of the surname of Gordon, Henry Gordon of the Knock, Alexander Gordon of Teldow, Thomas Gordon of Blaircharrish, and the old baron of Breaghly, whose death and manner thereof was so much the more lamented because he was very aged, and much given to hospitality, and slain under trust. He was killed by them in his own house after he had made them good cheer, without suspecting or expecting any such reckoning for his kindly entertainment; which happened the first day of November, 1592. In revenge whereof the Earl of Huntly assembled some of his forces and made an expedition into Pettie,” etc. (See No 183, III, 456.) So writes Sir Robert Gordon, before 1630.[67]

Upon comparing Sir Robert Gordon’s description of the old baron of Brackley who was murdered in 1592 with what is said of the baron in the ballad (#A#), there is a likeness for which there is no historical authority in the instance of the baron of 1666. The ballad intimates the hospitality which is emphasized by Sir Robert Gordon, and also the baron’s unconsciousness of his having any foe to dread. (“An honest aged man,” says Spotiswood, “against whom they could pretend no quarrel.”) Other details are not pertinent to the elder baron, but belong demonstrably to the Brackley who had a quarrel with Farquharson.

Of the two, the older Brackley would have a better chance of being celebrated in a ballad. He was an aged and innocent man, slain while dispensing habitual hospitality, “slain under trust.” The younger Brackley treated Inverey’s people harshly, there was an encounter, Brackley was killed, and others on both sides. His friends may have mourned for him, but there was no call for the feeling expressed in the ballad; that would be more naturally excited by the death of the kindly old man, ‘who basely was slain.’ On the whole it may be surmised that two occurrences, or even two ballads, have been blended, and some slight items of corroborative evidence may favor this conclusion.

‘The Gordons may mourn him and bann Inverey,’ says #B# 14. It appears that the Earl of Aboyne sided with Inverey, though the Marquis of Huntly supported the laird of Brackley’s son;[68] whereas all the Gordons would have mourned the older baron, and none would have maintained the caterans who slew him.

In the affray with the Farquharsons in 1666 there were killed, of the Gordons, besides Brackley, his brother William and his cousin James Gordon of Cults. The Gordons killed by the Clanchattan in 1592 were Brackley, Henry Gordon of the Knock, an Alexander Gordon (also a Thomas). According to #A# 34, 35, the Gordons killed were Brackley and his brother William, his cousin James of the Knox [Knocks, Knock], and his uncle Alexander Gordon; according to #B# 12, 13, there were killed, besides Brackley, “Harry Gordon and Harry of the Knock” (one and the same person), Brackley’s brother, as we see from 10; in #D# 10, the killed are Brackley, and Sandy Gordon o the Knock, called Peter in 21. A Gordon of the Knock is named as killed in #A#, #B#, #D#, and it is Henry Gordon in #B#; an Alexander Gordon is named in #A#, #B#. A William Gordon and a James (of the Knocks, not of the Cults) are named in #A#. On the whole, the names sort much better with the earlier story.

In #B# 15 we are told that if Craigievar had come up an hour sooner, Brackley had not been slain. Upon this Dr Joseph Robertson (who assigned the ballad to 1592) has observed, Kinloch MSS, VI, 24, that Craigievar passed to a branch of the family of Forbes in 1625; so that Craigievar would have done nothing to save Brackley in 1666, the Gordons and the Forbeses having long been at feud. To make sense of this stanza we must suppose an earlier date than 1625.

The fourth edition of Spotiswood’s history, printed in 1677 (about forty years after the author’s death), calls Brackley of 1592 _John_ Gordon. Further, there is this anonymous marginal note, not found in the preceding editions: “I have read in a MS. called the Acts of the Gordons, that Glenmuick, Glentaner, Strathdee and Birs were spoiled, and Brachlie, with his son-in-law, slain, by Mackondoquy [that is Maconochie, _alias_ Campbell] of Inner-Aw.”[69]

Brackley, on the Muick, is in close vicinity to the village of Ballater, on the Dee, some forty miles westward from Aberdeen.

Translated by Knortz, Lieder u. Romanzen Alt-Englands, p. 156, after Allingham.

* * * * *

A

#a.# Scarce Ancient Ballads [Alexander Laing], Aberdeen, 1822, p. 9.
#b.# Buchan’s Gleanings, p. 68. #c.# The New Deeside Guide, by James
Brown (_i.e._ Joseph Robertson), Aberdeen [1832], p. 46.

1
Inverey cam doun Deeside, whistlin and playin,
He was at brave Braikley’s yett ere it was dawin.

2
He rappit fu loudly an wi a great roar,
Cried, Cum doun, cum doun, Braikley, and open the door.

3
‘Are ye sleepin, Baronne, or are ye wakin?
Ther’s sharpe swords at your yett, will gar your blood spin.

4
‘Open the yett, Braikley, and lat us within,
Till we on the green turf gar your bluid rin.’

5
Out spak the brave baronne, owre the castell-wa:
‘Are ye cum to spulyie and plunder mi ha?

6
‘But gin ye be gentlemen, licht and cum in:
Gin ye drink o my wine, ye’ll nae gar my bluid spin.

