Recordings & Info 214. The Braes o Yarrow
[In the mid-1990s I wrote a book about this entitled "The Braes O'Yarrow". It is a fictional book that uses the lyrics as a basis for the tragic story set in small Appalachian town in the 1960s. It was written one night after studying the ballad when I woke from a dream, got the idea and by morning had outlined the entire book and written several chapters. The short novel was finished in the next several days. I have also recorded an Appalachian version (solo guitar) for Mel Bay Publications and done a youtube video of it. The book would make a great movie and the melody- a film score. "The Braes O'Yarrow" is one of the great tragedies.
Listen: Braes of Yarrow; Arranged and Performed (solo guitar) by Richard Matteson C 1992
Here's a brief definition of one of the main titles, Dowie Dens, from Alan C. at Mudcat Forum--
Dowie Dens o Yarrow: Dowie is simply a Scots word meaning dismal or dull. A den (or dean) is a narrow wooded valley. Hence if the phrase is read literally it means "dismal valleys of Yarrow" Dismal in this context meaning sad.
R. Matteson 2012]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index [three entries, I've included 215. Rare Willie because there is some overlapping. The first entry The Braes o Yarrow is a ballad based on or inspired by the traditional ballad by William Hamilton (1704-1754) also known as "Busk Ye, Busk Ye."]
3) Child Collection Index
4) 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
5) Folk Index
6) Pulling the Heather Green
7) Wiki
8) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
9) The Dowie Dens Of Yarrow- as sung by Janet Russell on Fyre & Sworde
10) Heathery Hills of Yarrow (text)- Bothy Band lyrics
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 13: The Dowie Dens of Yarrow/The Braes o Yarrow (189 Listings) Roud No. 5838: The Braes o Yarrow (30 Listings)
2) The "Braes of Yarrow" Tradition in America
3) The Bold Soldier of Yarrow- Cazden 1955
4) The Original Ballad of Dowie Dens- Veitch 1890
5) Historical Ballads: The Yarrow- Veitch; 1893
Alternate Titles
The Dowie Dens of Yarrow
The Derry Dens of Yarrow
The Dewy Dens of Yarrow
The Dewy Dewy Dens of Yarrow
The Dewy Dens of Darrow
The Dewy Dewy Dens of Darrow
The Bonnie Braes o' Yarrow
The Dowie Glens of Yarrow
The Yetts of Gowrie
The Derry Downs of Arrow
O May, They Morn
The Rashes
Sweet Willie
Yarrow
Willie Was Drowned in Yarrow
Willie Was Drowned in Gamery
Willie Was Drowned in Gamrie
Willie's Rare and Willie's Rare
Busk Ye, Busk Ye
Traditional Ballad Index: Braes of Yarrow (I), [Child 214]
NAME: Braes of Yarrow (I), The
DESCRIPTION: A man tells his bride-to-be to forget Yarrow where he killed her lover. She had warned her lover against the fight. Now her brother Douglas wants her to marry. She thinks of the dead body and won't marry. The groom tells her: "dry thy useless sorrow"
AUTHOR: William Hamilton (1704-1754)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1794 (Ritson, _Scotish Songs_, GreigDuncan2 refers to the 1869 reprint of the 1794 publication)
KEYWORDS: wedding fight death brother
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
GreigDuncan2 216, "The Braes of Yarrow" (1 fragment)
Lyle-Crawfurd2 195, "The Braes o Yarrow" (1 fragment)
ADDITIONAL: Charles W. Eliot, editor, English Poetry Vol II From Collins to Fitzgerald (New York, 1910), #341, pp. 572-576, "The Braes of Yarrow" (William Hamilton of Bangour)
Roud #5838
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(003), "Braes of Yarrow," The Poet's box (Glasgow), 1870
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Busk Ye
NOTES: Child notes to 214, "The Braes o Yarrow": "'The Braes of Yarrow' ('Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny bride'), by William Hamilton of Bangour, was suggested by the present ballad."
GreigDuncan2 is a fragment; Eliot is the basis for the description.
Broadside Bodleian, 2806 c.11(203), "Braes of Yarrow" ("Busk ye, busk ye, my bonnie, bonnie bride!"), The Poet's box (Glasgow), 1870 could not be downloaded and verified. It appears to be the same as NLScotland RB.m.143(003).
This is not to be confused with Broadside Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 28, "The Braes of Yarrow" ("Busk ye, busk ye, my bony [sic] bride"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838 by Allan Ramsay. That song ends with the man saying "O Queen of smiles, I ask nae mair, Since now my bony Bell's consenting." - BS
Traditional Ballad Index: Dowie Dens o Yarrow, The [Child 214]
DESCRIPTION: Many men feel that a woman (their sister?) should be separated from her lover/husband. They set out in a band to kill the lover. He manages to kill or wound most of them, but one of them kills him from behind. In many texts the lady dies of sorrow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1768 (Percy collection)
KEYWORDS: courting fight death family
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord,High)) US(MA,NE,SE) Canada(Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES: (26 citations)
Child 214, "The Braes o Yarrow" (18 texts)
Bronson 214, "The Braes o Yarrow" (42 versions+2 in addenda)
\GlenbuchatBallads, pp. 210-212, "Yarrow" (1 text)
Greig #57, pp. 1-2, "The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 215, "The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow" (20 texts, 25 tunes) {A=Bronson's #16; to B compare #1; D=#25?; E=#23; F=#9; G=#10 or #31?; H=#4; I=#5; J=#13; K=#8; L=#11; M=#12; N=#7; O is probably #18; P=#3; Q=#6; S=#14; T=#20; U=#17; W=#15; X=#22}
Dixon XIII, pp. 68-70, "The Braes o' Yarrow" (1 text)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 291-293, "The Braes of Yarrow" (1 short text plus a fragment, 1 tune; the "A" text is a composite lost love song with single stanzas from "The Braes o Yarrow," "The Curragh of Kildare," and others beyond identification; as a whole it cannot be considered a version of Child #214) {Bronson's #37}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 235-237, "The Dewy Dens of Darrow" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #42}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 255-259, "The Braes of Yarrow" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {A=Bronson's #42}
Leach, pp. 568-571, "The Braes o Yarrow" (1 text, with a Scandinavian text for comparison)
Friedman, p. 99, "The Braes o' Yarrow" (1 text which incorporates most verses of "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow")
OBB 150, "The Dowie Houms of Yarrow" (1 text)
FSCatskills 45, "The Dens of Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 24, "The Braes o Yarrow" (1 text, which Cox lists here though it is so worn down that it might as well be considered a lyric piece; the plot is entirely gone, compare the Hamilton text in Percy)
Ord, pp. 426-429, "The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
MacSeegTrav 17, "The Braes o' Yarrow" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 19, "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 77, "The Dewy Dells of Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Ontario 23, "The Braes of Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
TBB 10, "The Braes O' Yarrow" (1 text)
Niles 54, "The Braes o Yarrow" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Darling-NAS, pp. 54-55, "The Dewy Dens of Yarrow" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 115-116, "The Dowie Houms o Yarrow" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 179, "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (1 text)
cf. Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 362-367, "The Braes of Yarrow" (1 text, said to be William Hamilton's adaption of this song)
DT 214, YARROW1*
Roud #13
RECORDINGS:
Liam Clancy, "Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (on IRLClancy01)
Ewan MacColl, "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (on Lomax43, LomaxCD1743) {Bronson's #33}
John MacDonald, "The Dewie Dens of Yarrow" (on Voice03)
Willie Scott, "The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow" (on Voice17)
Davie [Davy] Stewart, "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #24}
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(120), "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow," unknown, c. 1890 [scan largely illegible but probably this piece]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" [Child 215]
cf. "Yarrow Streams [Child 214]" (story and some lines)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Lady and the Shepherd
The Dreary Dream
In the Lonely Glens of Yarrow
NOTES: Several scholars, among them Norman Cazden, have claimed that this song is the same as Child 215, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow." Certainly there has been exchange of verses. However, I (following Leach), would maintain that there is a difference: "The Dowie Dens" is about opposition to a marriage; "Willie Drowned" is about the loss of a love.
