"Eppie Morrie" is one of the

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 ...

(No. 223), and is of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

origin. The author and date are unknown, and as is common with ballads of this type and period, several versions exist. It was printed in

James Maidment James Maidment (1793 in London – 1879 in Edinburgh) was a British antiquary and collector. He passed through Edinburgh University to the Scottish bar, and was chief authority on genealogical cases. Maidment's hobby was the collection of l ...

's anthology ''A North Country Garland'' in 1824. That version is reprinted in James Kinsley's ''The Oxford Book of Ballads'', 1969. Although the lyrics were transcribed by

Francis James Child Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of r ...

, it is uncertain if the original melody has been retained. The earliest recordings are from the performances of

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 ...

in 1951 and later

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

; a more recent version by Andrew Calhoun forms part of his border folk song anthology ''Telfer's Cows''. The ballad describes a young woman being forcefully taken from her home by a man named Willie and his companions. Willie's goal is to force Eppie to marry him. She refuses, in some versions because she already has a suitor, and in others because she considers Willie to be unworthy of her. First, Willie takes her to a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

, whom he tries to force at gunpoint to perform the marriage ceremony. When the priest refuses, Eppie is locked in a room with Willie, where he tries to rape her. After a prolonged struggle, Willie finally gives up. Eppie, having retained her virginity and avoided the forced marriage, is rescued by the arrival of a band of armed men, led by John Forsyth. After being rescued, Eppie triumphantly asks Willie to provide her with a horse to return home on. Place names mentioned suggest that the events happened in Aberdeenshire.

Lyrics of the ballad

The following is the version of the lyrics of "Eppie Morrie", as related by

(Version A):

Recordings

*A list of recordings is to be found here
Child Ballad Database

References

*Child, F. J., comp.; Sargent, H. C. & Kittredge, G. L., eds. (1904) ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads''. Boston, Mass: Houghton Mifflin {{Authority control Child Ballads Works about marriage Scottish songs