US & Canada Versions: 183. Willie Macintosh
[There are two traditional US or Canadian texts of this ballad that have been recovered. Neither was sung. The first published, collected in New Brunswick was reported by Phillips Barry from Mrs. James McGill of Scotland who moved to New Brunswick in the early 1900s. Unfortunately Barry supplied her with texts of the Child ballads (probably the 1904 edition) and McGill fashioned ballads from her recollections and print. Although the version was not orally current apparently it was learned in Scotland. Another version was reported by The Moores from Oklahoma. This too was from a Scottish man who moved to Ohio in 1867 and then to Oklahoma. This too was recited rather than sung.
For now, I am leaving both versions on this page (see below).
R. Matteson 2015]
CONTENTS: (on this page below)
1) Willie MacIntosh- McPherson (Scotland-OH-OK) pre1864 Moores
2) Bonnie Wullie Macintosh- McGill (Scotland-NB) c.1928 Barry
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The Moores notes and text from Ballads and Folk-Songs from the Southwest, 1964:
36 Willie MacIntosh
Willie MacIntosh (Child, No. 183) is based on the murder of the "Bonny Earl of Murray" it 1592. A history of the incident and subsequent events is given in Child, III, 456. The Oklahoma variant is almost word for word like Child A version. For another reference, see Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth,264-66.
Willie MacIntosh, recited by James McPherson, Tulsa. Born in Inverness, Scotland, Mcpherson moved to Ohio in 1867 when he was six years old and he came to Tulsa in 1895. He served for many years as night watchman at the Tulsa Community Chest Building until his death in 1949. Ballad collectors were always welcome, for he liked people and the hours were long. His Scotch burr waxed thicker as he recited songs and talked of his beloved Inverness. It is unfortunate that if he knew tunes to his songs, he would never sing them. "Ha, awa, wi' ye, ma guid ladie," he once said, "an ye maun ask till a-twal' o'clock this nicht, but ye dinna' get an auld man t'mak' a fool o'himsel." Consequently, this fine variant, like his others, goes without music.
"Turn, Willie MacIntosh,
Turn, I bid you;
If you burn Auchindown,
Huntly will head you."
t'Head me or hang me
That cannot fley me;
I'll burn Auchindown,
Ere the life leave me."
Coming down Deeside,
In a clear morning,
Auchindown was in flame,
Ere the cock-crowing.
But coming o'er Cairn Croom,
And looking down, man,
I saw Willie MacIntosh
Burn Auchindown, man.
"Bonny Willie MacIntosh,
Where left you your men?"
"I left them in the Stapler,
But they'll never come home."
"Bonny Willie MacIntosh,
Where now are your men?"
"I left them in the Stapler,
Sleeping in the sheen."
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From: BRITISH BALLADS FROM MAINE; Barry, Eckstorm, Smyth, 1929
BONNY WILLIE MACINTOSH
(Child 185)
From Mrs. James McGill, Chamcook, New Brunswick, who learned it in Galloway, Scotland.
1 "Turn, Wullie Macintosh,
Turn, I bid ye;
Gin ye burn Auchendoon
Huntly will heid ye."
2 "Heid me or hang me,
That canna fley me;
I'll burn Auchendoon
Ere the life lea me.
3 Comin' doon Deeside
On a May mornin',
Auchendoon was on fire
Ere the cock crawing.
4 But comin' ower Cairn Croom
An' lookin' doon, man,
I saw Wullie Macintosh
Burn Auchendoon, man.
5 "Bonnie Wullie Macintosh,
Turn again I bid ye,
For burnin' Auchendoon
Huntly'll heid ye."
Mrs. McGill says that she never heard this sung; she learned it as a recitation. Indeed, the short, clipped lines would lose much of their force if put into song, particularly the two stanzas not in Mrs. McGill's text where Willie Macintosh, defeated in battle, answers the question as to where he left his men,
"Bonny Willie Macintosh,
Whare left ye your men?"
"I left them in the Stapler,
But they'll never come hame."
"Bonny Willie Macintosh,
Where now is your men?"
"I left them in the Stapler,
Sleeping in their sheen." (Child A 5, 6)
"sleeping in their shoes!" There is nothing in all balladry of finer dramatic compression and intensity than the last ten words, in which the defeated leader, facing Huntly's wrath, wishes he were sleeping with his men. But they were not lines meant for singing. Mrs. McGill's text is more Scottish in word-forms than Child's texts, but agrees substantially with Child A in the first four stanzas, except that in stanza 3: 3 she says "on fire" instead of "in flame." But her stanza 5 is not in Child at all. In Child B 2, as in A 1, there is a warning before he burns the castle:
"Turn again, turn again,
Turn again, I bid Ye,
If ye burn Auchindown
Huntly he will head Ye."
But in Mrs. McGill's text, this warning, given in stanza 1, is repeated after the act.
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Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America
by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America [The missing Moores version was published after this in 1964.]
183. WILLIE MACINTOSH
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 264.
Local Titles: None given.
Story lypes: A: Willie Macintosh, involved in a border feud, is burning Auchendown, although he has been warned that Huntly is moving to head him off. Examples : Barry.
Discussion: Barry, Brit Blds Me, text follows Child A closely. However, the ballad was taken down from recitation and appears to be no longer sung in Maine. See Barry, op. cit. 9 265.
The ballad is based on one of a series of revenge incidents which originated in the Murray murder (see Child 181) of 1592. William Macintosh and his men were attacked and routed by Huntly while ravaging the latter's lands. See Child, III, 465 for the complete details of the events and an explanation of the confusion of two William Macintoshes.