A brief summary of the whole discussion is found in Coffin's notes in Flanders-Ancient3. It's not clear what he believes, except that the two songs are a mess and quite mixed. Which can hardly be denied.
Incidentally, there is at least one historical instance of a man fighting off six enemies but then being wounded from behind: William the Marshal, famous for his service with Kings Richard I and John, and infamous for the role he allegedly played in "Queen Eleanor's Confession" [Child 156], was part of a party that was attacked in 1168. His horse was killed under him before he had donned all his armor, but he killed the horses of six attackers before one came from behind and disabled him by spearing him in the thigh (see Frank McLynn, _Richard & John: Kings at War_, Da Capo, 2007, pp. 62-63). - RBW
Traditional Ballad Index: Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie [Child 215]
DESCRIPTION: Willie drowns in the (Yarrow). (Details of how and why vary greatly). His lover dreams a dream of woe. She sets out and finds Willie's body, and uses her hair to pull him from the water. In many accounts she (promises to) die for sorrow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1733
KEYWORDS: death mourning courting drowning
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(MW) Canada Ireland
REFERENCES: (17 citations)
Child 215, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie" (9 texts)
Bronson 215, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie" (9 versions)
Dixon XII, pp. 66-67, "The Water o' Gamery" (1 text)
GlenbuchatBallads, pp. 22-24, "The Water of Gamery" (1 text)
Greig #113, pp. 1-2, "Willie's Drowned in Gamerie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1227, "Willie's Lost at Gamery" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Eddy 22, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune, erroneously listed as Child 214) {Bronson's #4}
Leach, pp. 571-572, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 99, "The Braes o' Yarrow" (1 text which is mostly Child 214 but incorporates parts of Child 215)
Ord, pp. 454-455, "Willie's Drowned at Gamerie" (1 text)
Fowke/MacMillan 78, "Willie Drowned in Ero" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBB 93, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (1 text)
PBB 62, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (1 text)
DT 215, YARROW2* YARROW3*
ADDITIONAL: Peter Buchan, Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1828 ("Digitized by Microsoft")), Vol I, pp. 245-248, 315, "Willie's Drowned in Gamery" (1 text)
W. Christie, editor, Traditional Ballad Airs (Edinburgh, 1876 (downloadable pdf by University of Edinburgh, 2007)), Vol I, pp. 66-67, "Willie's Drowned at Gamery" (1 text, 1 tune)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; notes to #425, "But think na' ye my heart was sair///?" (1 text)
Roud #206
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow" [Child 214]
cf. "Susan Strayed on the Briny Beach" [Laws K19] (plot)
cf. "Willie's Drowned in Gamerie" (story)
cf. "Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (story)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Willie's Rare
NOTES: Several scholars, among them Norman Cazden, have claimed that this song is the same as Child 214, "The Dowie Dens o Yarrow/The Braes o Yarrow." Certainly there has been exchange of verses. However, I (following Leach), would maintain that there is a difference: "The Dowie Dens" is about opposition to a marriage; "Willie Drowned" is about the loss of a love.
A brief summary of the whole discussion is found in Coffin's notes in Flanders-Ancient3. It's not clear what he believes, except that the two songs are a mess and quite mixed. Which can hardly be denied.
Palgrave's _Golden Treasury_ includes a piece (item CLXIII) titled "The Braes of Yarrow," credited to J. Logan, which is clearly built upon this theme -- but it looks like a literary rewrite. Palgrave's next item (CLXIV), "Willy Drowned in Yarrow," is the real thing, though probably somewhat touched up by his (unnamed) source.
Child lists "Annan Water" as an appendix to this ballad, though it appears to me that, if it's related to any of the Child ballads, it's #216, "The Mother's Malison, or, Clyde's Water." - RBW
Greig: "These two ballads ['Willie's Drowned in Yarrow' from Whitelaw's text, and 'Willie's Drowned in Gamerie' from Buchan's text] have got mixed up to some extent; but they are in the main so different that it is not easy accounting for the connection." And there is also Greig #87 "Willie's Drowned in Gamerie," indexed by that name, of which Greig's correspondent says, "it can have no connection with the 'Willie's Drowned in Gamrie,' as given in Buchan's Ballads of the North, nor yet the Lovers who were drowned in Clyde's Waters.'"
Buchan is Greig's source. Buchan has the story (also quoted by Child): "The unfortunate hero of this ballad, was a factor to the laird of Kinmundy. As the young woman to whom he was to be united in connubial wedlock resided in Gamery, a small fishing town on the east coast of the Murray Frith, the marriage was to be solemnized in the church of that parish, to which he was on his way, when overtaken by some of the heavy breakers which overflow a part of the road he had to pass, and dash, with impetuous fury, against the lofty and adamantine rocks with which it is skirted. The young damsel, in her fifteenth year, also met with a watery grave, being the wages of her mother's malison. This ballad will remind the reader of the Drowned Lovers, who shared the same fate in the river Clyde [see Child 216, 'The Mother's Malison, or Clyde's Water']."
