The Laird o Drum is
Child ballad
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 '' ...
number 236. It is found in six versions, A to F, all based on Alexander Irvine's courtship of and marriage to Margaret Coutts, his second wife.
Synopsis
The lord of Drum goes to woo a
shepherd
A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
lass. She does not believe him but sends him to her father, who gives his consent. His brother claims that it disgraces the family. The lord says that his brother wedded a wife to spend money, and he a wife to work and win; he had a lady of higher birth than he was, and she treated him as lowly. When they are in bed, the shepherdess says they are now equal. Once they were buried, no one would be able to tell their mould apart.
References
External links
''The Laird o Drum''
Child Ballads
Year of song unknown
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