Bothy ballads are songs sung by farm labourers in the northeast region of

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 ...

. Bothies are farm outbuildings, where unmarried labourers used to sleep, often in harsh conditions. In the evening, to entertain themselves, these

bothy band A bothy band is a musical group which comes from the farming culture of nineteenth century Scotland. At that time agriculture was relatively labour-intensive. As a result, large farms often had a small community associated with them, the farm toun ...

s sang. Several

Child Ballads The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as ''T ...

that had died out elsewhere in the UK survived until the 1920s, sung by these workers. It was a male-only environment and some songs are obscene. They celebrated ploughmen as lovers ("The Plooman Laddies", "My Darling Ploughman Boy").

Subjects

The farmlands around Aberdeen produced satirical songs, critical of working conditions. The best known is "The Barnyards of Delgaty", (a pun on "The Barren Yirds o Delgaty" meaning "The Barren Soils of Delgaty"). Real names of farmers, supervisors and farms are given, and mocked. Other satirical attacks are "Rhynie", "The Guise O Tough" and "Harrowing Time". By contrast "The Bogheid Crew" is a celebration of the fine work done by the labourers, naming each one in turn. Some songs celebrate the countryside, including "Where The Gadie Rins", "Bonny Udny" and "Arlin's Fine Braes". Some songs match a high-born with a servant. The most famous is "

The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter "The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daughter" is an English ballad, collected by Francis James Child as Child Ballad 110 and listed as number 67 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Synopsis A knight persuades a shepherd's daughter to give him her virgini ...

" (Child Ballad 110), recorded by

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

as "Royal Forrester". "The Laird o Dainty Doonby" is another. In 1951 Davie Stewart sang this song for American collector

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

. It is a version of a song published by David Herd in 1776, in "Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs". Soldiers from Highland military regiments sometimes ended up working in bothies. Some ballads concern encounters between soldiers and innocent maids. "The Trooper and the Maid" (Child Ballad 299) is one. Most famous of all is "

The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie (Roud # 545) is a Scottish folk song about a thwarted romance between a soldier and a girl. Like many folk songs, the authorship is unattributed, there is no strict version of the lyrics, and it is often referred to by its ...

" (Pretty Peggy-O), covered by

Simon and Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

and many others. "The Forfar Sodger" relates to the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

(1808–1814) and was recorded as late as 1951.

Notable recordings

In the mid-1960s

Grampian Television Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William and ...

produced two series of programs re-enacting the kind of songs that were sung in bothies. It was called ''Bothy Nichts''. A tragic song might be followed by a joke or a story, then a humorous song. Only rarely would a servant girl be present at these events, and musical instruments were also rare, but they appeared on the shows. Lomax interviewed

John Strachan John Strachan (; 12 April 1778 – 1 November 1867) was a notable figure in Upper Canada and the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto. He is best known as a political bishop who held many government positions and promoted education from common sch ...

Jimmy MacBeath Jimmy MacBeath (1894–1972) was a Scottish Traveller and Traditional singer of the Bothy Ballads from the north east of Scotland. He was both a mentor and source for fellow singers during the mid 20th century British folk revival. He had a hug ...

and Davie Stewart.

Hamish Henderson Hamish Scott Henderson (11 November 1919 – 9 March 2002) was a Scottish poet, songwriter, communist, intellectual and soldier. He was a catalyst for the folk revival in Scotland. He was also an accomplished folk song collector and disc ...

recorded bothy songs from Willie Scott.

Bill Leader Bill Leader (born 26 December 1929) is an English recording engineer and record producer. He is particularly associated with the British folk music revival of the 1960s and 1970s, producing records by Paddy Tunney, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, John Re ...

recorded

Belle Stewart Belle Stewart, born Isobella McGregor, (18 July 1906 – 4 September 1997) was a Scottish Traveller traditional singer. Her biography, ''Queen Amang the Heather: the Life of Belle Stewart'', was written by her daughter, Sheila Stewart, and publis ...

. In 2012, Euan McIlwraith interviewed Jock Duncan.

Accompaniments

Diddling, a form of wordless song, was often practiced as an accompaniment to a Bothy Ballad performance during intervals, before and after shows, or if performers did not show up for whatever reason. They were also performed by older family members to calm young children (bairns).

Stewardship

Organisations such as the Traditional Music and Song Association help to maintain the tradition.Traditional Music and Song Association
/ref>

Discography

*''Bothy Ballads of Scotland'' by Ewan MacColl (1961) *''The Five Yokels — Bothy Nichts Volume 1'' (c 1966) *''The Angus Cronies — Bothy Nichts Volume 2'' (c 1966) *''Scottish Tradition 1 - Bothy Ballads: Music From the North East'' (various artists) *''Songs From Aberdeenshire'' (

) (2001) *''1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh'' (2006) (various artists) *''Go On, Another Song'' (Davie Stewart) (c 1970) *''Two Gentlemen of the Road'' (Jimmy MacBeath and Davie Stewart) (2002) *''Wild Rover No More'' (

) (1967) *''There is a Man Upon a Farm -

The Voice of the People ''The Voice of the People'' is an anthology of folk songs produced by Topic Records containing recordings of traditional singers and musicians from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The series was first issued in 1998 as 20 CDs, compiled by Dr ...

vol 20'' (1998) (various artists) *''In Freenship's Name'' (

Gordeanna McCulloch The Clutha were a traditional Scotland, Scottish band hailing from Glasgow, that released a small number of albums in the 1970s. The line-up on the Clutha's first album, ''Scotia'' (1971), was John Eaglesham (vocal, concertina), Erlend Voy (fid ...

) (1997)

Podcasts

Scottish history podcast
Stories of Scotland
' features bothy ballads in its first episode.

References

External links

* {{Cite web, url=http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandssongs/about/songs/ballads/bothyballads/index.asp, title=Bothy ballads - Ballads - Scotland's Songs, website=www.educationscotland.gov.uk, access-date=2016-05-09, url-status=dead, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430131441/http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandssongs/about/songs/ballads/bothyballads/index.asp, archivedate=30 April 2016, df=dmy-all 20th-century music genres Scottish folk music Scots language Agriculture in Scotland Scottish songs Culture in Aberdeen Aberdeenshire Banffshire Moray