Re Greig's comment above, compare Buchan's text to Alexander Whitelaw, _A Book of Scottish Song_ (Glasgow, 1845), p. 456, "Willie's Drowned in Yarrow," cited for "Willie Drowned in Yarrow." - BS
Child Collection: Child Ballad 214- The Braes o Yarrow
Child --Artist --Title ---Album --Year --Length-- Have
214 Alex Campbell The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Alex McEwen The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Alex McEwen The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Alex Troup The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Alexander Clark The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Alison McMorland & Peta Webb The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Alison McMorland & Peta Webb 1980 5:22 Yes
214 Alison McMorland, Geordie McIntyre & Kirsty Potts Braes O' Yarrow Ballad Tree 2003 3:45 Yes
214 BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Hamish MacCunn - Land of the Mountain and the Flood 1995
No
214 Bell Duncan The Dowie Dens O Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Belle Luther Richards Dewy Dells of Yarrow The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
214 Belle Stewart Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The Stewarts of Blair [1] 1994 3:48 Yes
214 Belle Stewart Dowie Dens of Yarrow A Prospect of Scotland - Topic Sampler 5 1968 No
214 Belle Stewart Dowie Dens of Yarrow Terry Yarnell Collection 1970-1973 4:48 Yes
214 Bert Jansch Yarrow Moonshine 2001 5:12 Yes
214 Bert Jansch Yarrow Pentangling - The Collection 2004 5:06 Yes
214 Bob Davenport Dowie Dens of Yarrow John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
214 Bob Davenport & Roger Digby The Green Banks of Yarrow Send Your Best Men Forward 2001 3:06 Yes
214 Bob Davenport & The Rakes The Dowie Dens of Yarrow 1977 1977 3:17 Yes
214 Bob Davenport & The Rakes The Green Banks of Yarrow The Red Haired Lad 1997 2:28 Yes
214 Brian Johnstone The Dowie Houms (Den) O' Yarrow Music Whaur I'm Frae - Songs O' the Scots-Anglo Border, Vol. 2 2003 No
214 Bridgid Murphy The Dewy Glens of Yarrow Early Ballads in Ireland 1968-1985 1985 3:36 Yes
214 Brogue The Dowie Dens O'Yarrow Rhythm of the Celts 2007 No
214 Carolyn Hester Yarrow Dear Companion 1995 4:41 Yes
214 Carolyn Hester Yarrow Carolyn Hester 1994 4:42 Yes
214 Cassie Hastie The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Celticburn The Braes O Yarrow Shake Loose the Border 2006 3:44 Yes
214 Chantan The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Primary Colours 1998 4:39 Yes
214 Clive Powell Dowie Dens of Yarrow Burrow Knowe 2003 No
214 Corinne Bucey Yarrow New Voice in Town! 1964 3:27 Yes
214 Dave Sewell The Dowy Dens O' Yarrow Live at the Watermans Arms, Richmond, Surrey 1998 3:02 Yes
214 Davie Stewart The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Davie Stewart 1999 No
214 Davie Stewart The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow 1975 No
214 Davie Stewart The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Classic Ballads of Britain & Ireland - Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales, Vol 2 2000 3:59 Yes
214 Davie Stewart The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5: The Child Ballads 2 1961 3:53 Yes
214 Davie Stewart The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Go On, Sing Another Song 2002 6:47 Yes
214 Derek Sarjeant & Hazel King The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Folk Matters 1973 5:39 Yes
214 Dick Gaughan Dowie Dens O Yarrow Outlaws & Dreamers 2001 5:57 Yes
214 Dick Gaughan Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The Definitive Collection 2006 5:58 Yes
214 Eddie & Finbar Furey The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The Farewell Album 1976 8:07 Yes
214 Elizabeth Craig The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Elizabeth Nicholson & Stringed Migration The Dewey Dens of Yarrow Fly Not Yet 2008 4:59 Yes
214 Elsie Johnson The Dowie Dens O Yarrow The Lover's Stone 1975 No
214 Elsie Miln The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Emily Smith The Dowie Dens O'Yarrow No.1 Scottish - Traditional Music from the RSAMD 2007 No
214 Ethan Philbrick & Mollie Glazer Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Two Friends, Two Cellos 2010 No
214 Ewan MacColl The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Scotland 1951, 1953, and 1958 (Lomax T3257) 1951 4:16 Yes
214 Ewan MacColl The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Child Ballads) - Vol. 1 1961 3:34 Yes
214 Ewan MacColl The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 5 [Reissue] 196? No
214 Ewan MacColl The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 3 1956 2:57 Yes
214 Ewan MacColl The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Folksongs from Scotland No
214 Ewan MacColl The Dowie Dens of Yarrow World Library of Folk and Primitive Music, Vol. 3 - Scotland 1998 2:21 Yes
214 Ewan MacColl The Dowie Dens of Yarrow [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 9 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1968 4:08 Yes
214 Ewan MacColl The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow Ballads - Murder Intrigue Love Discord 2009 3:02 Yes
214 Fiona Davidson The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Fonnsheen - Celtic Harp & Song 1996 7:35 Yes
214 Fling The Heathery Hills of Yarrow + Donegal Bay A Ditch Near Cree 2011 No
214 Gallery Dowie Dens of Yarrow The Wind That Shakes the Barley 1972 4:07 Yes
214 Gary & Vera Aspey The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Seeing Double 1979 8:40 Yes
214 Gordeanna McCulloch The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Sheath & Knife - Traditional Songs & Ballads from Scotland 2000 4:15 Yes
214 Gordeanna McCulloch The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow New Voices from Scotland 1965 4:06 Yes
214 Gordeanna McCulloch The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Three Score and Ten - A Voice to the People 2009 4:14 Yes
214 Heather Heywood The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow By Yon Castle Wa' 1993 5:03 Yes
214 Iain MacGillivray The Dowie Dens O'Yarrow Rolling Home 1986 4:33 Yes
214 Ian Campbell Dowie Dens of Yarrow The Cock Doth Craw - Ballads from Scotland 1968 No
214 Inge Frimout-Hei The Dowie Dens O'Yarrow Kyra & Max 2002 No
214 Isla Cameron The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The Jupiter Book of Ballads 1962 3:16 Yes
214 Isla Cameron Yarrow Isla Cameron 1966 No
214 Isla Cameron Yarrow The Best of Scottish Folk Music 1967 No
214 Isla MacDonald Dowie Houns O' Yarrow Folksong '65 - Volume 1 1965 No
