Bluegrass Messengers

English & Other 214. The Braes o Yarrow

English & Other 214. The Braes o Yarrow

Several ballad poems have been written based on thee original ballad. The best known is "The Braes o Yarrow" by William Hamilton of Bangour c.1733 which begins "Busk Ye". Another is "The Braes o Yarrow" by Rev. John Logan which was published in Scottish Songs By Joseph Ritson 1869 to the tune of Hamilton's ballad.

CONTENTS:

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From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Vol. III., by Walter Scott (Edinburgh: Printed by J. Ballantyne for Longman and Rees, and sold by Manners and Miller, 1803):

THIS ballad, which is a very great favourite among the inhabitants of Ettrick Forest, is universally believed to be founded in fact, and is therefore placed among the historical pieces. The editor found it easy to collect a variety of copies; but very difficult, indeed, to select from them such a collated edition, as may, in any degree, suit the taste of "these more light and giddy-paced times."

Tradition places the event, recorded in the song, very early; and it is probable that the ballad was composed soon afterwards, although the language has been gradually modernized, in the course of its transmission to us, through the inaccurate channel of oral tradition. The bard does not relate particulars, but barely the striking outlines of a fact, apparently so well known, when
he wrote, as to render minute detail as unnecessary, as it is always tedious and unpoetical.

The hero of the ballad was a knight, of great bravery, called Scott, who is said to have resided at Kirkhope, or Oakwood castle, and is, in tradition, termed the baron of Oakwood. The estate of Kirkhope belonged anciently to the Scotts of Harden: Oakwood is still their property, and has been so from time immemorial. The hero of the ballad was therefore, probably, of this family, and may, perhaps, be identified with John Scott, sixth son of the laird of Harden, murdered in Ettrick Forest by his kinsmen,
the Scotts of Gilmanscleuch (see notes to Jamie Telfer, vol. 1. p. 110), This appears the more probable, as the common people always affirm, that this young man was treacherously slain, and that, in evidence thereof, his body remained uncorrupted for many years; so that even the roses on his shoes seemed as fresh, as when he was first laid in the family vault at Hassendean.

Tradition affirms, that the hero of the song (be he who he may) was murdered by the brother, either of his wife, or betrothed bride. The alledged cause of malice was, the lady's father having proposed to endow her with half of his property, upon her marriage with a warrior of such renown. The name of the murderer is said to have been Annan, and the place of combat is still called Annan's Treat. It is a low moor, on the banks of the Yarrow, lying to the west of Yarrow kirk. Two tall unhewn masses of stone are erected, about eighty yards distant from each other; and the least child, that can herd a cow, will tell the passenger, that there lie "the two lords, who were slain in single combat."

It will be, with many readers, the greatest recommendation of these verses, that they are supposed to have suggested to Mr Hamilton, of Bangour, the modern ballad, beginning,

"Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny bonny bride."

A fragment, apparently regarding the story of the following ballad, but in a different measure, occurs in Mr Herd's MSS., and runs thus:

"When I look east my heart is sair,
But when I look west its mair and mair;
For then I see the braes o' Yarrow,
And there, for aye, I lost my marrow."

THE DOWIE DENS OF YARROW.

LATE at e'en, drinking the wine,
And ere they paid the lawing,
They set a combat them between,
To fight it in the dawing.

"O stay at hame, my noble lord!
O stay at hame, my marrow!
My cruel brother will you betray,
On the dowie houms of Yarrow."

"O fare ye weel, my ladye gaye!
O fare ye weel, my Sarah!
For I maun gae, though I ne'er return,
Frae the dowie banks o' Yarrow.

She kissed his cheek, she kaimed his hair,
As oft she had done before O;
She belted him with his noble brand,
And he's awa' to Yarrow.

As he gaed up the Tennies bank,
I wot he gaed wi' sorrow,
Till, down in a den, he spied nine arm'd men,
On the dowie houms of Yarrow.

"O come ye here to part your land,
The bonnie forest thorough?
Or come ye here to wield your brand,
On the dowie houms of Yarrow?

"I come not here to part my land,
And neither to beg nor borrow;
I come to wield my noble brand,
On the bonny banks of Yarrow.

"If I see all, ye're nine to ane;
And that's an unequal marrow;
Yet will I fight, while lasts my brand,
On the bonny banks of Yarrow."

