The Lads of Wamphray is
Child ballad 184, existing in fragmentary form. According to
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 ...
and others, the ballad concerns a 16th-century feud between
reiving families from
Wamphray
Newton Wamphray is a village in Dumfries and Galloway. Wamphray is the name of the surrounding parish and of the Wamphray Water, which flows south-west through the Wamphray Glen to join the River Annan near the small village, or hamlet, of Newt ...
in the Scottish
Borders
A border is a geographical boundary.
Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film
* ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...
.
Synopsis
The ballad opens with a description of the robberies of the Galiard and Galiard's men before the text breaks off.
When the ballad resumes, the Galiard has taken a horse, but it proves not fast enough; he is captured, and his captors hang him. His nephew sees, raises men, and avenges his death. They return home safely.
Adaptations
Percy Grainger
Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...
took inspiration from this for his 1905 work ''The Lads Of Wamphray March'', his first composition for
wind band
A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...
.
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, ...
Sources
Walter Scott, ''Minstrelsy of the Scottish border'' (1802)
External links
Child Ballads
Scottish outlaws
Border ballads
Year of song unknown
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