214 J.C. Cowie The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 James Mason The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 James Troup The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Jane Lobban The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Jane Lobban The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Jane Turriff Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Singin Is Ma Life 1995 6:28 Yes
214 Jane Turriff Dowie Dens of Yarrow Root & Branch 2 - the Fifties 1947-63 2000 No
214 Jane Turriff The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Songs from the Folk Music Revival in Scotland - Ailie Munro 1984 4:24 Yes
214 Janet Russell The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Fyre and Sworde - Songs of the Border Reivers 2000 8:28 Yes
214 Jean Matthew The Dowie Dens of Yarrow BBC Recordings No
214 Jean Redpath Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Song of the Seals 1978 4:29 Yes
214 Jennifer Clarke Skromeda The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The Great Silkie - Tales of the Celts 2001 4:04 Yes
214 Jimmy MacBeath The Dowie Dens O Yarrow Tramps & Hawkers 2002 2:39 Yes
214 Jimmy MacBeath The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Tramps & Hawkers - Jimmy MacBeath 1 1975 No
214 Jimmy McBeath The Braes O' Yarrow The Baffled Knight - The Classic Ballads 2 1976 No
214 Joanna Cazden The Dens of Yarrow Folksongs of the Catskills - A Celebration of Camp Woodland 2001 No
214 John A. MacDonald The Dewy Dells of Yarrow The Edith Fowke Collection No
214 John Jacob Niles The Dreary Dream The Ballads of John Jacob Niles 1960 2:27 Yes
214 John MacDonald The Dewie Dens of Yarrow The Voice of the People, Vol. 3: O'Er His Grave the Grass Grew Green - Tragic Ballads 1998 2:09 Yes
214 John MacDonald The Dewy Dells of Yarrow The Edith Fowke Collection No
214 John MacDonald The Dewy Dens O' Yarrow The Singing Molecatcher of Moray 1975 No
214 John Ross The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 John Sutherland The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Johnny Mowat The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Joni Mitchell The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The Spectrum Theatre; Philadelphia, Pa 1976 4:05 Yes
214 JSD Band Dowie Dens of Yarrow Travelling Days 1973 4:21 Yes
214 Judy Collins Dens of Yarrow Paradise 2010 4:32 Yes
214 Karine Polwart Dowie Dens of Yarrow Fairest Floo'er 2007 6:02 Yes
214 Kate Burke & Ruth Hazleton The Dewy Dells of Yarrow The Bee-Loud Glade 1999 3:49 Yes
214 Liam Clancy Downie Dens of Yarrow Irish Troubadour 1999 4:40 Yes
214 Lily Delorme Dewy Dens of Yarrow The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
214 Logan English The Dewy Dens of Yarrow American Folk Ballads 1962 No
214 Loren Auerbach & Bert Jansch Yarrow After the Long Night + Playing the Games 2000 4:27 Yes
214 Mad Pudding The Dewy Dells of Yarrow Dirt and Stone 1996 8:07 Yes
214 Male Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Marc Ellington Yarrow Rains/Reins of Changes 2004 5:39 Yes
214 Marc Ellington Yarrow Clogs 1972 No
214 Margaret MacArthur The Braes of Yarrow Ballads Thrice Twisted 1999 3:01 Yes
214 Marijan & Morgenblume Yarrow My Heart's Home - Collaborations 2005 4:31 Yes
214 Mary Anne Stewart The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The Bonny Hoose O' Blair 1979 No
214 Mary Anne Stewart The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The Voice of the People, Vol. 23: Good People, Take Warning - Ballads sung by British and Irish Traditional Singers 2012 No
214 Max Hunter Dewey Dens of Yarrow The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 4:39 Yes
214 Max Hunter The Dewy Dens of Yarrow Max Hunter of Springfield, Missouri - Ozark Songs and Ballads 1963 No
214 Meg Baird, Helena Espvall & Sharron Kraus The Derry Dems of Arrow Leaves from Off the Tree 2006 3:34 Yes
214 Michèle Welborn Dowie Dens of Yarrow Tongue and Groove 1998 No
214 Mick Hanly The Dewey Dens of Yarrow As I Went Over Blackwater 1980 6:42 Yes
214 Mick Hanly & Micheal O'Donnell The Heathery Hills of Yarrow Celtic Folkweave 1974 6:04 Yes
214 Mirk Dowie Dens O Yarrow Tak a Dram Afore Ye Go 1982 4:06 Yes
214 Miss Vass The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Modryn Yarrow Dark Matters 1998 5:17 Yes
214 Molly in the Crowd Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Live at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern, Grove City 2006 5:45 Yes
214 Mrs. Arlie Fraser The Braes of Yarrow The Edith Fowke Collection No
214 Mrs. Arlington Fraser The Braes of Yarrow The Edith Fowke Collection No
214 Mrs Cameron The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Mrs. Lola Stanley The Derry Dems of Arrow The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 3:38 Yes
214 Mrs McLain (McLean) The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Mrs Rettie The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Mrs Thompson The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Mrs Vass The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Mrs William Duncan The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Murray McLachlan The Dowie Dens O Yarrow Piano Music from Scotland 1990 No
214 Neil MacDonald The Dewy Dells of Yarrow The Edith Fowke Collection No
214 Paddie Bell The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Scottish Reflections Past and Present 1996 4:54 Yes
214 Paul & Linda Adams The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Among the Old Familiar Mountains 1976 No
214 Pegasus Dowie Dence O' Yarrow Pegasus 1977 4:41 Yes
214 Peggy Seeger The Braes of Yarrow [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 9 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1968 1:31 Yes
214 Peggy Seeger The Dewy Dens of Yarrow A Song for You and Me 1960 3:07 Yes
214 Peggy Seeger The Dewy Dens of Yarrow [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 9 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1968 3:29 Yes
214 Pentangle Yarrow Open the Door 1984 4:35 Yes
214 Pentangle Yarrow The Time Has Come - 1967-1973 2007 5:09 Yes
214 Pentangle Yarrow One More Road & Live 1994 2007 5:04 Yes
214 Pentangle Yarrow Live 1994 1995 5:02 Yes
214 Pentangle Yarrow Live in Chur, Switzerland 1991 4:35 Yes
214 Peter Christie The Dowie Dens O Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Phil O'Flaherty Dowey Houms of Yarrow + Cooley's Reel Too Fond of Walking 2003 6:04 Yes
214 Raymond Crooke Dowie Dens O' Yarrow <website> 2007- 4:42 No
214 Red Heart the Ticker The Braes of Yarrow Your Name in Secret I Would Write 2011 No
214 Richard Carlin Dowie Dens of Yarrow In Come a Bumblebee - Traditional Songs and Tunes on English Concertina 1977 3:42 Yes
214 Robert Taylor The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Robin Hall Dowie Dens of Yarrow Robin Sings Again 1964 No