Four has he hurt, and five has slain,
On the bloody braes of Yarrow,
Till that stubborn knight came him behind,
And ran his bodie thorough.

"Gae hame, gae hame, good-brother* John,
And tell your sister Sarah,
To come and lift her leafu' lord!
He's sleepin sound on Yarrow."

"Yestreen I dream'd a dolefu' dream;
I fear there will be sorrow!
I dream'd, I pu'd the heather green,
Wi' my true love, on Yarrow.

"O gentle wind, that bloweth south,
From where my love repaireth,
Convey a kiss from his dear mouth,
And tell me how he fareth!

"But in the glen, strive armed men;
They've wrought me dole and sorrow;
They've slain—the comeliest knight they've slain—
He bleeding lies on Yarrow."

As she sped down yon high, high hill,
She gaed wi' dole and sorrow,
And in the den spyed ten slain men,
On the dowie banks of Yarrow.

She kiss'd his cheek, she kaim'd his hair,
She search'd his wounds all thorough;
She kiss'd them, till her lips grew red,
On the dowie houms of Yarrow.

"Now, haud your tongue, my daughter dear!
For a' this breeds but sorrow;
I'll wed ye to a better lord,
Than him ye lost on Yarrow."

"O haud your tongue, my father dear!
Ye mind me but of sorrow;
A fairer rose did never bloom
Than now lies cropp'd on Yarrow."

*Good-brother—Beau-frere, Brother-in-law.

NOTE ON THE DOWIE DENS OF YARROW.

There are many additional verses of the song; but it is much for the credit of the bard to conclude as in the text. The double
rhyme to Yarrow, the recurrence of which he had imposed on himself, fettered his genius terribly, notwithstanding his good fortune in having a heroine, so conveniently named Sarah. But, for the information of the reader of sensibility, who may interest himself in the lady's fate, I insert the last stanza, as it occurs in most copies:

That lady, being big with child.
And full of consternation,
She swooned in her father's arms,
Amidst that stubborn nation.

Nation, I presume, is here used in the limited sense of her father's attendants; for it would appear that brother John, and his
retinue, had all perished in the battle, or died of their wounds.

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The poems and songs of William Hamilton of Bangour: collated with the ms ... By William Hamilton, James Paterson
1850

THE BRAES OF YARROW.
To Lady Jane Home.

IN IMITATION OF THE ANCIENT SCOTTISH MANNER.

A. " Busk ye, busk ye, my bonnie, bonnie bride!
Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome marrow;
Busk ye, busk ye, my bonnie, bonnie bride,
And think nae mair on the Braes of Yarrow."

B. " Where gat ye that bonnie, bonnie bride?
Where gat ye that winsome marrow?"
A. "I gat her where I darena weil be seen,
Puing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow.

Weep not, weep not, my bonnie, bonnie bride!
Weep not, weep not, my winsome marrow;
Nor let thy heart lament to leive
Puing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow."

B. " Why does she weep, thy bonnie, bonnie bride
Why does she weep, thy winsome marrow
And why dare ye nae mair weil be seen
Puing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow?"

A." Lang maun she weep, lang maun she, maun she weep,
Lang maun she weep with dule and sorrow;
And lang maun I nae mair weil be seen
Puing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow.

For she has tint her luver, luver dear,
Her luver dear, the cause of sorrow;
And I hae slain the comeliest swain
That e'er pu'd birks on the Braes of Yarrow.

Why runs thy stream, 0 Yarrow, Yarrow, red?
Why on thy braes heard the voice of sorrow?
And why yon melacholeous weids
Hung on the bonnie birks of Yarrow?

What yonder floats on the rueful, rueful flude?
What yonder floats? 0 dule and sorrow!
'Tis he, the comely swain I slew
Upon the duleful Braes of Yarrow.

Wash, O wash Ms wounds, his wounds in tears,
His wounds in tears, with dule and sorrow;
And wrap his limbs in mourning weids,
And lay him on the Braes of Yarrow.

Then build, then build, ye sisters, sisters sad,
Ye sisters sad, his tomb with sorrow,
And weep around, in waeful wise,
His hapless fate on the Braes of Yarrow

Curse ye, curse ye, his useless, useless shield,
My arm that wrought the deed of sorrow,
The fatal spear that pierc'd his breast,
His comely breast, on the Braes of Yarrow.

