Rosianne- Crawfurd; early 1800s Lyle
From Andrew Crawfurd's collection of ballads and songs, E. B. Lyle - 1975.
ROSIANNE- from Andrew Crawfurd's collection; early 1800s; Version of Child 51 Lizie Wan
1 Rosie she sat in her simmer bour
Weeping an makand grit mane
Whan doun by cam her faither
Sayand what ails thee Rosianne
2 A deal a deal deir father she said
Grit reason hae I to mane
For thare lyes a little babe in my syde
Between me an my brither John
3. Rosie sat in her simmer bour,
Weeping and makand a grit mane
Wha cam by but her mither deir
Sayand what ails thee Rosianne
4. A deal a deal deir mither she said,
Grit reason hae I to mane.
For thare lyes a babe in my side,
Between me an my brither John.
5. Rosie sat in her simmer bour,
Weeping and makan grit mane
Wha cam doun but her sister deir
Sayand what ails thee Rosianne
6. A deal a deal deir sister she said,
Grit reason hae I to mane.
For thare lyes a babe in my side,
Between me an my brither John.
7. Rosie sat in her simmer bour,
Weeping and makand a grit mane
Wha cam by but her fause fasue brither
Sayand what ails thee Rosianne
8. A deal a deal deir sister she said,
Grit reason hae I to mane.
For thare lyes a babe in my side,
Between me an thee, deir brither John.
9. Weil ye hae tauld father an ye hae tauld mither,
And ye hae tauld sister, aw thrie.
Syne he pou't out his wee penkynfe,
An gae her deep wounds three.
10. What blude is that on the ponit of your knyfe
Deir son cum tell to me.
ANDREW CRAWFURD (1786-1854)
Compiler of an "Eik," consisting of three large MS. volumes, to Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary, of a "Cairn of Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, and West of Scotland Matters," in forty-six large quartos, and of a collection of newspaper cuttings thirty volumes in size, Dr. Andrew Crawfurd, the Johnshill poet, was, during the first half of the nineteenth century, a storehouse of information on things Scottish from which all the men of letters of the West of Scotland were fain to draw. The fortnightly "Attic Stories," published in Glasgow in 1817, were largely written by him. Motherwell's "Minstrelsy" in 1827, and " Paisley Magazine" in 1828, owed many of their best contents to his industry. He had a hand in the production of "The Laird of Logan" and "Whistle-binkie," when these collections were being put together in David Robertson's back shop in Glassford Street. And Ramsay's "Tannahill" and " Views in Renfrewshire," and Paterson's " Sempills of Beltrees," " History of Ayrshire," "Scottish Journal," and "Edinburgh Traditional Magazine, "all owed much to his industrious accumulations.
It is pathetic to think that this busy toiler in the antiquities of letters and forgotten alleys of folklore was a speechless invalid, palsied in the whole right side, crippled by want of a leg, and forced not only to write, but to carry on all his collections, by means of his left hand alone. Second son of Andrew Crawfurd, portioner, and Jean Adam, a country heiress, he was born at Johnshill, Lochwinnoch, 5th November, 1786. His father wished him to become a manufacturer, and he began life as a clerk in Paisley. But his own inclinations were of another kind, and after a course of eight years at Glasgow University, in which he distinguished himself by carrying off many college honours, he obtained the diploma of the Glasgow Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons in 1818, and began practice as a medical man at Rothesay. In December of the following year, however, he caught typhus fever, and lay long on the edge of death. When he did unexpectedly recover it was as the physical wreck, palsied, cripple, and speechless, already described. With a stout heart, nevertheless, he set himself to face the future, and with such success that in his quiet retirement at Johnshill he built up a unique reputation as a poet, writer, and literary antiquary. Though he could not speak, he was fond of company, and by means of an interjection, a shake of the head, or an occasional laugh, he managed to make interesting talk among others, and his house became a favourite resort. He died at Johnshill, 27th December, 1854. An account of his life is contained in Alexander G. Murdoch's " Recent and Living Scottish Poets."