214 Robin James Hurt The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The Spider's Legs 2007 No
214 Rod Paterson The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Up to Date 2000 8:56 Yes
214 Rolf Cahn Yarrow California Folk Concert with Rolf Cahn 1959 6:42 Yes
214 Rory & Alex McEwen The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Great Scottish Ballads 1956 2:25 Yes
214 Ross Kennedy & Archie MacAllister The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The White Swan 1999 3:28 Yes
214 Saffron Summerfield The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The Early Years 2000 5:14 Yes
214 Saffron Summerfield The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Salisbury Plain 1974 5:14 Yes
214 Sara Grey Derry Dems of Arrow A Long Way from Home 2005 3:53 Yes
214 Sasha MacKenzie The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Songs for Celtic Harp 1993 6:29 Yes
214 Savourna Stevenson, Aly Bain & Frank Usher The Dowie Dens O Yarrow Tickled Pink 1985 No
214 Scatter Dowie Dens of Yarrow The Mountain Announces 2007 4:49 Yes
214 Shelagh Mcdonald Dowie Dens of Yarrow Borderlands - The Best of Scottish Folk 2006 6:50 Yes
214 Shelagh McDonald Dowie Dens of Yarrow Stargazer 1972 6:07 Yes
214 Shelagh McDonald Dowie Dens of Yarrow The All New Electric Muse - The Story of Folk Into Rock 2008 6:51 Yes
214 Shelagh McDonald Dowie Dens of Yarrow (Version 1) Let No Man Steal Your Thyme 2005 6:52 Yes
214 Shelagh McDonald Dowie Dens of Yarrow (Version 2) Let No Man Steal Your Thyme 2005 7:30 Yes
214 Shepheard, Spiers & Watson Dowie Dens O Yarrow They Smiled as We Cam In 2005 No
214 Singer from Port Gordon The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Stanley Robertson Dowie Dens of Yarrow Reg Hall Archive 1953-1977 4:56 Yes
214 Steve Tilston The Dowie Dens of Yarrow And So It Goes .. 1996 4:37 Yes
214 Tammerlin The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Wind Horses 2002 3:20 Yes
214 The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow Hamish MacCunn [Land of the Mountain & the Flood] 1995 No
214 The Bothy Band The Heathery Hills of Yarrow After Hours (Recorded Live in Paris) 1984 5:07 Yes
214 The Corries Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Heritage 2001 5:18 Yes
214 The Corries The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Strings and Things + Live at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh 1999 5:19 Yes
214 The Morrigan Yarrow Wreckers 1996 4:21 Yes
214 Tim Eriksen Yarrow Banjo, Fiddle and Voice 2012 2:59 Yes
214 Unknown The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Female Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Female Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Female Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (3) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Female Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (4) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Female Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (5) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Female Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (6) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Male Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Male Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Male Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (3) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Male Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (4) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Unknown Singer The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 William Duncan The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 William Mathieson The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 William Mathieson The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 William McKenzie The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 William Ross The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 William Walker The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
214 Willie Beattie The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow Up in the North and Down in the South - Songs and Music from the Mike Yates Collection 1964-2000 2001 No
214 Willie Beattie The Dowie Dens of Yarrow Borderers - Ballads, Songs & Tunes from the Scottish Borders 2005 No
214 Willie Scott The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow The Voice of the People, Vol. 17: It Fell on a Day, a Bonny Summer Day - Ballads 1998 4:58 Yes
214 Willie Scott The Dowie Dens of Yarrow The Shepherd's Song (Border Ballads) 1998 No
214 Willie Williamson The Dowie Dens O Yarrow Travellers' Tales Vol 1 - Songs, Stories & Ballads from Scottish Travellers 2005 No
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
214. THE BRAES OF YARROW
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 291 / Cox, F-S South, 137 / Siegmeister, Sgs Early Am, 4.0.
Local Titles: The Dewy Dens of Yarrow.
Story Types: A: Seven sons, two of them twins, battle for their true love in the dens of Yarrow. The girl dreams she has been gathering pretty heather blooms in Yarrow. Her mother reads her dreams to mean that her Jimmy has been slain. The girl then searches him up and down through Yarrow and finds him dead behind a bush. She washes his face, combs his hair, bathes
the wound, and, wrapping her yellow hair about his waist, pulls him home. She tells her mother to make her death-bed, and, although her mother promises her a better love than the one slain, she dresses in clean white clothes, goes to the river, and lies down to die on the banks.
Examples: Siegmeister.
Discussion: The story in Child is that of a girl who dreams she has been pulling heather on the braes of Yarrow and wishes her true-love not to go to the highlands as she fears her cruel brother will betray him for stealing her from her family (other similar reasons are given in certain texts). Nevertheless, while drinking the night before, he has pledged himself to a fight on
the braes at dawn and sets out in spite of her pleas. At Yarrow, he is attacked by nine of her family and, although killing four and wounding five, is knifed to death from behind. One of the brothers then goes to tell the sister of the deed. She hastens to the braes and, seeing her lover dead, faints and/or drinks his blood, kisses him, and combs his hair in her grief. She either ties her own three-quarter-length hair about her neck and chokes herself to death, takes her lover's body home and pregnant dies of a broken heart, or refuses the sympathy offered her by her father. In some versions, she curses the oxen and kye that have caused the original trouble between the two families. (See Child, IV, 164.)
