Jamie- Fairbanks (VT) 1939 Flanders B
[From Ancient Ballads III, 1963, Flanders. Their notes follow.
R. Matteson 2013, 2016]
Huntingtower
(Laws O23, possibly related to Child 232)
Child, IV, 299, quotes Aytoun to the effect that "Richie Story" (232) was recomposed as a romantic ditty "Huntingtower." "Huntingtower" (or "When ye Gang Awa, Jamie" as it is frequently entitled) was widely printed in books of Scottish songs and on British broadsides. It has gone into oral tradition and had some circulation in New England and the Maritime Provinces. For example, Helen Creighton and Doreen Senior, Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia (Toronto, 1950), 217, print a text quite like the two from Vermont below.
The Child ballad, "Richie Story," is based on the love affair of Lillias Fleming, daughter of the third" Earl of Wigton, who eloped with one of her father's footmen, Richard Storry, in 1673. The song tells its tale in two forms: one in which Richie is a real footman, and one in which Richie is a nobleman in disguise. Historically, it is clear that Storry was no nobleman in disguise. His wife resigned her portion after her indiscretion, and the Fleming family subsequently procured their former servant a post in the Custom House. "Huntingtower" has only the remotest connection with all this. The final stanza of a version like Flanders A is similar to lines such as these from Child 222 B*:
Hunten Tour an Tillebarn
The house of Athell is mine, Riche,
An ye sall haa them a'
Fan ever ye inclen, Riche.
and the "nobleman's disguise" is in the traditions of both songs. But beyond such trivialities there are few points for comparison. Laws, ABBB, 286, prints a discussion of "Huntingtower" with a brief bibliography.
Jamie- Sung by Mrs. John Fairbanks of North Springfield (VT) on October 5, 1939. Flanders B
"When ye gang awa', Jamie,
Far across the sea, laddie,
What will ye bring to me?
What will ye bring to me, laddie?"
"I'll bring ye hame a gown, Jeannie,
The brost in the town, lassie. [best]
And it shall be a silken gown,
With valenceenes all around, lassie."
"That's nae gift at all, Jamie,
That's nae gift at all, Laddie.
There is ne'er a gown in all the town
I'll wear when you're awa', Laddie."
"I'11 bring ye a braw young man, Jeannie,
I'll bring ye a braw young man, Lassie,
And he'll have lands and gold in store
And ye'll be happy more, Lassie."
"Be my good man yourself, Jamie,
Be my good man yourself, Laddie;
There is ne'er a man in all the town
Who'll be my ain true love, Laddie."
"That canst nae be at all,Jeannie,
That canst nae be at all, Lassie,
For I have wife and bairnies three
And I fear ye wouldn't agree, Lassie."
"Wae is me, my ain Jamie,
Wae is me, my ain Laddie.
Is there e'er a girl in all the town
Whose heart is broke as mine, Laddie?"
"Dry your tears, my ain Jeannie,
Dry your tears, my ain Lassie,
I've neither wife nor bairnies three
And all that's mine is yours, Lassie."