7
‘Gin ye be hir’d widifus, ye may gang by,
Ye may gang to the lawlands and steal their fat ky.

8
‘Ther spulyie like rievers o wyld kettrin clan,
Who plunder unsparing baith houses and lan.

9
‘Gin ye be gentlemen, licht an cum [in],
Ther’s meat an drink i my ha for every man.

10
‘Gin ye be hir’d widifus, ye may gang by,
Gang doun to the lawlands, and steal horse and ky.’

11
Up spak his ladie, at his bak where she lay,
‘Get up, get up, Braikley, and be not afraid;
The’r but young hir’d widifus wi belted plaids.’

12
‘Cum kiss me, mi Peggy, I’le nae langer stay,
For I will go out and meet Inverey.

13
‘But haud your tongue, Peggy, and mak nae sic din,
For yon same hir’d widifus will prove themselves men.’

14
She called on her marys, they cam to her hand;
Cries, Bring me your rocks, lassies, we will them command.

15
‘Get up, get up, Braikley, and turn bak your ky,
Or me an mi women will them defy.

16
‘Cum forth then, mi maidens, and show them some play;
We’ll ficht them, and shortly the cowards will fly.

17
‘Gin I had a husband, whereas I hae nane,
He woud nae ly i his bed and see his ky taen.

18
‘Ther’s four-and-twenty milk-whit calves, twal o them ky,
In the woods o Glentanner, it’s ther thei a’ ly.

19
‘Ther’s goat i the Etnach, and sheep o the brae,
An a’ will be plunderd by young Inverey.’

20
‘Now haud your tongue, Peggy, and gie me a gun,
Ye’ll see me gae furth, but I’ll never cum in.

21
‘Call mi brother William, mi unkl also,
Mi cousin James Gordon; we’ll mount and we’ll go.’

22
When Braikley was ready and stood i the closs,
He was the bravest baronne that eer mounted horse.

23
Whan all wer assembld o the castell green,
No man like brave Braikley was ther to be seen.

24
. . . . . . .
‘Turn bak, brother William, ye are a bridegroom;

25
‘Wi bonnie Jean Gordon, the maid o the mill;
O sichin and sobbin she’ll soon get her fill.’

26
‘I’m no coward, brother, ’tis kend I’m a man;
I’ll ficht i your quarral as lang’s I can stand.

27
‘I’ll ficht, my dear brother, wi heart and gude will,
And so will young Harry that lives at the mill.

28
‘But turn, mi dear brother, and nae langer stay:
What’ll cum o your ladie, gin Braikley thei slay?

29
‘What’ll cum o your ladie and bonnie young son?
O what’ll cum o them when Braikley is gone?’

30
‘I never will turn: do you think I will fly?
But here I will ficht, and here I will die.’

31
‘Strik dogs,’ crys Inverey, ‘and ficht till ye’re slayn,
For we are four hundered, ye are but four men.

32
‘Strik, strik, ye proud boaster, your honour is gone,
Your lands we will plunder, your castell we’ll burn.’

33
At the head o the Etnach the battel began,
At Little Auchoilzie thei killd the first man.

34
First thei killd ane, and soon they killd twa,
Thei killd gallant Braikley, the flour o them a’.

35
Thei killd William Gordon, and James o the Knox,
And brave Alexander, the flour o Glenmuïck.

36
What sichin and moaning was heard i the glen,
For the Baronne o Braikley, who basely was slayn!

37
‘Cam ye bi the castell, and was ye in there?
Saw ye pretty Peggy tearing her hair?’

38
‘Yes, I cam by Braikley, and I gaed in there,
And there [saw] his ladie braiding her hair.

39
‘She was rantin, and dancin, and singin for joy,
And vowin that nicht she woud feest Inverey.

40
‘She eat wi him, drank wi him, welcomd him in,
Was kind to the man that had slayn her baronne.’

41
Up spake the son on the nourice’s knee,
‘Gin I live to be a man, revenged I’ll be.’

42
Ther’s dool i the kitchin, and mirth i the ha,
The Baronne o Braikley is dead and awa.

* * * * *

B

Kinloch MSS, V, 379, in the handwriting of John Hill Burton.

1
‘Baron of Brackley, are ye in there?
The’re sharp swords at yer yetts, winna ye spear.’

2
‘If they be gentlemen, lat them cum in;
But if they be reavers, we’ll gar them be taen.’

3
‘It is na gentlemen, nor yet pretty lads,
But a curn hir’d widdifus, wears belted plaids.’

4
She called on her women and bade them come in:
‘Tack a’ yer rocks, lasses, and we’ll them coman.

5
‘We’ll fecht them, we’ll slight them, we’ll do what we can,
And I vow we will shoot them altho we shod bang.

6
‘Rise up, John,’ she said, ‘and turn in yer kye,
For they’ll hae them to the Hielands, and you they’l defie.’

7
‘Had your still, Catharine, and still yer young son,
For ye’ll get me out, but I’ll never cum in.’

8
‘If I had a man, as I hae na nane,
He wudna lye in his bed and see his kye tane.’

9
‘Ye’ll cum kiss me, my Peggy, and bring me my gun,
For I’m gaing out, but I’ll never cum in.’