The Type A text does not follow the Child texts (A-L) summarized above, but rather seems a variation of the Q-S ( The Dowie Dens of T arrow) series, a group of texts in which ten lovers fight over a girl and in which the father or sister is the dream-reader and clairvoyant of the lover's death. The two titles (Siegmeister's in Sgs Early Am and Child's, Q-S) are almost identical, "dewy" replacing "dowie". The fight among the seven sons over the girl is a logical step from the confused ten lovers beginning in Child Q-S. The presence of the mother, instead of the father or sister, as reader of the dream and encourager of the bereft girl, is no great change, particularly when we note the insertion of the "make my bed" cliche in the Siegmeister text and remember the similarity of this situation to the ones in Barbara Allen (Child 84) and Lady Alice (Child 85) where the mother is present. And, finally, the girl does die in both Child Q and S, even though the dressing in white and the return to the river are not in Child.
The other American texts cannot be traced to Child's The Braes of Yarrow- with any finality. Cox, F-S South, 137 points out that his West Virginia text, which came to America from Scotland, is from the William Hamilton poem that Ramsay printed on p. 242 of the third or London edition of the Tea-Table Miscellany, 1733. (See also Anderson's British Poets, Edinburgh, 1794, IX, 426.) This poem is noted by Child, IV, 163, footnote to have affected his J, K, and particularly L versions. Hamilton based it on the ballad story, and it consists of a conversation between three speakers. A man is requesting a bride to forget her past and rejoice in him, while a friend wonders why she is so sad and what story lies behind the situation. It is then revealed that the
man has slain the girl's lover on the braes of Yarrow, and she cannot forgive him or forget. The poem ends indefinitely with the new lover still trying to persuade the girl of the futility of her mourning. The Cox text retains this story, although it is incomplete and the speakers are not marked as in the poem. Stanzas I 6 (Cox i 6) and 1516 (Cox 78) are reproduced with almost no textual variation. Thus the lyricism and poetic style of the sophisticated work have been retained in oral tradition.
The Child Braes of Yarrow undoubtedly came over to Maine in a traditional form. Barry, Brit Bids Me, 291 reports a stanza from what he terms a lost version of Child 214 in a song sung by a Maine woman to the tune of Barbara Allen. The stanza, which begins "Last night I made my bed so wide, Tonight I'll make it narrow", is similar to Stanza 19 in Quid L, but is also of a very conventional nature. Barry also prints a fragment that contains the word "Yarrow" and a stanza similar to one that Child, IV, 179, thought had intruded into Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow (Child 215) from 214. See Child 215 in this study. And, finally, he found another Maine woman who had heard Child A of The Braes of Yarrow sung in Ireland in her youth.
Folk Index: Dowie Dens of/o' Yarrow [Ch 214]
Rt - Rare Willie Drowned in the Yarrow
At - Brae's of/o Yarrow ; Lady and the Shepherd
Rm - Dear Companion
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p 99 [1770s] (Brae's of/o Yarrow)
Cahn, Rolf. Night at the Ash Grove, World Pacific WP 1254, LP (1958), trk# B.03 (Yarrow)
Calvert, Mrs.. Kidson, Frank (ed.) / Traditional Tunes. A Collection of Ballad Airs, S.R. Publishers, Bk (1970/1891), p 21 [1880s]
Carlin, Richard. In Come a Bumblebee, Folkways FW 8846, LP (1977), trk# B.07
Cazden, Joanna. Folk Songs of the Catskills. A Celebration of Camp Woodland, Cob's Cobble 1005, CD (2001), trk# 13 (Dewey Dens/Dells of Yarrow)
Corries. Strings and Things, Fiesta FLP 1832, LP (1970), trk# B.05
Fannie, Eagan. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p137/# 24 [1917/02] (Brae's of/o Yarrow)
Edwards, George. Cazden, Norman, et.al. / Folk Songs of the Catskills, SUNY Press, sof (1982), p181/# 45 [1940s] (Dens of Yarrow)
Edwards, George. Cazden, Norman / Abelard Folk Song Book, Abelard-Schuman, Bk (1958), p 40 (Dens of Yarrow)
English, Logan. American Folk Ballads, Monitor MF 388, LP (1962), trk# A.02 (Dewey Dens/Dells of Yarrow)
Hadley, Sarah Jane. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p294/N 54C [1933] (In the Lonely Glens of Yarrow)
Hanly, Mick. As I Went Over Blackwater, Green Linnet SIF 3007, LP (1981), trk# 4 (Dewey Dens/Dells of Yarrow)
Hester, Carolyn. Carolyn Hester, Columbia CL 1796, LP (1962), trk# A.04 (Yarrow)
Hunter, Max. Ozark Mountain Folksongs, Folk Legacy FSA 011, Cas (1963), trk# A.02 (Dewey Dens/Dells of Yarrow)
Insch, W. M.. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p105/# 42B [1930s] (Brae's of/o Yarrow)
Jenkins, Tim. Bonnie Sue Cleland; Tales of Love and Death, Jenkins, CD (2011), trk# 2
MacArthur, Margaret. MacArthur, Margaret / Ballads Thrice Twisted, Whetstone WR 05, CD (1999), trk# 8 (Brae's of/o Yarrow)
MacColl, Ewan. World Library of Folk and Primitive Music: Scotland, Vol 3, Rounder 1743, CD (1998), trk# 6 [1951]
MacColl, Ewan. MacColl, Ewan / Folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland, Oak, Sof (1965), p30
MacColl, Ewan. Clayre, Alasdair (ed.) / 100 Folk Songs and New Songs, Wolfe, Sof (1968), p 85
MacColl, Ewan. English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol. 5, Washington WLP 719, LP (1963/1956), trk# B.01 MacDonald, John. Fowke, Edith (ed.) / The Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs, Penguin, Sof (1973), p178/#77 [1961] (Dewey Dens/Dells of Yarrow)
Miller, William. Buchan, Norman (ed.) / 101 Scottish Songs, Collins, poc (1962), p132
Niles, John Jacob. Best of John Jacob Niles, Tradition S 2055, LP (196?), trk# A.03 (Dreary Dream)
Redpath, Jean. Song of the Seals, Philo PH 1054, LP (1978), trk# B.01
Stewart, Davie. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5. The Child Ballads, Vol. II, Caedmon TC 1146, LP (1961), trk# A.10 [1950s]
Strachan, Mary. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p104/# 42A [1930s] (Brae's of/o Yarrow)
Tolliver, Creswell. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p289/N 54A [1932] (Lady and the Shepherd)
Unidentified Singer. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p291/N 54B [1909] (Dreary Dream)
Brae's of/o Yarrow [Ch 214]
Us - Dowie Dens of/o' Yarrow
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p568
Pulling the Heather Green
by Scott Elliott
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 48, No. 190 (Oct. - Dec., 1935), pp. 352-361
In the four ballads discussed in this section, we see the phrase "pulling the heather green" and its variations used in close connection with pregnant women who desire herbal aid or magic in connection with either an abortion or a safe delivery.