Did I not warn thee not to lue,
And warn from fight? but to my sorrow,
O'er rashly bald, a stronger arm
Thou met'st, and fell on the Braes of Yarrow.

Sweet smells the birk, green grows, green grows the grass,

Yellow on Yarrow's bank the gowan;
Fair hangs the apple frae the rock,

Sweet the wave of Yarrow flowan.

Flows Yarrow sweet? as sweet, as sweet flows Tweed,

As green its grass, its gowan yellow; As sweet smells on its braes the birk,

The apple frae the rock as mellow.

Fair was thy luve, fair, fair indeed thy luve,

In flow'ry bands thou him didst fetter; Tho' he was fair and weil beluv'd again,

Than me, he never lued thee better.

Busk ye, then busk, my bonnie, bonnie bride! Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome marrow; Busk ye, and lue me on the banks of Tweed, And think nae mair on the Braes of Yarrow." "How can I husk a honnie, honnie bride? How can I busk a winsome marrow? How lue him on the banks of Tweed, That slew my luve on the Braes of Yarrow >.

0 Yarrow fields, may never, never rain, No dew thy tender blossoms cover, For there was basely slain my love, My luve, as he had not been a luver. The boy put on his robes, his robes of green, His purple vest, 'twas my ain sewing; Ah! wretched me! I little, little ken'd He was in these to meet his ruin. The boy took out his milk-white, milk-white steed,

Unheedful of my dule and sorrow; But ere the tofall of the night

He lay a corpse on the Braes of Yarrow.

Much I rejoic'd that waeful, waeful day,.

I sang, my voice the woods returning; But lang ere night the spear was flown

That slew my luve, and left me mourning.

What can my barbarous, barbarous father do, But with his cruel rage pursue me? My luver's blood is on thy spear,

How can'st thou, barbarous man, then woo me!

My happy sisters may be, may be proud,

With cruel, and ungentle scoffin, May bid me seek on Yarrow Braes

My luver nailed in his coffin.

My brother, Douglas, may upbraid,

And strive with threat'ning words to muve me: My luver's blood is on thy spear,

How can'st thou ever bid me luve thee 3

Yes, yes, prepare the bed, the bed of luve, With bridal sheets my body cover; Unbar, ye bridal maids, the door, Let in the expected husband luver. But who the expected husband, husband is? His hands, methinks, are bath'd in slaughter; Ah me ! what ghastly spectre's yon,

Comes, in his pale shroud, bleeding after?

Pale as he is, here lay him, lay him down,

0 lay his cold head on my pillow; Take aff, take aff these bridal weids,

And crown my careful head with willow.

Pale tho' thou art, yet best, yet best belov'd,

0 could my warmth to life restore thee! Yet lie all night between my breists,

No youth lay ever there before thee.

Pale, pale indeed, O luvely, luvely youth!
Forgive, forgive so foul a slaughter;
And lie all night between my breists,
No youth shall ever lie there after."

A. "Return, return, O mournful, mournful bride,
Return and dry thy useless sorrow;
Thy luver heeds nought of thy sighs,
He lies a corpse on the Braes of Yarrow."

[These beautiful verses are supposed to have been suggested by '' The Dowie Dens of Yarrow," a more ancient ballad, published for the first time in Scott's Border Minstrelsy:—

"Late at e'en, drinking the wine,
And ere they paid the lawing,
They set a combat them between,
To fight it in the dawing.

"O stay at home, my noble lord!
O stay at home, my marrow!
My cruel brother will you betray
Oh the dowie houms of Yarrow," &c.

Scott believed" the ballad refers to a duel fought at Deucharswyre, of which Annan's Treat is a part, betwixt Jolm Scott of Tushielaw and his brother-in-law, Walter Scott, third son of Robert of Thirlestane, in which the latter was slain. . . . Tradition affirms that the hero of the song (be he who he may) was murdered by the brother, either of his wife, or betrothed bride. The alleged cause of malice was the lady's father having proposed to endow her with half of his property upon her marriage with a warrior of such renown. The name of the murderer is said to have been Annan, and the place of combat is called Annan's Treat. It is a hollow muir, on the banks of the Yarrow, lying to the west of Yarrow Kirk. Two tall unhewn masses of stone are erected, about eighty yards distant from each other; and the least child that herds a cow will tell the passenger that there lie "two lords who were slain in single combat." According to the ballad, the combat was a very unequal one, there being "nine to ane "—

"Four has he hurt, and five has slain On the bloody braes of Yarrow, Till that stubborn knight came him behind, And ran his bodie thorough." Though this ballad may have suggested the inimitable strain of Hamilton's "Busk ye, busk ye, my bonnie, bonnie bride,"

it must be remarked that the two have nothing akin, save that the vale of Yarrow is the scene of both—while the latter is more in keeping with the tradition of a duel having been fought between the parties.