10
There was twenty wi Invery, twenty and ten;
There was nane wi the baron but his brother and him.

11
At the head of Reneeten the battle began;
Ere they wan Auchoilzie, they killed mony a man.

12
They killed Harry Gordon and Harry of the Knock,
The mullertd’s four sons up at Glenmuick.

13
They killed Harry Gordon and Harry of the Knock,
And they made the brave baron like kail to a pot.

14
First they killed ane, and then they killed twa,
Then they killed the brave baron, the flower o them a’.

15
Then up came Craigievar, and a party wi him;
If he had come an hour sooner, Brackley had not been slain.

16
‘Came ye by Brackley? and was ye in there?
Or say ye his lady, was making great care?’

17
‘I came by Brackley, and I was in there,
But I saw his lady no makin great care.

18
‘For she eat wi them, drank wi them, welcomed them in;
She drank to the villain that killed her guid man.

19
‘Woe to ye, Kate Fraser! sorry may yer heart be,
To see yer brave baron’s blood cum to yer knee.’

20
There is dule in the kitchen, and mirth i the ha,
But the Baron o B[r]ackley is dead and awa.

* * * * *

C

#a.# Jamieson-Brown MS., Appendix, p. viii, as transcribed for
Jamieson by Rev. Andrew Brown, and sent him by Mrs. Brown in a
letter of June 18, 1801. #b.# Jamieson’s Popular Ballads, I, 102;
Mrs. Brown’s copy combined with an imperfect one taken down by Sir
W. Scott “from the recitation of two ladies, great-grandchildren of
Farquharson of Inverey.”

1
O Inverey came down Dee side, whistling and playing;
He’s landed at Braikly’s yates at the day dawing.

2
Says, Baron of Braikly, are ye within?
There’s sharp swords at the yate will gar your blood spin.

3
The lady raise up, to the window she went;
She heard her kye lowing oer hill and oer bent.

4
‘O rise up, John,’ she says, ‘turn back your kye;
They’re oer the hills rinning, they’re skipping away.’

5
‘Come to your bed, Peggie, and let the kye rin,
For were I to gang out, I would never get in.’

6
Then she’s cry’d on her women, they quickly came ben:
‘Take up your rocks, lassies, and fight a’ like men.

7
‘Though I’m but a woman, to head you I’ll try,
Nor let these vile Highland-men steal a’ our kye.’

8
Then up gat the baron, and cry’d for his graith;
Says, Lady, I’ll gang, tho to leave you I’m laith.

9
‘Come, kiss me, my Peggie, nor think I’m to blame;
For I may well gang out, but I’ll never win in.’

10
When the Baron of Braikly rade through the close,
A gallanter baron neer mounted a horse.

11
Tho there came wi Inverey thirty and three,
There was nane wi bonny Braikly but his brother and he.

12
Twa gallanter Gordons did never sword draw;
But against four and thirty, wae’s me, what was twa?

13
Wi swords and wi daggers they did him surround,
And they’ve pierc’d bonny Braikly wi mony a wound.

14
Frae the head of the Dee to the banks of the Spey,
The Gordons may mourn him, and bann Inverey.

15
‘O came ye by Braikly, and was ye in there?
Or saw ye his Peggy dear riving her hair?’

16
‘O I came by Braikly, and I was in there,
But I saw not his Peggy dear riving her hair.’

17
‘O fye on ye, lady! how could ye do sae?
You opend your yate to the faus Inverey.’

18
She eat wi him, drank wi him, welcomd him in;
She welcomd the villain that slew her baron.

19
She kept him till morning, syne bad him be gane,
And showd him the road that he woud na be tane.

20
‘Thro Birss and Aboyne,’ she says, ‘lyin in a tour,
Oer the hills of Glentanor you’ll skip in an hour.’

21
There is grief in the kitchen, and mirth in the ha,
But the Baron of Braikly is dead and awa.

* * * * *

D

Skene MS., p. 110; north of Scotland, 1802–3.

1
‘Baron o Breachell, are ye within?
The sharp souerd is at yer gate, Breachell, we’ll gar yer blood spin.’

2
‘Thei’r at yer gate, Breachel, thei’r neither men nor lads,
But fifty heard widifas, wi belted plaids.’

3
‘O if I had a man,’ she says, ‘as it looks I had nane,
He widna sit in the house and see my kye tane.

4
‘But lasses tak down yer rocks, and we will defend
. . . . . . .

5
‘O kiss me, dear Peggy, and gee me down my gun,
I may well ga out, but I ll never come in.’

6
Out spak his brither, says, Gee me yer hand;
I’ll fight in yer cause sae lang as I may stand.

7
Whan the Baron o Breachell came to the closs,
A braver baron neir red upon horse.

8
. . . . . . .
I think the silly heard widifas are grown fighten men.

9
First they killed ane, and syen they killed twa,
And the Baron o Breachell is dead and awa.

10
They killed Sandy Gordon, Sandy Gordon o the Knock,
The miller and his three sons, that lived at Glenmuick.

11
First they killed ane, and seyn they killed twa,
And the Baron o Breachell is dead and awa.

12
Up came Crigevar and a’ his fighten men:
‘Had I come an hour soonur, he sudna been slain.’

13
For first they killed ane, and seyn they killed twa,
And the Baron o Breachell is dead and awa.

14
‘O came ye by Breachell, lads? was ye in their?
Saw ye Peggy Dann riving her hair?’