Dreaming of "puing the heather green" is premonitory of death in ten versions of "The Braes o Yarrow (214 A, C-F, I-M)." In two other copies, the heroine dreams of pulling the heather-bell (0, S).[2] In the Macmath MS., she dreams of pulling apples green, and in the Herd version, she dreams of the "birk sae green." In the Percy text, the dream is related by the heroine, and her sister tells her the significance of it: [3]
" 'Sister, sister, I dreamt a dream -
You read a dream to gude, 0!
That I was puing the heather green
On the bonny braes of Yarrow.' "
" 'Sister, sister, I'll read your dream,
But alas! it's unto sorrow;
Your good lord is sleeping sound,
He is lying dead on Yarrow.' "
When we consider that "apples green" and "birch green" are substituted for "heather green" in some versions of this ballad, we cannot place too much emphasis on the fact that most of the ballad maidens dreamed of pulling "heather." The explanation of this incident would seem to lie in the fact that "green" is connected with all these dreams. Comparative folklore reveals that this is the case. The color green has frequently been associated with fairies, witches and the dead; and in folklore, the color green has been constantly connected with the supernatural. [4]
Child quotes Kinlock as saying on this point that "to dream of green is a presage of misfortune."[5] With regard to the incident
in question in "The Braes o Yarrow," Wimberly goes on to add: "that the dream in the Macmath text should be of 'apples green' may be doubly significant by reason, first, of the ill omen that attaches to green, and second, the magic character of the apple and the apple tree in traditions the world over. The same general observation may safely be made with respect to the dream incident in the Herd test of our ballad: 'I dreamd I pu'd the birk sae green.' The sacred character of the birch is illustrated by our best ballad of the supernatural, 'The Wife of Usher's Well (179),' according to which three dead sons return to their mother.
Their hats were made of 'birk' that grew at the gates of Paradise."[6]
Footnotes:
2 Lowry C. Wimberly, "Death and Burial Lore in the English and Scottish Popular Ballads," University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism, No. 8 (1927), 64-66.
3 Ibid.
4 Ellis, ed., Brand's Popular Antiquities, II, 476ff.
5 Child, op. cit., IV, 162.
6. Wimberly, loc. cit
Mainly Norfolk: The Dowie Dens of Yarrow
[Roud 13; Child 214; Ballad Index C214; trad.]
The Border Ballad The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow was in the repertoire of many traditional and revival singers:
Jimmy MacBeath sang The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow on November 14, 1953 in a recording by Alan Lomax that was released in 2002 on his Rounder Records anthology Tramps and Hawkers.
Ewan MacColl sang The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow in 1956 on his and A.L. Lloyd's Riverside anthology The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Volume III.
Davie Stewart sang The Dowie Dens of Yarrow in a recording by Hamish Henderson in 1954/55 or 1962 that was released in 1978 on his epomymous Topic LP Davie Stewart. Another recording by Alan Lomax in London in 1957 was included in 2002 on Stewart's Rounder Records CD Go On, Sing Another Song. One of these two versions was also included on the anthology The Child Ballads 2 (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 5; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1968).
Belle Stewart sang The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow on the 1965 Topic record The Stewarts of Blair. This track was included in 1966 on the Topic Sampler No 5, A Prospect of Scotland.
Grodeanna McCulloch sang The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow in 1965 on the Topic album New Voices from Scotland. This track was included in 1997 on the Fellside CD reissue of her Topic album Sheath and Knife. and in 2009 on Topic 70th anniversary anthology Three Score and Ten.
Wille Scott sang The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow on November 3, 1967 in a recording by Bill Leader that was released on his 1968 Topic record The Shepherd's Song. This track was included in 1998 on the Topic anthology It Fell on a Day, a Bonny Summer Day (The Voice of the People Series Volume 17).
Shelagh McDonald sang Dowie Dens of Yarrow in 1971 on her second and last album, Stargazer.
John MacDonald sang The Dewie Dens o' Yarrow in November 1974 in a recording by Tony Engle and Tony Russell that was released on his 1975 Topic record The Singing Molecatcher of Morayshire. This track was included in 1998 on the Topic anthology O'er His Grave the Grass Grew Green (The Voice of the People Series Volume 3).
Bob Davenport and The Rakes sang The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow in 1977 on their Topic LP 1977.
Alison McMorland and Peta Webb sang The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow in 1980 on their Topic LP Alison McMorland & Peta Webb.
Janet Russell sang Dowie Dens of Yarrow in 1998 on the Fellside CD Fyre and Sworde: Songs of the Border Reivers. The album's sleeve notes commented:
Arguably one of the finest of the Border Ballads. In simple terms the theme is Romeo and Juliet. This fits conveniently with the reiving theme of two families is dispute. It also deals with the theme of the girl courting beneath her station in life. Whatever, the young man is clearly regarded as unsuitable by the girl's family. As with many of the songs with no clear historical connection attempts have been made to give the song a real-life background. A version of the song collected from one William Walsh, a Peebleshire cottar and poet has as its opening line, “At Dryhope lived a lady fair”. This has led to the theory that the lady was the daughter of Scott of Dryhope, a notorious Reiver. Whether or not it has an historical basis becomes less significant against the overwhelming tragedy of the song. Janet's text, given to her by Sandra Kerr, has a place name “Thurrow” which we have not been able to locate. The text was collected in the Borders and so it has probably been altered by the oral process from Yarrow. The text has several ritual, magical and folklore allusions: the dream, the long yellow hair being wrapped three times around the body, etc. Janet's stunning delivery of the song serves to illustrate why these songs are often called the “Big Ballads”.
Dick Gaughan sang The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow in 2001 on his Greentrax CD Outlaws and Dreamers; this recording was also included in 2006 on his anthology The Definitive Collection.
Willie Scott sings The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow
There lived a lady in the north,
You could scarely find her marrow,
She was courted by nine noblemen
And her ploughman boy o' Yarrow.
As he came ower yon high, high hills
And doon yon path sae narrow,
There he spied nine noblemen
For to fight with him on Yarrow.
There was three he slew and three withdrew,
And three lay deadly wounded,
Till her brother John stepped in behind,
And pierced his body through.”
