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

" (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" (Pretty Peggy-O), covered by Simon and Garfunkel and many others. "The Forfar Sodger" relates to the Peninsular War (1808–1814) and was recorded as late as 1951.

Notable recordings

In the mid-1960s Grampian Television 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 and Davie Stewart. Hamish Henderson recorded bothy songs from Willie Scott. Bill Leader recorded Belle Stewart. 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
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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'' ( Jimmy MacBeath) (1967) *''There is a Man Upon a Farm - The Voice of the People 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