15
‘We cam by Breachell, lads, we was in there,
And saw Peggie Dann cairling her hair.

16
‘She eat wi them, drank wi them, bad them come in
To her house an bours that had slain her baron.

17
‘Come in, gentlemen, eat and drink wi me;
Tho ye ha slain my baron, I ha na a wite at ye.’

18
‘O was [ye] at Glenmuik, lads? was ye in theire?
Saw ye Cathrin Gordon rivin her hair?’

19
‘We was at Glenmuik, lads, we was in there,
We saw Cathrin Gordon rivin her hair.

20
‘Wi the tear in her eye, seven bairns at her foot,
The eighth on her knee....

21
They killed Peter Gordon, Peter Gordon of the Knock,
The miller and his three sons, that lived at Glenmuik.

22
First they killed ane, and syn they killed twa,
And the Baron of Breachell is dead and awa.

* * * * *

#A.#

_No division of stanzas. Both copies are probably from
stall-prints or broadsides. #b# differs frequently from #a# in
spelling._

#a.#

5^2, 8^1. spulzie.

6^1. gentlmen.

11^3, 25^1, 40^1. we _for_ wi.

22^1. thee.

30^1. I will never.

#b.#

11^1. laid.

11^3. young _wanting_.

13^2. prove to be men.

15^2. For me.

16^1. ply.

19^1. Ther are goats.

20^2. never return.

22^1. thee.

25^2. seen (_phonetic_).

26^1. it’s kent.

30^1. I never will: ye.

30^2. No, here.

34^1. an syne.

36^1. was heard.

38^2. ther said.

#c.#

_This copy is to the extent of about two thirds taken from #a#;
half a dozen stanzas are from Jamieson’s text, #C b#; half a
dozen more agree, nearly or entirely, with #B#, and may have
been derived from Dr. J. H. Burton, or directly from some
traditional source. The order has been regulated by the editor,
who has also made a slight verbal change now and then._

1–3==#a# 1–3.

4–8==5–9.

9==11^{1,2}, _nearly_: (#c# 9^2, and face Inverey).

11^2==13^2.

12–14==18, 19, 17.

15==15, _nearly_: _cf._ #B# 6^1.

17^1==16^2.

18==20, _nearly_.

19==21.

22==31, _with different numbers_.

23==33: Reneatan _for_ Etnach, _cf._ #B# 11^1.

24==35.

25==34.

29==38.

30==39.

31^1==40^1.

32^2==40^2, #B# 18^2.

35==41.

36==42.

37==36.

_From #C b#._

20==12.

21==13, _nearly_.

26==16.

33, 34==23, 24, _nearly_.

38==17.

_10 (nearly #B# 6: cf. #c# 15^1)._

Get up, get up Brackley, and turn back your kye,
Or they’ll hae them to the Highlands, and you they’ll defy.

_16 (nearly #B# 4: cf. #a# 14):_

She called on her maidens, and bade them come in:
Tak a’ your rocks, lasses, we will them comman.

_27 (nearly #B# 15: cf. #D# 12)._ Had he come one hour, _etc._

28==#B# 16.

31^2==#B# 18^2 (#a# 40^2). She drank to the villain that killed
her barrone.

32==#B# 19, _nearly_. Wae to you, Kate Fraser, sad may your heart
be.

#B.#

11^1. Keneeten _perhaps_: #b.# Reneatan.

12^1. They _for_ The.

#C. a.#

_Not divided, but roughly marked off into stanzas of four verses._

6^2. frocks _for_ rocks.

#b.#

1^1. Down Dee side came Inverey.

1^2. lighted at Brackley yates.

2^1. O are.

4^1. rise up, ye baron, and.

4^2.
For the lads o Drumwharran are driving them bye.

5.
‘How can I rise, lady, or turn them again?
Whareer I have ae man, I wat they hae ten.’

6.
‘Then rise up, my lasses, tak rocks in your hand,
And turn back the kye; I hae you at command.

7.
‘Gin I had a husband, as I hae nane,
He wadna lye in his bower, see his kye tane.’

8^1. got.

_After 8_:

Come kiss me then, Peggy, and gie me my speir;
I ay was for peace, tho I never feard weir.

9^1. me then, Peggy.

9^2. I weel may gae out.

10^1. When Brakley was busked and rade oer the closs.

10^2. neer lap to a.

_After 10_:

When Brackley was mounted and rade oer the green,
He was as bald a baron as ever was seen.

12^2. what is.

15^1. by Brackley yates, was.

16^1. by Brackley yates, I.

16^2. And I saw his Peggy a-making good cheer.

_After 16_:

The lady she feasted them, carried them ben;
She laughd wi the men that her baron had slain.

17^1. on you: could you.

17^2. yates.

19^2. shoudna.

“Poetical justice requires that I should subjoin the concluding
stanza of the fragment, which could not be introduced into the
text; as the reader cannot be displeased to learn that the
unworthy spouse of the amiable, affectionate, and spirited baron
of Brackley was treated by her unprincipled gallant as she
deserved, and might have expected:

Inverey spak a word, he spak it wrang;
‘My wife and my bairns will be thinking lang.’