“Go home, go home, you false young man,
And tell your sister sorrow,
That her true-love John lies dead and gone
In the dowie dens o' Yarrow.”
As he gaed ower yon high, high hills
And doon yon path sae narrow,
There he spied his sister dear
She was coming fast for Yarrow.”
“ Oh, brother dear, I've dreamt a dream
And I hope it will not prove sorrow.
I dreamt that your were spilling blood
In the dowie dens o' Yarrow.”
“Oh, sister dear, I'll read your dream
And I'm sure it will prove sorrow.
Your true-love John lies dead and gone
And a bloody corpse on Yarrow.”
Now this fair maid's hair was three-quarters long
And the colour of it was yellow.
She tied it roond his middle small,
As she's carried him hame tae Yarrow.
“Oh, daughter dear, dry up your tear
And dwell no more in sorrow,
For I'll wed you to far higher degree
Than your ploughman boy o' Yarrow.”
“Oh, father dear, you have seven sons,
You can wed them all tomorrow.
But a fairer flooer there never bloomed
Than my ploughman boy o' Yarrow.”
---------------
The Dowie Dens Of Yarrow- as sung by Janet Russell on Fyre & Sworde. The booklet of the CD says the text Janet Russell sings was given to her by Sandra Kerr. (Malcolm Douglas) The town of Thurrow is not identified.The only version of the song that mentions Thoro or Thorro, so far as I know, is Child's example J, which Roberto has already mentioned. It was noted from Marion Miller, Threepwood, Melrose, apparently by Thomas Wilkie, presumably in the first decade of the 19th century or a little earlier. Not the text we have here, though.
The hill is almost invariably just a "high, high hill" without a name; the only instance I know of where it is identified is in Jane Turriff's set, where it is referred to as "yon Tenniesbank", this being a localisation to the Tinnis Burn area, near Newcastleton. (Jane Tuffiff, Singin is Ma Life, Springthyme SPRCD 1038, 1996). I should imagine that this is a collated rather than traditional text. Since lyrics are not printed in the CD insert, you will probably only get guesses in answer to this question unless you ask Sandra.
In Thurrow town there lived a maid
Ye scarce could find her marrow
And she's forsook nine noble men
For a ploughboy lad frae Yarrow
Her faither he got word o' that
And he's bred a' her sorrow
He sent him forth to fight wi' nine
On the dowie dens o' Yarrow
She's washed his face and she's kaimed his hair
As she's aft done before-O
And she's made him look a knight sae fine
To fecht for her on Yarrow
Stay here, stay here, my bonnie lad
And bide wi' me the morrow
For my cruel brothers will ye betray
On the dowie dens o' Yarrow
As he gaed up by Tennies Hill
And doon the braes o' Yarrow
'T was there in a den were nine armed men
Come to fecht wi' him on Yarrow
Did ye come here tae drink the wine?
Did ye come here tae borrow?
Or did ye come tae wield yer brand
On the dowie dens o' Yarrow?
I am not come tae drink the wine
Nor yet to beg or borrow
But I am come tae wield my brand
On the dowie dens o' Yarrow!
If I see you all, you are nine men
That's an unfair marrow
But I will fecht while last my breath
On the dowie dens o' Yarrow
And three he slew and three they flew
And three he's wounded sairly
Till her brither John stood up behind
And ran his body thorough
O mither, I hae dream'd a dream
A dream o' dule and sorrow
I dream'd that I pu'd heather bells
On the dowie dens o' Yarrow
O dochter I hae read your dream
I doubt it will prove sorrow
For your ain true love is pale and wan
On the dowie dens o' Yarrow
As she gaed up yon high high hill
And doon the houms o' Yarrow
'T was there she saw her ain true love
Lying pale and wan on Yarrow
She's washed him in a clear well-strand
She's dried him wi' the hollan
And aye she sighed, alas she cried -
For my love I had him chosen
Her hair it being three quarters lang
The colour it being yellow
She's tied it roond his middle sae small
And she's bore him doon tae Yarrow
O hold your tongue, my daughter dear
And talk no more of sorrow
I'll wed you soon on a better match
Than the ploughboy lad frae Yarrow
O faither, ye hae siven sons
Ye may wed them a' tomorrow
Ye may wed your sons, but ye'll ne'er wed
The bonny lass of Thurrow
--------------
THE HEATHERY HILLS OF YARROW- Bothy Band lyrics from their lyrics insert in my 'Afterhours' LP
It's three drew and three slew,
And three lay deadly wounded,
When her brother John stepped in between,
And stuck his knife right through him.
As she went up yon high high hill,
And down through yonder valley,
Her brother John came down the glen,
Returning home from Yarrow.
Oh brother dear I dreamt last night
I'm afraid it will bring sorrow,
I dreamt that you were spilling blood,
On the dewy dens of Yarrow.
Oh sister dear I read your dream,
I'm afraid it will bring sorrow,
For your true love John lies dead and gone
On the heathery hills of Yarrow.
This fair maid's hair being three quarters long,
And the colour it was yellow,
She tied it round his middle waist,
And she carried him home from Yarrow.
Oh father dear you've got seven sons,
You can wed them all tomorrow,
But a flower like my true love John,
Will never bloom in Yarrow.
This fair maid she being tall and slim,
The fairest maid in Yarrow,
She laid her head on her father's arm,
And she died through grief and sorrow.
--------------------------
THE STORY OF A CATSKILL BALLAD
Norman Cazden
IN THE study of folk music in the United States, one segment of the immense body of traditional song has been given perhaps undue attention. That is the group of songs which stem from ballads of English-Scottish origin. Commonly these are identified as “Child Ballads” after the noted Francis James Child, whose monumental research and classification have become standard references. Rarely has it seemed necessary to question the premises, the methods, or the perspectives of Child’s teachings. The student of balladry tends to adopt these without further examination, and rests content if he has located and identified one more version of, say, Barbara Alien.
Two of the ballad strains in the Child collection relate to the tragedy of Yarrow. Certain questions about these strains arise in tracing the background of a version of the Yarrow tragedy found in the song tradition of the Catskill Mountain area of New York State. Our analysis suggests that these particular ballad strains need to be re-interpreted. But in addition, the approach and method used may point up some theoretical weaknesses to which ballad scholarship has been peculiarly subject. Principal among these weaknesses has been the neglect of historical content, and of the formal-poetic reflections of that content, which alone give ballads their social and artistic viability and justify an interest in balladly that is more than a search for antique curiosities