The ballad appeared in the Tea-Table Miscellany, Part II., 1724, and in the subsequent editions of Hamilton's Poems, somewhat altered. It occurs also in the MS. volume of his poems. The alterations are wholly verbal, and tend to improve the liquid flow of the verses.

The Lady Jane Home (or u Hume," as it is written in the MS. vol.) to whom the ballad is inscribed, was no doubt a daughter of the Earl of Home, but whether of the sixth or seventh Earl may be questioned. Both had daughters of the same name. Lady Jane, daughter of the seventh Earl, died in 1787.; so that, supposing her to have been eighteen years of age when the ballad was inscribed to her, she would have been upwards of eighty.]

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THE DOWIE DENS OF YARROW NOW FIRST PUBLISHED

Sir Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish border, Volume 3 edited by Thomas Finlayson Henderson; 1903

This ballad, which is a very great favourite among the inhabitants of Ettrick Forest, is universally believed to be founded in fact. 'The Editor found it easy to collect a variety of copies; but very difficult indeed to select from them such a collated edition, as might, in any degree, suit the taste of 'these more light and giddy-paced times.'

Tradition places the event, recorded in the song, very early; and it is probable that the ballad was composed soon afterwards, although the language has been gradually modernised, in the course of its transmission to us, through the inaccurate channel of oral tradition. The bard does not relate particulars, but barely the striking outlines of a fact, apparently so well known when he wrote, as to rendfij minute detail as unnecessary, as it is always tedious and unpoetical.

The hero of the ballad was a knight of great bravery, called Scott, who is said to have resided at Kirkhope, or Oakwood Castle, and is, in tradition, termed the Baron of Oakwood. The estate of Kirkhope belonged anciently to the Scotts of Harden: Oakwood is still their property, and has been so from time immemorial. The Editor was therefore led to suppose, that the hero of the ballad might have been identified with John Scott, sixth son of the Laird of Harden, murdered in Ettrick Forest by his kinsmen, the Scotts of Gilmanscleugh (see notes to 'Jamie Telfer,' vol. ii. p. 16). This appeared the more probable, as the common people always affirm that this young man was treacherously slain, and that, in evidence thereof, his body remained uncorrupted for many years; so that even the roses on his shoes seemed as fresh as when he was first laid in the family vault at Hassendean. But from a passage in Nisbet's Heraldry, he now believes the ballad refers to a duel fought at Deucharswyre, of which Annan's Treat is a part, betwixt John Scott of Tushielaw and his brotherin-law, Walter Scott, third son of Robert of Thirlestane, in which the latter was slain.1

In ploughing Annan's Treat, a huge monumental stone, with an inscription, was discovered; but being rather scratched than engraved, and the lines being run through each other, it is only possible to read one or two Latin words. It probably records the event of the combat. The person slain was the male ancestor of the present Lord Napier.

Tradition affirms that the hero of the song (be he who he may) was murdered by the brother, either of his wife, or betrothed bride. The alleged cause of malice was the lady's father having proposed to endow her with half of his property, upon her marriage with a warrior of such renown. The name of the murderer is said to have been Annan, and the place of combat is still called Annan's Treat. It is a low muir, on the banks of the Yarrow, lying to the west of Yarrow Kirk.

1 [The ballad as given by Scott does not refer to a duel, but to a treacherous attack by nine men on one.]

Two tall unhewn masses of stone are erected, about eighty yards distant from each other; and the least child, that can herd a cow, will tell the passenger, that there lie 'the two lords, who were slain in single combat.'J

It will be, with many readers, the greatest recommendation of these verses, that they are supposed to have suggested to Mr. Hamilton, of Bangour, the modern ballad, beginning,

'Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny bonny bride.'