‘O wae fa ye, Inverey! ill mat ye die!
First to kill Brackley, and then to slight me.’

#D.#

_Title, 1^1, etc._ Breachell. _Perhaps miscopied by Skene from_
Breachlie; _and so_ Crigeran, _12^1, for_ Crigevar.

17^2. at thee.

204

JAMIE DOUGLAS

#A.# ‘Lord Douglas,’ or, ‘The Laird of Blackwood,’ Kinloch MSS, I, 93.

#B.# ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Kinloch MSS, V, 387.

#C.# ‘Lady Douglas and Blackwood,’ Kinloch MSS, V, 207, I, 103.

#D.# ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Kinloch MSS, I, 107.

#E.# ‘The Laird o Blackwood,’ Kinloch MSS, VII, 127; Kinloch’s Ancient
Scottish Ballads, p. 58.

#F.# ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 507.

#G.# ‘Lord Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 345.

#H.# ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 297.

#I.# ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 500.

#J.# ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 299.

#K.# ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 302.

#L.# ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Finlay’s Scottish Ballads, II, 4.

#M.# Herd’s MSS, I, 54; Herd’s Scottish Songs, 1776, I, 144.

#N.# ‘Lord Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. v,
the last three stanzas.

#O.# ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xvii, IX,
one stanza.

This ballad first appeared in print in the second edition of Herd’s Scottish Songs, 1776, but only as a fragment of five stanzas. Pinkerton repeats three stanzas from Herd, very slightly “polished by the editor,” Tragic Ballads, 1781, pp. 83, 119. A stall-copy, says Motherwell, was printed in 1798, under the title of ‘Fair Orange Green.’ #A# and #C# were used by Aytoun for the copy given in his second edition, 1859, I, 133, and #D# for Part Fourth of Chambers’s compilation, Scottish Ballads, p. 157. The “traditionary version,” in thirty-four stanzas, given in the Appendix to Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, p. v (see his Introduction, p. lxiii, note 5), is made up, all but the fifth stanza and the three last, from #F#-#J# and #O#: see note to #N#.

Lady Barbara Erskine, eldest daughter of John, Earl of Mar, was married to James, second Marquis of Douglas, near the end of the year 1670. The marriage did not prove to be happy, and the parties were formally separated in 1681. They had had one child, James, Earl of Angus, and he having been killed in battle in the Netherlands in 1692, the Marquis of Douglas married again, and had two sons and a daughter. The second of the sons was Archibald, the third marquis, and first and only duke of Douglas.

In an affectionate letter of December, 1676 (succeeding several others to which no answer had been returned), the Marchioness of Douglas writes to her husband: “I am not such a stranger to myself to pretend to the exactness of obedience and duty that my humor or frowardness may not have offended you, and all I can say is, that hereafter I shall so study yours and what may please you that I shall endeavor a conformity to your good will so near as I can. This only I must (most) complain of, that you should retain those in your service or company who takes the liberty of talking so much to the prejudice of your honor and mine. Sure I am I never give the least occasion for it, neither do I think, my dear, that you really believe it. If religion and virtue were not ties strong enough, sense of your honor and mine own, and of that noble family of yours and our posterity, could not but prevail against such base thoughts, and God, who knows my heart, knows my innocence and the malice of those who wounds us both by such base calumnies.” In February, 1677, the marchioness (not for the first time, as it appears) invokes the interposition of the Privy Council in her domestic affairs, and applies for an “aliment” on which she may live apart from her husband, whom she charges with shunning her company and treating her with contempt. The marquis in his reply alleges that his wife had not treated him with due respect, but seems to be averse to a separation. Four years after, a separation was mutually agreed to, and in the contract to this effect the ground is expressed to be “great animosities, mistakes and differences betwixt the said marquis and his lady, which have risen to a great height, so as neither of them are satisfied longer to continue together.”[70]

The blame of the alienation of Douglas from his wife is imputed by tradition to William Lawrie, the marquis’s principal chamberlain or factor, who was appointed to that place in 1670, the year of the marriage. Lawrie married Marion Weir, of the family of Blackwood, then a widow. He is often styled the laird of Blackwood, a title which belonged to his son by this marriage, his own proper designation being, after that event, the Tutor of Blackwood. “The belief that Blackwood was the chief cause of this unhappy quarrel was current at the time among the Douglas tenantry, with whom he was very unpopular, and it is corroborated by letters and other documents in the Douglas charter-chest. The marchioness, indeed, evinces temper, but the marquis appears to have been morose and peevish, and incapable of managing his own affairs. In this matter he consulted, and was advised by, Blackwood at every step, sending him copies of the letters he wrote to his wife, and subscribing whatever document Blackwood thought fit to prepare. Members of the family and dependents alike characterized Lawrie as hypocritical and double-dealing; but on the other hand, it is only fair to mention that on two occasions, Charles, Earl of Mar, wrote to Blackwood thanking him for his kindness to his sister, and assuring him of his esteem.”[71]

John, Earl of Mar, the father of Lady Barbara Erskine, died in 1668, before his daughter’s marriage, and it would have been her brother Charles, the next earl, who took her home. He was colonel of a regiment of foot at the time of the separation, whence, probably, the drums, trumpets, and soldiers in the ballad. Barbara Douglas died in 1690, two years before the marquis’s second marriage.

