B
a. Murison MS., p. 76. b. Christie’s Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 10.
1
‘Buchan, it’s bonnie, an there lies my love,
My heart is fixt on him, it winna remove;
It winna remove for a’ at I can dee,
An I never will forsake him Young Annochie.’
2
Her father cam trippin, cam trippin ben the floor,
Says, Jeannie, ye hae but the tricks o a whore;
Ye care little for the man that cares muckle for thee,
But I’ll cause you marry Saltoun, let Annochie be.
3
‘Ye may marry me to Saltoun before that I go home,
But it is to Lord Saltoun I’ll never bear a son;
A son nor a daughter I’ll never bear to he,
An I never will forsake him Young Annochie.’
4
‘All you that is her maidens, ye’ll tak her by the han,
An I will inheft her o five thousan poun;
She’ll wear silk to her heel and gowd to her knee,
An I’ll cause her to forsake him Young Annochie.’
5
‘All you that is my maidens winna tak me by the han,
I winna be inhefted o five thousan poun;
I’ll nae wear silk to my heal nor wear gowd to my knee,
An I never will forsake him Young Annochie.’
6
‘All you that is her maidens, ye’ll show her to her bed;
The blankets they are ready, the sheets are comely spread;
She shall lie in my airms till twelve o the day,
An I’ll cause her to forsake him Young Annochie.’
7
‘All you that is my maidens winna show me to my bed,
Tho the blankets they be ready, the sheets be comely spread;
I’ll nae lie in your airms till twelve o the day,
An I never will forsake him Young Annochie.’
8
It’s that day they wedded her, an that day she died,
An that day Young Annochie cam in on the tide;
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
9
Her maidens did meet him, a’ wringin their hans,
Sayin, It’s a’ for your stayin so long on the sans!
They’ve wedded your Jeannie, an now she is dead,
An it’s a’ for your stayin sae long on the fleed.
10
‘All you that is her maidens ye’ll tak me by the han,
Ye’ll show me the bower that Jeannie lies in:’
He kissed her cold lips, they were both white an red,
And for bonnie Jeannie Gordon Young Annochie died.
A. a. 4–6 are disarranged, and an attempt has been made at a better grouping. 43,4, 51,2, are 4; 53,4 are 51,2; 61,2 are 53,4.
142. The reading of b is better: on the sands.
143. frae the fleed: b reads, rightly, on the flood (fleed).
b.
Printed by Maidment in stanzas of four short lines; by Buchan, in long lines, not properly grouped.
1
Ben came her father, skipping on the floor,
Said, Jeanie, you’re trying the tricks of a whore.
2
‘You’re caring for him that cares not for thee;
And I pray you take Salton, let Auchanachie be.’
3
‘I will not have Salton, it lies low by the sea;
He is bowed in the back, he’s thrawen in the knee;
And I’ll die if I get not my brave Auchanachie.’
4
‘I am bowed in the back, lassie, as ye see,
But the bonny lands of Salton are no crooked tee.’
5
And when she was married she would not lie down,
But they took out a knife, and cuttit her gown.
6
Likewise of her stays the lacing in three;
And now she lies dead for her Auchanachie.
7
Out comes her bower-woman, wringing her hands,
Says, Alas for the staying so long on the sands!
8
‘Alas for the staying so long on the flood!
For Jeanie was married, and now she is dead.’
B. a.
8, 9 are written together.
94. on the sans: cf. A a 141, b 81, B b.
b.
Some trivial variations are not noticed. Printed in six stanzas of eight long lines.
11. lives.
14. Oh, never will I forget my love Annachie.
After 1:
‘For Annachie Gordon is bonnie and braw,
He’d entice any woman that ever him saw;
He’d entice any woman, and sae he has done me,
And I’ll die if I getna my love Annachie.’
21,2. As in A a.
23. care meikle: cares little.
24. Saltoun and leave Annachie.
After 2:
‘For Annachie Gordon is nothing but a man;
Although he be brave, he has little free lan;
His towns a’ lie waste, and his lands a’ lie lea,
And I’ll cause you marry Saltoun, let Annachie be.’
31. wed me: before he goes home.
32. neer hae.
33,4.
‘A son or a daughter, it’s a’ ane to me,
For I’ll cause you marry Saltoun and leave Annachie.’
After 3:
He wed her to Saltoun before he gaed home,
But unto Lord Saltoun she neer had a son;
For, instead of being merry her maidens among,
She gaed to her bower and wept there alone.
41. Some of you her.
42. infeft her in houses and land.
43. shall wear silk and satin, wi red goud.
44. to forget him the.
51,2.
Oh you, my maidens, you shall not take my hand,
Nor will I be infefted in houses and land.
53. Nor will I wear silk nor red goud.
54. For never will I forget my love A.
After 5:
‘Wi Annachie Gordon I would beg my bread
Before wi Lord Saltoun I would wear goud red;
For he’s bowd on the back and he’s thrawn in the knee:’
‘But the bonnie rigs o Saltoun are nae thrawn tee.’
6, 7. Wanting.
8.
The day she was married, that same day she died,
While Annachie Gordon was waiting for the tide;
He waited for the tide to tak him oer the fleed,
But he little thought his Jeanie Gordon was deed.
91. Then out cam her maidens.
92. Wae for: frae the.
93. hae married.
94. Oh, wae for: on the fleed.
101. Some of you her maidens: me ben.
102. the chamber where.
103. were colder than clay.
104. And he died in the chamber where his Jeanie lay.
240
THE RANTIN LADDIE
A. a. ‘The Rantin Laddie,’ Johnson’s Museum, No 462, p. 474. b. ‘Lord Aboyne,’ Buchan’s Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 66.
B. ‘The Rantin Laddie,’ Skene MS., p. 55.
C. ‘The Rantin Laddie,’ Laing’s Thistle of Scotland, p. 7.
D. ‘Bonnie Rantin Laddie,’ Murison MS., p. 74.
‘Lord Aboyne,’ in Smith’s Scotish Minstrel, IV, 6, is mostly A a; a few verses are from A b.
A young woman (Maggie in B) has played cards and dice with a rantin laddie till she has won a bastard baby. Slighted now by all her friends, she sends a letter to the rantin laddie, who is the Earl of Aboyne, to inform him of her uncomfortable circumstances. The Earl of Aboyne, struck with pity and indignation, sets out at once with five hundred men, A, C, or a select company of gentlemen and ladies, B, D, and brings her home as his wife.
C 24 is perhaps derived from ‘Geordie,’ but may be regarded as a commonplace.