A fragment, apparently regarding the story of the following ballad, but in a different measure, occurs in Mr. Herd's Mss., and runs thus :—

'When I look east, my heart is sair, But when I look west, it's mair and mair; For then I see the braes o' Yarrow, And there, for aye, I lost my marrow.' [The oldest printed version of the numerous songs, ballads, and fragmentary verses relating to Yarrow is the black-letter (c. 1690) 'Delectable New Ballad intituled Leader-Haughs and Yarrow,' ostensibly by Nicol Burn the violer, which was republished in Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, 1725. It celebrates with sprightliness and skill, though with some affected classicality, the varied charms of the district; but is quite silent as to any tragedy. Nevertheless the tragic ballads or fragments are in

1 ['Thesehave nothing whatever to do with the incidents of any Yarrow ballad. The stones stood there long before a single deed in Scottish story had been done—were even then grey, weird, mysterious; and "Annan's Treat" is a pure misnomer, a reading of Scott's own, which has no foundation either in tradition or fact.'—Professor Veitch in Border History and Poetry, ii. 183. Scott's informant was James Hogg !]

the same measure, and a few beautiful stanzas in Herd are 'To the tune of Leader Haughs and Yarrow, ' which raises the suspicion that those fragments are of later date. The oldest of them, 'Willie's rare and Willie's fair, ' first appeared in Thomson's Orpheus; and of this fragment there are various extended and corrupted versions 'taken down from recitation' (see Child's Ballads, iii. 178-185). The Orpheus fragment suggests nothing more than a drowning accident; but the fragment in Herd suggests death in fair fight, or death by treachery and violence:—

'But o'er yon glen run armed men

Have wrought me dule and sorrow; They 've slain, they 've slain the comliest swain; He bleeding lies on Yarrow.' Burns communicated to William Tytler a fragment (published in Cromek's Select Scottish Songs, ii. 1.96), entitled 'The Braes of Yarrow. Tune, Willie's rare.' The introductory and superfluous stanza, quite out of harmony with the style of the other stanzas, is apparently a faux pas of Burns himself:—

'Nae birdie sang the mirkie hour, Amang the braes of Yarrow; But slumber'd on the dewy boughs To wait the waukening morrow.' The version also combines portions of 'Willie's rare ' with portions of the Herd fragment, and with other stanzas, the substance of which is included in modern northern recitals quaintly termed 'The Duke of Athole's Nurse, ' of which versions appeared in Kinloch's Ballads (1827), and Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland (1828). In the northern recitals, the tragedy is the product of a tavern brawl, but otherwise it has much in common with the 'Dowie Dens ' ballad. Scott partly adopts the 'tavern' version of the story, and omits at the beginning all direct mention of a love episode, though this is vaguely hinted at in stanzas ii. and iii., and is implied in the concluding stanzas.

The earliest known circumstantial versions of 'The Dowie Dens' are a copy sent to Percy by Robert Lambe in 1768 (child, iii. 167-8), and another sent him by Principal Robertson the historian (ib., 164-5). Several later recitals contribute nothing new of any value. The peculiarity of the 'Dowie Dens' versions is that the quarrel originates in a lady marrying, or desiring to marry, a lover disapproved of by her relations, and that the lover is slain by the treachery either of a rival or of her brother or brethren, and either in connection with a duel or by means of a combined attack on him. In a paper in Blackwood's Magazine (vol. cxlvii., June 1890, pp. 739-46), Professor Veitch announced the discovery of a version, harmonising the 'Dowie Dens' ballad with 'Willie's drowned in Yarrow,' or rather combining the two into one, and ' explaining nearly everything'; and notwithstanding additional information available by the publication of many new versions in Child's Ballads, he deemed it unnecessary to modify his views when dealing with the subject in his enlarged edition of Border History and Poetry, 1893, vol. ii. pp. 173-205. Without questioning the general good faith of the Peeblesshire cottar from whom his version was obtained, it must, however, be remembered (1) that he had what, as regards the purity of ballad recitals, must be termed the dis

VOL. III. M

qualification of being versifier as well as cottar;

(2) that though asserting that old copies of the ballad had been in his ancestor's and his own possession, he was unable to produce them; and