The reciter of #A#, who got her information from an old dey at Douglas castle, as far back as 1770, told Kinloch that the ballad was a great favorite with Archibald, Duke of Douglas, who lived till 1761. “The Duke used often to get the old dey to sing it to him while he wheeled round the room in a gilded chair ... and muttered anathemas against Lourie, saying, O that Blackwood must have been a damned soul!”[72]

The story of the ballad is very simple. A lady, daughter of the Earl of Mar, #B#, #I#, married to Lord James Douglas, Marquis of Douglas, #D#, lives happily with him until Blackwood (Blacklaywood, Blackly) makes her husband believe that she has trespassed (with one Lockhart, #A#). Her protestations of innocence and the blandishments with which she seeks to win back her lord’s affections are fruitless. Her father sends for her and takes her home. He offers to get a bill of divorce and make a better match for her, but she will listen to no such proposal.

The lady is daughter of the Earl of York, #D#; her brother is the Duke of York (a somewhat favorite personage in ballads), #B#; her mother is daughter of the Duke of York, #G#, and her father is the Lord of Murray. Her husband is the Earl of March, #I# (and #F#?). Had she foreseen the event of the marriage with Douglas, she would have staid at Lord Torchard’s gates (Argyle’s, Athol’s, Lord Orgul’s) and have been his lady, #G#, #H#, #I#, #L#, or in fair Orange green and have been his (Orange’s?) #K#. (Orange gate appears in #D#, also, and so it may be Orange wine, and not orange, that Jamie Douglas is invited to drink in #I# 5.) A handsome nurse makes trouble in #F# 6, but nowhere else. It is not Blackwood that whispers mischief into the husband’s ear in #J# 4, but a small bird; a black bird, fause bird, in two of Finlay’s three copies, a blackie in the other, #L#. In #E# 7 the lady will not wash her face, comb her hair, or have fire or light in her bower: cf. Nos 69, 92, II, 156, 317. In #I# 15, when the lady had returned to her father’s and the tenants came to see her, she could not speak, and “the buttons off her clothes did flee;” “an affecting image of overpowering grief,” says Chambers. See also ‘Andrew Lammie.’

#D# 10–15, #N#, are palpable and vulgar tags to a complete story. James Douglas comes to his father-in-law’s house with his three children, and sends a soldier to the gate to bid his lady come down; he has hanged false Blackwood, and she is to come home: #N#. In #D# the hanging of Blackwood is not mentioned; Douglas calls for wine to drink to his gay lady, she takes a cup in her hand, but her heart breaks.[73]

#A#-#M# have all from one stanza to four of a beautiful song, known from the first quarter of the eighteenth century, and printed fifty years earlier than any copy of the ballad.[74] This song is the lament of an unmarried woman for a lover who has proved false, and, as we find by the last stanza, has left her with an unborn babe. #A#, #C# have this last stanza, although the lady in these copies has born three children (as she has in every version except the fragmentary #E#).[75]

WALY, WALY, GIN LOVE BE BONY.

#a.# Ramsay’s Tea-Table Miscellany, the second volume, published
before 1727; here from the Dublin edition of 1729, p. 176. #b.#
Thomson’s Orpheus Caledonius, second edition, 1733, I, 71; four
stanzas in the first edition, 1725, No 34.[76]

1
O waly, waly up the bank!
And waly, waly, down the brae!
And waly, waly yon burn-side,
Where I and my love wont to gae!

2
I leand my back unto an aik,
I thought it was a trusty tree;
But first it bowd, and syne it brak,
Sae my true-love did lightly me.

3
O waly, waly! but love be bony
A little time, while it is new;
But when ’tis auld, it waxeth cauld,
And fades away like morning dew.

4
O wherefore shoud I busk my head?
Or wherfore shoud I kame my hair?
For my true-love has me forsook,
And says he’ll never love me mair.

5
Now Arthur-Seat shall be my bed,
The sheets shall neer be fyl’d by me;
Saint Anton’s well shall be my drink,
Since my true-love has forsaken me.

6
Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blaw,
And shake the green leaves off the tree?
O gentle death, when wilt thou come?
For of my life I am weary.

7
’Tis not the frost that freezes fell,
Nor blawing snaw’s inclemency;
’Tis not sic cauld that makes me cry,
But my love’s heart grown cauld to me.

8
When we came in by Glasgow town,
We were a comely sight to see;
My love was cled in the black velvet,
And I my sell in cramasie.

9
But had I wist, before I kissd,
That love had been sae ill to win,
I’d lockd my heart in a case of gold,
And pin’d it with a silver pin.

10
Oh, oh, if my young babe were born,
And set upon the nurse’s knee,
And I my sell were dead and gane!
For a maid again I’ll never be.

A stanza closely resembling the third of this song occurs in a Yule medley in Wood’s MSS, about 1620.[77]

Hey trollie lollie, love is jolly
A qhyll qhill it is new;
Qhen it is old, it grows full cold,
Woe worth the love untrew!

