"The Bonnie Earl o' Moray" (

Child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

181,''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', Edited by Francis James Child in Five Volumes, Dover Publications, Minneola, New York, 2006.

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 ...

334) is a popular Scottish

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, which may date from as early as the 17th century.

Background

The ballad touches on a true story stemming from the rivalry of

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

Earl of Moray The title Earl of Moray, Mormaer of Moray or King of Moray was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 th ...

(pronounced

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

), and the

Earl of Huntly Marquess of Huntly (traditionally spelled Marquis in Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: ''Coileach Strath Bhalgaidh'') is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existin ...

, which culminated in Huntly's murder of Moray in 1592. The exact circumstances that led to the murder are not known for certain, but both their families, the Stewarts of Doune (pronounced "doon") and the Gordons of Huntly, had a history of territorial rivalry and competition for royal favour. In his notes on the ballad,

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 ...

relates how Huntly, eager to prove that Moray was plotting with the

Earl of Bothwell Earl of Bothwell was a title that was created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. It was first created for Patrick Hepburn in 1488, and was forfeited in 1567. Subsequently, the earldom was re-created for the 4th Earl's nephew and heir of line, F ...

against

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

, received a commission to bring Moray to trial. In the attempt to apprehend Moray, the earl's house at

Donibristle Donibristle ( sco, also Dunibirsle) was a house and estate in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Only the wings of the house remain, within the modern settlement of Dalgety Bay. They are now protected as a category A listed buil ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

was set on fire and the visiting Sheriff of Moray killed. Moray fled the house, but was chased and killed in its grounds, betrayed, it was said, by the glow of his burning helmet tassle. His last words, according to the (probably apocryphal) story related by

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

, deserve special mention. Huntly slashed him across the face with his sword, and as he lay dying Moray said "Ye hae spilt a better face than yer ain" ("You have spoiled a better face than your own"). The killing was widely condemned. Moray's mother, Margaret Campbell, had a painting made of her son's dead body, as evidence of his multiple wounds, bearing the legend "God Revenge My Caus". Her intention was to show this publicly at the Cross in Edinburgh, but the King ignored her request, effectively withholding permission.

Lyrics and themes

The King's reaction in the ballad is to condemn Huntly's action (in verse 2): :"Now wae be to thee, Huntly! :And wherefore did you sae? :I bade you bring him wi you, :But forbade you him to slay." Nevertheless, James did not punish Huntly, prompting rumours of his own complicity in the murder. It is possible that the inclusion of the King's clear condemnation of the deed (whether or not it was ever expressed by him) was an effort to prevent the ballad from appearing treasonous. However, we can discount the ballad's claim that Moray was the Queen's lover (hinting at a possible motive for James's complicity). The ballad, which praises Moray as "a braw gallant" ( Scots, ''calland'') , was most likely composed by one of his supporters. The words "Oh he might have been a king!" should not be taken to imply that he could have become King . More likely, they conveyed the sense that he possessed the required attributes of a king and so could easily have been one. It is from the first verse of "The Bonnie Earl o' Moray" that the term

mondegreen A mondegreen () is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to hear a lyric clearly, substitutes w ...

, meaning a misheard lyric, came into popular use among

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

ians. :Ye Highlands and ye Lawlands, :Oh where have you been? :They have slain the Earl o' Moray :And layd him on the green. When the ballad is sung in Scots, the form is different from the more anglicised version in the Child catalogue. For example, the verses given above are sung with these words: :Ye Hielands an ye Lowlands :O, whaur hae ye been :They hae slain the Earl o' Moray :And lain him on the green. :Now wae betide thee, Huntly :And whaurfor did ye sae? :I hae bade ye bring him wi ye :But forbade ye him tae slay. A German translation by

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( , ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. Biography Born in Mohrun ...

, ''Murrays Ermordung'', published 1778–79, was set to music by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

in 1858. The ballad was also set to music by

Hugh S. Roberton Sir Hugh Stevenson Roberton (23 February 18747 October 1952) was a Scottish composer and Britain's leading choral-master. Roberton was born in Glasgow, where, in 1906, he founded the Glasgow Orpheus Choir. For five years before that it was the T ...

and

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

Mondegreen

The American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term "

" in an essay "The Death of Lady Mondegreen," which was published in ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'' in November 1954. Drawings by

Bernarda Bryson Bernarda Bryson Shahn (March 7, 1903 – December 12, 2004) was an American painter and lithographer. She also wrote and illustrated children's books including ''The Zoo of Zeus'' and ''Gilgamesh.'' The artist Ben Shahn was her "life companion ...

. Reprinted in: Contains the essays "The Death of Lady Mondegreen" and "The Quest of Lady Mondegreen." In the essay, Wright described how, as a young girl, she misheard the final two lines of the above verse as "they have slain the Earl o' Moray, and Lady Mondegreen." She said that she always imagined the Earl dying beside his faithful lover "Lady Mondegreen", and refused to hear the real words, because they were less romantic than her misheard version. The term "mondegreen" has since been adopted for any misheard song lyric which changes the meaning of the original.

Recordings

Versions of the ballad can be heard on

Isla St Clair Isla St Clair (born 2 May 1952 as Isabella Margaret Dyce) is a Scotland, Scottish singer. Life Isla St Clair was born in Grangemouth, central Scotland, in 1952; her mother was Zetta Sinclair. Her family came from northeast Scotland and it was h ...

's album ''Great Songs and Ballads of Scotland'' and Irish-American singer Robbie O'Connell's album ''Close to the Bone''. It was also recorded by

Robin Hall Robin Hall (27 June 1936 – 18 November 1998) was a Scottish folksinger, best known as half of a singing duo with Jimmie Macgregor. Hall was a direct descendant of the famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor as well as of th ...

and Jimmie Macgregor for the album ''Scottish Choice'' (1961). Live version recorded by

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne continued ...

on their album "Live from Scotland Volume 4" (1977). English composer

arranged the song for voice and piano sometime before 11 December 1940, and included it in the first volume of his folk song arrangements.

References

External links

Text, tune and backgroundAlternate text and tune
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnie Earl O' Moray Child Ballads Scottish literature Scots language Scottish poems Middle Scots poems Murder ballads