(3) that a reciter may unconsciously, in course of time, very much change the tenor of a ballad, by interpolations which he may fail to remember are his own. There is further something puzzling in the statement as to the great-grandfather's handwriting—' queer crooked letters, which Mr. Haig, the schoolmaster of Heriot, could read fluently, and called the Queen Anne's hand.' The most feasible explanation of this curious description is that it refers to a black-letter ballad; but the version is hardly in the black-letter style, and even incorporates phrases from Logan's 'Braes of Yarrow.' Nor is the fact that it 'explains everything' a necessary symptom of antiquity, far less of the originality which Professor Veitch proposed to claim for it; for, as Scott justly observes, regarding a fact well known, 'minute detail' is 'unnecessary, as it is always tedious and unpoetical.' Moreover in this pretended original some of the most beautiful stanzas of the fragments are—without 'explanation '—omitted; and the stanzas 'explaining everything' are merely execrable doggerel. What, for example, can be said for the link of connection between the killing and the being drowned in Yarrow :—

'They have ta'en the young man by the heels, And trail'd him like a harrow; And then they flung the comely youth . In a whirlpool of Yarrow.' Do not the 'young man' and the 'comely youth

seem to savour less of antiquity than of the latterday poetic cottar? But what appears to have most deeply impressed Professor Veitch was the fact that in the cottar's version the hair 'five quarters [fortyfive inches] long' was not the lady's but the lover's; and he dwells with pathetic fervour on the spectacle of ' the lass wading, it may be, in the stream, grasping the floating yellow hair, twining it round her lily hand,' etc. This reading, it is true, is perhaps a little less absurd than another of a stanza found in some versions, in which the lady is represented as twisting her yellow hair round her lover's hand; but the correction from 'her' to 'his' might occur to any one; and, moreover, 'yellow hair' [generally of women] was one of the stock properties of the balladist, and in all likelihood the 'yellow hair' of the Yarrow lady has been awkwardly appropriated from some other ballad. Finally, there is a supposed removal of an incongruity regarding the lady's bed. In 'Willie's rare,' the lady, still unmarried, is made to say:—

'Yestreen I made my bed fu' braid, This night I 'll make it narrow.' Whereas in the cottar's version she says:—

'I meant to make my bed fu' wide, But you may make it narrow.' But the conventional propriety of the cottar's version is by no means a symptom of genuineness, for the ladies of the old ballads usually made their beds 'fju' braid' before marriage was proposed.

The truth is that a ballad version purporting to be absolutely correct in regard to all the main facts inevitably awakens suspicion of some kind of manipulation; and, besides, there is absolutely no proof that this very circumstantial ballad narrative , has any foundation in fact. On the contrary, Professor Veitch, by much acute and painstaking inquiry (Border History, ii. 183-190), so supplemented the researches of Mr. Craig-Brown in his History of Selkirkshire as effectually to dispose 'of the historical references advanced by Sir Walter Scott' and others; but he disposed of those references only to confess that he himself was unable to supply any reliable information on the subject, though he, nevertheless, deemed it 'possible, even indeed probable,' that it might refer to 'Mary, rather Marion, Scott, daughter of John Scott of Dryhope,' whom—ignoring the songs of Robert Crawford—he styles the 'Flower of Yarrow.' But if Mary Scott it was, and this Mary Scott was the 'Flower of Yarrow,' it is rather remarkable that the cottar's version, which 'explains everything,' did not explain this also, and left the explanation to a later version obtained by Motherwell. Surely also, if a young lady of Dryhope—whether the 'Flower of Yarrow' or not—refused nine noblemen, or lairds,

'For a servan lad in Gala,'

and so remarkable a 'servan lad,' that he had slain seven of the noblemen before he was treacherously run through the body from behind by the lady's brother, this striking episode of family history could hardly have disappeared so completely from human memory, as to leave no wrack behind either in definite oral tradition or in documentary record. Not only, however, is the circumstantial ballad narrative of the cottar uncorroborated by other evidence; it was apparently unknown to the
author of ' Leader Haughs and Yarrow,' and also to William Hamilton of Bangour (1740-1754), who wrote the beautiful fantasia on' Willie 's rare.' Most probably, therefore,in 'The Dowie Dens ef Yarrow,' a local habitation and name has been given to an incident of some ballad, or romance, having no connection with this euphonious river. It may even be a merely modern rendering of one of the 'hostile brethren' tales.