The Orpheus Caledonius has for the fourth stanza this, which is found (with variations) in #A#-#M#, excepting the imperfect copy #E#:

When cockle-shells turn siller bells,
And mussles grows on evry tree,
When frost and snaw shall warm us a’,
Then shall my love prove true to me.

Ed. 1725.

Several stanzas occur in a song with the title ‘Arthur’s Seat shall be my bed,’ etc., which is thought to have been printed as early as the Tea-Table Miscellany, or even considerably earlier. This song is given in an appendix.

Aytoun’s ballad, 1859, I, 135, is loosely translated by Knortz, Schottische Balladen, p. 59.

* * * * *

A

Kinloch MSS, I, 93; from the recitation of Mary Barr, Lesmahago,
Lanarkshire, May, 1827, and learned by her about sixty years before
from an old dey at Douglas Castle.

1
I was a lady of high renown
As lived in the north countrie;
I was a lady of high renown
Whan Earl Douglas loved me.

2
Whan we came through Glasgow toun,
We war a comely sight to see;
My gude lord in velvet green,
And I mysel in cramasie.

3
Whan we cam to Douglas toun,
We war a fine sight to behold;
My gude lord in cramasie,
And I myself in shining gold.

4
Whan that my auld son was born,
And set upon the nurse’s knee,
I was as happy a woman as eer was born,
And my gude lord he loved me.

5
But oh, an my young son was born,
And set upon the nurse’s knee,
And I mysel war dead and gane,
For a maid again I’ll never be!

6
There cam a man into this house,
And Jamie Lockhart was his name,
And it was told to my gude lord
That I was in the bed wi him.

7
There cam anither to this house,
And a bad friend he was to me;
He put Jamie’s shoon below my bed-stock,
And bade my gude lord come and see.

8
O wae be unto thee, Blackwood,
And ae an ill death may ye dee!
For ye was the first and the foremost man
That parted my gude lord and me.

9
Whan my gude lord cam in my room,
This grit falsehood for to see,
He turnd about, and, wi a gloom,
He straucht did tak farewell o me.

10
‘O fare thee well, my once lovely maid!
O fare thee well, once dear to me!
O fare thee well, my once lovely maid!
For wi me again ye sall never be.’

11
‘Sit doun, sit doun, Jamie Douglas,
Sit thee doun and dine wi me,
And Ill set thee on a chair of gold,
And a silver towel on thy knee.’

12
‘Whan cockle-shells turn silver bells,
And mussels they bud on a tree,
Whan frost and snaw turns fire to burn,
Then I’ll sit down and dine wi thee.’

13
O wae be unto thee, Blackwood,
And ae an ill death may ye dee!
Ye war the first and the foremost man
That parted my gude lord and me.

14
Whan my father he heard word
That my gude lord had forsaken me,
He sent fifty o his brisk dragoons
To fesh me hame to my ain countrie.

15
That morning before I did go,
My bonny palace for to leave,
I went into my gude lord’s room,
But alas! he wad na speak to me.

16
‘Fare thee well, Jamie Douglas!
Fare thee well, my ever dear to me!
Fare thee well, Jamie Douglas!
Be kind to the three babes I’ve born to thee.’

* * * * *

B

Kinloch MSS, V, 387, in the handwriting of John Hill Burton when a
youth.

1
Waly, waly up the bank!
And waly, waly down the brae!
And waly, waly to yon burn-side,
Where me and my love wunt to gae!

2
As I lay sick, and very sick,
And sick was I, and like to die,
And Blacklaywood put in my love’s ears
That he staid in bower too lang wi me.

3
As I lay sick, and very sick,
And sick was I, and like to die,
And walking into my garden green,
I heard my good lord lichtlie me.

4
Now woe betide ye, Blacklaywood!
I’m sure an ill death you must die;
Ye’ll part me and my ain good lord,
And his face again I’ll never see.

5
‘Come down stairs now, Jamie Douglas,
Come down stairs and drink wine wi me;
I’ll set thee into a chair of gold,
And not one farthing shall it cost thee.’

6
‘When cockle-shells turn silver bells,
And muscles grow on every tree,
When frost and snaw turn fiery baas,
I’ll come down the stair and drink wine wi thee.’

7
‘What’s needs me value you, Jamie Douglas,
More than you do value me?
The Earl of Mar is my father,
The Duke of York is my brother gay.

8
‘But when my father gets word o this,
I trow a sorry man he’ll be;
He’ll send four score o his soldiers brave
To tak me hame to mine ain countrie.’

9
As I lay owre my castell-wa,
I beheld my father comin for me,
Wi trumpets sounding on every side;
But they werena music at a’ for me.

10
‘And fare ye weel now, Jamie Douglas!
And fare ye weel, my children three!
And fare ye weel, my own good lord!
For my face again ye shall never see.

11
‘And fare ye weel now, Jamie Douglas!
And fare ye weel, my children three!
And fare ye weel now, Jamie Douglas!
But my youngest son shall gae wi me.’

12
‘What ails ye at yer youngest son,
Sits smilin at the nurse’s knee?
I’m sure he never knew any harm,
Except it was from his nurse or thee.’

13
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
And when I was into my coaches set,
He made his trumpets a’ to soun.

