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John Strachan (singer)
John Strachan (1875–1958) was a Scottish farmer and Traditional singer of Bothy Ballads including several old and influential versions of the famous Child Ballads. He had a huge repertoire of traditional songs, and was recorded by the likes of James Madison Carpenter, Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson. Background John Strachan was born on a farm, Crichie, near St. Katherines in Aberdeenshire. His father had made his fortune by trading in horses, and had rented the farm. From 1886 John attended Robert Gordon's College as a boarder in Aberdeen. In 1888 he moved with his father to Craigies in Tarves. In 1895 he moved back to Crichie, which became his own farm in 1897. It was still rented, but he bought it in 1918. By 1939 he was successful enough to own five farms. He became president of the Turriff Agricultural Association. He died in Crichie. Tradition Bearer John Strachan was a " tradition bearer". He was part of the last generation to sing traditional songs in bothies, along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. It also contains more than 790 islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. Most of the population, including the capital Edinburgh, is concentrated in the Central Belt—the plain between the Scottish Highlands and the Southern Uplands—in the Scottish Lowlands. Scotland is divided into 32 administrative subdivisions or local authorities, known as council areas. Glasgow City is the largest council area in terms of population, with Highland being the largest in terms of area. Limited self-governing power, covering matters such as education, social services and roads and transportation, is devolved from the Scott ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glenlogie
Glenlogie or Bonnie Jeannie o Bethelnie is Child ballad number 238 (Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ... 101). Synopsis Jeannie, fifteen, sixteen or seventeen depending on which variant is counting, but clearly the “flower o’ them all”, sees Glenlogie (aka John Gordon) at a banquet (inevitable since he has been prancing around town showing off all weekend) and falls in love. He politely declines the offer and rides away to some battlefield. Various attempts to persuade her that he's unsuitable for her, either by offering another match or by pointing out the disparity of their stations, are unavailing. She takes to her bed in distress. Her father's literate chaplain writes a pointed letter to Glenlogie scolding him for causing the young woman's (apparently s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Keach I The Creel
The Keach I the Creel is Child ballad 281. Synopsis A young woman tells a man that her parents keep her too close for them to meet. The man has his brother make a ladder and a pulley to hoist a basket (creel) down the chimney; the ladder takes him to the chimney, and riding in the large creel he is lowered into her bedroom. Her mother guesses there is a man in the daughter's bed and sends the father. She hides her lover and persuades her father she was praying. Her mother, still suspicious, goes herself. She trips and is caught ("keach" being catch, "keach i the creel" being "the catch in the basket" - usually referring to fish caught and stored in a basket slung from the fisherman's hip or shoulder) in the creel and tossed all about in it; the father professes that he's fed up with all of them, for he's had no rest all the night with the goings-on. Performances This ballad has been performed by: *Ewan MacColl on "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads vol 2" (1956) *Ian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Crafty Farmer
The Crafty Farmer is Child ballad 283, existing in several variants. Synopsis A farmer is traveling with a sum of money—sometimes because he must pay his rent for a long period of time, sometimes because he has sold a cow—when he falls in with a highwayman. He either admits to the money, or the highwayman has overheard where he keeps it. The highwayman demands it and the farmer throws the money (in saddlebags or sewed in coat) off the road. The highwayman goes after it, and finds it empty, or filled with straw. The farmer steals the highwayman's horse, and finds valuables in the highwayman's saddlebags. See also * List of the Child Ballads The Child Ballads is the colloquial name given to a collection of 305 ballads collected in the 19th century by Francis James Child Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, ... External linksThe Lincolnshire Farmer [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lang Johnny More
Lang Johnny More is a traditional ballad and folk song, also known as Lang Johnnie More, Lang Johnnie Muir or other variants. It is Child ballad number 251 (Roud 3100). Synopsis The song concerns a member of a clan of Scottish giants, one of whom, the Johnnie of the title, goes to visit London and falls in love with the king's daughter. The king subdues Johnnie by giving him drops of laudanum and imprisoning him. However Johnnie manages to send a small boy as a messenger back to his relatives in Scotland and two of them come down to London to set Johnnie free. One of them succeeds in bypassing the city gates by punching a hole in the wall and after this feat they are able to find and free their relative unopposed. Their heroic visage and dire threats of retribution convince the king to allow Johnnie to marry his daughter and all of them then go back to Scotland. Versions * Battlefield Band Battlefield Band were a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Laird O Drum
The Laird o Drum is Child ballad number 236. It is found in six versions, A to F, all based on Alexander Irvine's courtship of and marriage to Margaret Coutts, his second wife. Synopsis The lord of Drum goes to woo a shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ... lass. She does not believe him but sends him to her father, who gives his consent. His brother claims that it disgraces the family. The lord says that his brother wedded a wife to spend money, and he a wife to work and win; he had a lady of higher birth than he was, and she treated him as lowly. When they are in bed, the shepherdess says they are now equal. Once they were buried, no one would be able to tell their mould apart. References External links''The Laird o Drum'' Child Ballads Year of song ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Beggar-Laddie