Scott's special sources were two recitatives obtained by Hogg (H), one obtained by William Laidlaw from Nellie Laidlaw (N. L.), and one dated Carterhaugh, June 15, 1802 (C); but he made use mainly of Hogg (1), supplemented chiefly by the Herd fragment. The Hogg and Laidlaw versions are, as usual, of remarkable excellence to be obtained from recitation.]

THE DOWIE DENS OF YARROW Late at e'en, drinking the wine, And ere they paid the lawing, They set a combat them between, To fight it in the dawing. 'O stay at hame, my noble lord!

O stay at hame, my marrow! My cruel brother will you betray On the dowie houms of Yarrow.'

'O fare ye weel, my ladye gaye!

O fare ye weel, my Sarah! For I maun gae, though I ne'er return, Frae the dowie banks 0' Yarrow.'

She kiss'd his cheek, she kaim'd his hair, As oft1 she had done before, O; She belted him with Miis noble brand, And he's awa' to Yarrow. As he gaed up/the Tennies bank,3

I wot he gaed wi' sorrow, Till, down in a den, he'4 spied nine arm'd men,

On the dowie houms of Yarrow.

'0 come ye here to part your land,

The bonnie Forest thorough ? 8 Or come ye here to wield your brand, On the dowie houms of Yarrow?'

VII

'I come not here to part my land, And neither to beg nor borrow; I come to wield my noble brand, On the bonnie banks of Yarrow.' 1 ['oft' interpolated by Scott.] * ['belted on his.'—H.]

3 [' Tennies bank' is Scott's own. H. has 'yon high, high hill,' and other recitations have variations of this reading.] [The Tennies is the name of a farm of the Duke of Buccleuch, a little below Yarrow Kirk.-J. G. L.] * [' An in a den.'—H.] » [The

oouplet is Scott's. H. reads:—

'O ir ye come to drink the wine As we line done before, O.' The first couplet of the next stanza is, of course, also Scott's.]

'If I see all, ye 're nine to ane;

And that's an unequal marrow; Yet will I fight, while lasts my brand,

On the bonnie banks of Yarrow.'

Four has he hurt, and five has slain, On the bloody braes of Yarrow, Till that stubborn knight came him behind, And ran his bodie thorough. 'Gae hame, gae hame, good-brother 2 John,

And tell your sister Sarah, To come and lift her noble 8 lord; He's * sleepin sound on Yarrow.'—

'Yestreen I dream'd a dolefu' dream; I fear there willB be sorrow!

I dream'd, I pu'd the heather green, Wi' my true love, on Yarrow.1 xn2 '0 gentle wind, that bloweth south, From where my love repaireth, Convey a kiss from his dear mouth,

And tell me how he fareth!

XIIIs

'But in the glen strive armed men;

They 've wrought me dole and sorrow; They've slain—the comeliest knight they've slain—

He bleeding lies on Yarrow.'

xiv* As she sped down yon high high hill, She gaed wi' dole and sorrow, And in the den spied ten slain men, On the dowie banks of Yarrow.
She kiss'd his cheek, she kaimM his hair, She search'd his wounds all thorough; She kiss'd them, till her lips grew red, On the dowie houms of Yarrow. 'Now, haud your tongue, my daughter dear!

For a' this breeds but sorrow; I 'll wed ye to a better lord,

Than him ye lost on Yarrow.'

'0 haud your tongue, my father dear,

Ye mind me but of sorrow; A fairer rose did never bloom

Than now lies cropp'd on Yarrow.'

1 [This stanza in H. reads:—

She kissd his cheek, she kaimd his hair

As oft she did before, O; She drank the red blood frae him ran On the dowy houms o' Yarrow.']

2 [This is mainly from N. L., with 'Now' for '0' in 1. 1, and in l. 2, an emendation of 'For this breeds ay.']

3 [This is from N. L., which, however, reads:—

'O haud yer tongue, my father dear,

For ye but breed mair sorrow; A better rose will never spring Than him I've lost on Yarrow.']

---------------------------------

THE BRAES OF YARROW.* From: Scottish Songs By Joseph Ritson 1869

BY THE REV. JOHN LOGAN, ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF LEITH.

Thy Braes were bonnie, Yarrow stream!
When first on them I met my lover;
Thy Braes how dreary, Yarrow stream!
When now thy waves his body cover!
For ever now, O Yarrow stream!
Thou art to me a stream of sorrow;
For never on thy banks shall I
Behold my love, the flower of Yarrow.