14
I’ve heard it said, and it’s oft times seen,
The hawk that flies far frae her nest;
And a’ the world shall plainly see
It’s Jamie Douglas that I love best.

15
Ive heard it said, and [it’s] oft times seen,
The hawk that flies from tree to tree;
And a’ the world shall plainly see
It’s for Jamie Douglas I maun die.

* * * * *

C

Kinloch MSS, V, 207, I, 103; from John Rae, Lesmahago.

1
O wally, wally up yon bank!
And wally down yon brae!
And wally, wally up yon burn-side,
Where me and my lord wont to gae!

2
I leand me on yon saugh sae sweet,
I leand me on yon saugh sae sour,
And my gude lord has forsaken me,
And he swears he’ll never loe me more.

3
There came a young man to this town,
And Jamie Lockhart was his name;
Fause Blackwood lilted in my lord’s ear
That I was in the bed wi him.

4
‘Come up, come up, Jamie Douglas,
Come up, come up and dine wi me,
And I’ll set thee in a chair of gold,
And use you kindly on my knee.’

5
‘When cockle-shells turn silver bells,
And mussels hing on every tree,
When frost and snow turn fire-brands,
Then I’ll come up and dine wi thee.’

6
When my father and mother they got word
That my good lord had forsaken me,
They sent fourscore of soldiers brave
To bring me hame to my ain countrie.

7
That day that I was forc’d to go,
My pretty palace for to leave,
I went to the chamber were my lord lay,
But alas! he wad na speak to me.

8
‘O fare ye weel, Jamie Douglas!
And fare ye weel, my children three!
I hope your father will prove mair kind
To you than he has been to me.

9
‘You take every one to be like yoursel,
You take every one that comes unto thee;
But I could swear by the heavens high
That I never knew anither man but thee.

10
‘O foul fa ye, fause Blackwood,
And an ill death now may ye die!
For ye was the first occasioner
Of parting my gude lord and me.’

11
Whan we gaed in by Edinburgh town,
My father and mither they met me,
Wi trumpets sounding on every side;
But alas! they could na cherish me.

12
‘Hold your tongue, daughter,’ my father said,
‘And with your weeping let me be;
And we’ll get out a bill of divorce,
And I’ll get a far better lord to thee.’

13
‘O hold your tongue, father,’ she says,
‘And with your talking let me be;
I wad na gie a kiss o my ain lord’s lips
For a’ the men in the west country.’

14
Oh an I had my baby born,
And set upon the nurse’s knee,
And I myself were dead and gone!
For a maid again I will never be.

* * * * *

D

Kinloch MSS, I, 107: “West-Country version.”

1
I fell sick, and very, very sick,
Sick I was, and like to dee;
A friend o mine cam frae the west,
A friend o mine came me to see,
And the black told it to my gude lord
He was oure lang in the chamber wi me.

* * * * * *

2
‘Come doun the stair, Jamie Douglas,
Come doun and drink wine wi me;
I’ll set ye on a chair of gold,
And not ae farthing will it cost thee.’

3
‘Whan cockle-shells turn siller bells,
And fishes flee frae tree to tree,
Whan frost and snaw turn fire-beams,
I’ll come doun and drink wine wi thee.’

* * * * * *

4
‘What ails ye at your young son James,
That sits upo the nurse’s knee?
I’m sure he never did ye no harm,
If it war na for the nurse or me.

5
‘What care I for you, Jamie Douglas?
Not a small pin I value thee;
For my father he is the Earl of York,
And of that my mither’s the gay ladie;
They will send fourscore of his soldiers bold
For to tak me hame to my ain countrie.’

* * * * * *

6
Whan I was set in my coach and six,
Taking fareweel o my babies three,
‘I beg your father’s grace to be kind,
For your face again I’ll never see.’

* * * * * *

7
As I was walking up London streets,
My father was coming to meet me,
Wi trumpets sounding on every side;
But that was na music at a’ for me.

8
‘Hold your tongue, my dochter dear,
And of your weeping let abee;
A bill o divorcement I’ll send to him,
A far better match I’ll get for thee.’

9
‘Hold your tongue, my father dear,
And with your folly let abee;
There’ll never man sleep in my twa arms,
Sin my gude lord has forsaken me.’

* * * * * *

10
As I was sitting at my bouer-window,
What a blythe sicht did I see!
I saw four score of his soldiers bold,
And I wishd that they were coming for me.

11
Out bespeaks the foremost man,
And what a weel-spoken man was he!
‘If the Marquis o Douglas’s lady be within,
You’ll bid her come doun and speak to me.’

12
It’s out bespak my auld father then,
I wat an angry man was he;
‘Ye may gang back the road ye cam,
For her face again ye’ll never see.’

13
‘Hold your tongue, my father dear,
And with your folly let abee;
For I’ll ga back, and I’ll ne’er return;
Do ye think I love you as weel as he?’

14
As I cam in by the Orange gate,
What a blythe sicht did I see!
I saw Jamie Douglas coming me to meet,
And at his foot war his babies three.

15
‘Ga fetch, ga fetch a bottle of wine,
That I may drink to my gay ladie;’
She took the cup into her hand,
But her bonnie heart it broke in three.

* * * * *

E