The Beggar-Laddie is a traditional English ballad existing in several variants. It was collected by Francis James Child as Child ballad 280 (Roud 119Sehere). Synopsis A man tells a woman that he is a beggar, making his living from spindles or similar items. She loves him and follows him. After a time, she finds it very hard, but then he takes her on to his father's hall, or sometimes his brother's. His brothers express envy of his bride, and she gains a husband of high birth. First editions The first known record, probably, dates from 1805; it was included in the ''Old Lady's Collection''. Other early versions were collected in the D. Kinloch's MS and C. Motherwell's MS (both written before 1850). The first publication of the song could be found in Christie's ''Traditional Ballad Airs'' (1876, I). See also *The Jolly Beggar The Jolly Beggar, also known as The Gaberlunzieman, is Child ballad 279. The song's chorus inspired lines in Lord Byron's poem "So, we'll go no more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnie Cock
Johnie Cock (also Johnny O'Breadisley or Jock o' Braidislee) is a traditional Scottish folk ballad, listed as the 114th Child Ballad and number 69 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Synopsis Johnie Cock is warned by his mother that he is in danger but nevertheless goes poaching and kills a deer. He feeds his dogs and sleeps in the woods. A man (sometimes a palmer, a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land) betrays him to foresters, who attack him while he sleeps. Johnie wakes. Either he or his nephew rebukes them for the attack, in most variants saying that even a wolf would not have attacked him like that. In most variants, he fights and kills all of his assailants but one, whom he wounds. In several versions, he dies of his wounds while still in the wood. In one variant, he is laid low, and the king sends him a pardon. Recordings Many recordings made by in the 1930s by James Madison Carpenter of traditional Aberdeenshire singers can be heard on the Vaughan Williams Memoria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robin Hood And Little John
Robin Hood and Little John is Child ballad 125. It is a story in the Robin Hood canon which has survived as, among other forms, a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad, and is one of several ballads about the medieval folk hero that form part of the Child ballad collection, which is one of the most comprehensive collections of traditional English ballads. When Robin Hood is twenty years old he meets another brisk and fit young man named Little John. Although called "little", John is seven feet tall, large-limbed, and fearsome to behold. This is the story of how they met: Robin is out and about with his men and leaves them on call to rove the forest on his own in search of " ort" (5.1). In his roving, Robin meets a stranger on a bridge over a brook who won't give way. They challenge each other with their respective weapons, and the stranger remarks it's unfair that Robin has a bow and arrows while he has only a staff, so Robin agrees to take up a staff for the fight. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mother's Malison
The Mother's Malison or Clyde's Water is Child ballad number 216, Roud 91. Synopsis Willie, against his mother's advice, goes to May Margaret's home, where he is not admitted. He drowns in the Clyde. May Margaret wakes and says she dreamed of him. Her mother tells her that he had been there half an hour before. She goes after him and likewise drowns. Recordings Following are some of the notable recordings of the ballad, including their artists, titles, albums, and years: See also * List of the Child Ballads * The Lass of Roch Royal "The Lass of Roch Royal" (Roud 49) is Child ballad number 76, existing in several variants. Synopsis A woman comes to Gregory's castle, pleading to be let in; she is either pregnant or with a newborn son. His mother turns her away; sometimes sh ... External linksSeveral variants Child Ballads Year of song unknown {{Folk-song-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Twa Sisters
"The Twa Sisters" ("The Two Sisters") is a traditional murder ballad, dating at least as far back as the mid 17th century. The song recounts the tale of a girl drowned by her jealous sister. At least 21 English variants exist under several names, including "Minnorie" or "Binnorie", "The Cruel Sister", "The Wind and Rain", "Dreadful Wind and Rain", "Two Sisters", "The Bonny Swans" and the "Bonnie Bows of London". The ballad was collected by renowned folklorist Francis J. Child as Child Ballad 10 and is also listed in the Roud Folk Song Index ( Roud 8)., Whilst the song is thought to originate somewhere around England or Scotland (possibly Northumbria), extremely similar songs have been found throughout Europe, particularly in Scandinavia. Synopsis Two sisters go down by a body of water, sometimes a river and sometimes the sea. The older one pushes the younger in and refuses to pull her out again; generally the lyrics explicitly state her intent to drown her younger sister. Her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Laird O Drum
The Laird o Drum is Child ballad number 236. It is found in six versions, A to F, all based on Alexander Irvine's courtship of and marriage to Margaret Coutts, his second wife. Synopsis The lord of Drum goes to woo a shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ... lass. She does not believe him but sends him to her father, who gives his consent. His brother claims that it disgraces the family. The lord says that his brother wedded a wife to spend money, and he a wife to work and win; he had a lady of higher birth than he was, and she treated him as lowly. When they are in bed, the shepherdess says they are now equal. Once they were buried, no one would be able to tell their mould apart. References External links''The Laird o Drum'' Child Ballads Year of song ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