He promised me a milk-white steed,
To bear me to his father's bowers;
He promised me a little page,
To 'squire me to his father's towers;
He promised me a wedding ring,—
The wedding-day was fixed to-morrow;—
Now he is wedded to his grave,
Alas, his watery grave, in Yarrow!

Sweet were his words when last we met:
My passion I as freely told him!
Clasp'd in his arms, I little thought
That I should never more behold him!
Scarce was he gone, I saw his ghost,
It vanish'd with a shriek of sorrow;
Thrice did the water-wraith ascend,
And gave a doleful groan through Yarrow.

His mother from the window look'd
With all the longing of a mother;
His little sister weeping walk'd
The green-wood path to meet her brother:
They sought him east, they sought him west,
They sought him all the forest thorough;
They only saw the cloud of night,
They only heard the roar of Yarrow!

No longer from thy window look,
Thou hast no son, thou tender mother!
No longer walk, thou lovely maid!
Alas, thou hast no more a brother!
No longer seek him east or west,
And search no more the forest thorough!
For, wandering in the night so dark,
He fell a lifeless corpse in Yarrow.

The tear shall never leave my cheek,
No other youth shall be my marrow;
I'll seek thy body in the stream,
And then with thee I'll sleep in Yarrow.
The tear did never leave her cheek,
No other youth became her marrow;
She found his body in the stream,
And now with him she sleeps in Yarrow.

* The air is supposed to be that of the preceding song.
--------------------------

Dowie Dens of Yarrow, The

There was a lady in the west
You scarce would find her marrow
She was courted by nine gentlemen
And a ploughboy lad in Yarrow.

These nine sat drinking at the wine
As oft they'd done before-O
And they made a vow among themselves
To fight with him on Yarrow

She's washed his face, she's combed his hair
As oft she's done before-O
Gave him a brand down by his side
To fight for her on Yarrow

As he came o'er yon high high hill
And down the glen so narrow
Nine armed men lay waiting him
Upon the braes of Yarrow

It's three he wounded, three withdrew
And three he's killed on Yarrow
Till her brother John stepped in behind
And pierced his body through

O father dear, I dreamed a dream
I fear it will prove sorrow
I dreamed I was pulling heather green
On the dowie dens of Yarrow

O daughter dear I read your dream
To you it will prove sorrow
Your true love John lies dead and slain
On the dowie dens of Yarrow

As she went o'er yon high high hill
And down the glen so narrow
Twas there she found her true love John
Lying cold and dead on Yarrow

She washed his face, she combed his hair
As she had done before-O
And she kissed the blood from off his wounds
On the dowie dens of Yarrow

Her hair it was three quarters long
The colour it was yellow
She tied it round his middle small
And carried him home to Yarrow

O daughter dear, dry up your tears
And weep no more for sorrow
I'll wed you to a better man
Than the ploughboy lad of Yarrow

O father dear you've seven sons
You may wed them all tomorrow
But the fairest flower among them all
Was the lad I wooed on Yarrow

Source: The Seeds of Love, Stephen Sedley, EFDSS,1967

Malcolm Douglas: The Sedley set is, as usual, a collation from several quite separate sources; in this case, Child, Greig and MacColl. Regrettably (and as usual), he didn't specify; at all events, it is not, as presented, a traditional text. The tune was noted by Lucy Broadwood from John Potts at Whitehope Farm, Peeblesshire, in 1907; and was first published in The Journal of the Folk Song Society, vol.V, issue 19, 1905.

The Corries, too, seem to have recorded a "mix-and match" collation from various different sources, so far as I can tell; probably based on Child 214E (itself probably a collation from other sources), which was printed in Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. They began it with

Late at e'en, drinking the wine.

Collected from John Potts, Peebleshire by Lucy Broadwood

The tune is often associated with "Andrew Lammie/The Trumpeter of Fyvie", Child 233

The Sedley set is, as usual, a collation from several quite separate sources; in this case, Child, Greig and MacColl. Regrettably (and as usual), he didn't specify; at all events, it is not, as presented, a traditional text. The tune was noted by Lucy Broadwood from John Potts at Whitehope Farm, Peeblesshire, in 1907; and was first published in The Journal of the Folk-Song Society, vol.V, issue 19, 1905.

Late at e'en, drinking the wine.

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