The Corries Four Marys

[gjcreaper]

Anyone know where to get the actual lyrics for this song, cant find them anywhere on the internet ?

[taggart64]

@gjcreaper search hazelwhyte. com

[thegregorach48]

Just one more reason for discord twixt the disunited kingdom I beleive it is called regicide

[tumshfibrox58]

Acheingly, breathtakingly beautiful version of a song I've known and loved all my life. Thanks for posting this!

[RebbePiper]

How much the swelling of humble pride resonates throughout all of us, in whose veins flow rivers of tartan blood. Indeed the flames of restoration of many of us to our ancestral past, would have ceased to be kindled, save not for the spark of freedom, known as the Corries. Thank you, from the Piper of Clan Carmichael..

[givsum]

CORRIES, CORRIES, CORRIES I COULD SAY THEIR NAME ALL DAY. THE GREATEST OF ALL TIMES. SO SAD THEY ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO PLAY TOGETHER, A LOSS TO THE WORLD. BUT THEIR MUSIC LIVES ON FOR EVER. SO BEAUTIFUL. THREE HUNDRED STARS, AND THANK YOU SO MUCH POSTING THIS

[DabAndrew]

@givsum I love them too mate ..I'm so sad they're gone ..we don't know what we had till it's gone

[spentacle]

@DabAndrew Steady on lad, Ronny is still with us AFAIK, although retired according to the Corries website.

[lilblubasterdify]

SuzStewart...

Thank you for the information about the instrument Ronnie plays.I"m not familiar with this shape as the only other psaltry that I"ve seen is more like a small piano or organ. That was played by Robert Beers. Am I correct in saying that Ronnie had to learn to play an instruments before they actually started performing together? If so, another feather in his cap. Very talented and well matched duo. Again thank you for the information.

[lilblubasterdify]

Lovely version of the Four Marys. As usual Roy does a superb job of singing it. My curiosity is roused though...what is the triangular bowed instrument that Ronnie is playing? Interesting!

[SuzStewart]

@lilblubasterdify It's called a bowed psaltery. He's using a fiddle or violin bow. Most psaltery bows are much shorter. My psaltery is handmade of birch and walnut, and it's bow isn't much more than ten or so inches long, and curved. The bowed psaltery has been around for centuries.

[alligatorgal]

Such a lovely song! Roy sang beautifully! Ronnie did as well, but for some reason Roy was much easier to understand, he sang very clearly and you could hear every word perfectly. Love them both though!

[Wanch1e1ady]

Have laughed out VERY loud at the dolphin complex. Also think it is affa sweet, you wid be cruel to think of as ither.xx Wanch1e 1ady.

[Wanch1e1ady]

Last post was grammatically wrong , my defence i am tired. Still love the song .xx Wanch1e 1ady.

[Wanch1e1ady]

My lovely late Mam used to sing this to me as a child. she loved the Corries as did ma dad and as my husband. I love this one for the mystique of our Queen but find a lot of the Corries a dirge nthough true to thier country.

[frankantoniomartin]

The lyrics seem to have confused many historical incidents, both real and imagined. As pointed out the names are not the names of the "Four Marys" that accompanied Mary Queen of Scots to France when she was age 6. - It's generally believed the song remained this way since it is so sad and beautiful even if it is confusing historically. It is known as "Mary Hamilton" as often as "The ballad of four Marys".

[nzfifer]

mac 3622 thats the funnyest thing av heard in ages cheers mate

[LindsayCurran]

Hauntingly beautiful version of song I know as Mary Hamilton

[Gillesscott]

The real story is that when Mary Stuart was a sent in France to marry the dolphin (future Francis II), she was very young and was escorted by four damsels of company of same age. They were called

Mary Beaton

Mary Seton

Mary Fleming

Mary Livingstone

Mary Carmichael was introduced in the song maybe because of the rhyme

[Mac3622]

Dauphin, not dolphin.A dauphin is the eldest son of the king of France. A dolphin is a marine mammal.

[Gillesscott]

It's right !!! Sorry for the mistake

[DrUrchin]

@Gillesscott ...of course, the word "dauphin" means "dolphin" but it came about during an age when the dolphin was considered a monster of ferocity and strength, qualities which the eldest son of the king of France was supposed to have. Shakespeare has the Duke of Exeter use the double meaning as a deliberate insult in Henry V, however.

[Thompsonf1001]

mary fleming, lived in biggar, near my home, hence our pub, the fleming, and the fleming queen for the gala, lovely song

[localhero1000]

Some 30 years ago this was number one in Australia by an Irish folk singer John Currie. Performed live at Sydney Opera House.

[fdarling27]

Wonderful song, sang by a wonderful singer.

[devgal211]

Beautiful!

[anniesgranny2]

So lovely! Roy had such a sweet voice.

[ArkRed1]

Many years ago I sat at the feet of Ozarks folksinger May Kennedy McCord as she sang and taught me The Four Marys also known as Mary Hamilton. I think of her everytime I sing this song. So sad, but beautiful.

[oldusty4]

I could listen to Roy sing all day. So hauntingly beautiful!

[BuddyFantastic]

@oldusty4 That he certainly was....in fact still is

[lizzym1971]

@oldusty4 I agree, No one could sing a Scottish song quite like him. He is truly unique xx

[Allyc375]

There is a theory that the song refers to Maria Hamilton who was a "maid" to Peter the Great of Russia. He had her executed because she aborted his child. The sentence was carried out in great ceremony with Mary Hamilton wearing a white dress with black ribbons. Her attendants were also all named Mary.

So there may be an entirely different reading to the song.

Who knows?

[stephenlyonrd]

There's a line in other versions of this song referring to the "highest Stewart of all" which is supposed to mean Darnley. The Mary Hamilton in that version was hanged for the murder of her infant son, supposedly fathered by Darnley.

[wbs1953]

exuse my ignorance, but can someone tale me what this song is all about. My dear old mother still sing's this song to herself from time to time. I'm 55 and I can remember her singing it when I was in nappies. I know I know, bum and mule, is what enter's your mind when you read this, but I still would like to ken. Thank you.

[dhamon121]

it is about mary queen of scots and the 4 marys that where her companions when she left for france when she was young till when she was beheaded by the english

[stephenlyonrd]

It's a sad song about the fate of Mary Hamilton, one of the queen's Marys, after she murdered her infant son. The boy is supposed to have been fathered by Darnley.

[TheOtherPrince]

The leading cause of death among pregnant women is murder.

[ccrotts]

that is a bowed psaltery. a nice one in fact. they are all over north carolina if you want one im sure u could find someone to sell you one. we are friendly folks here.

[goedjn]

I'd call it a bowed psaltery.

Or maybe a bowed dulcimer, but psaltery

would be my first choice.

[ProudWhiteWoman]

Can anyone tell me what instrument Ronnie is playing? It looks like some sort of violin?

[tmiftm]

My first trip to Scotland was 2001 and I bonded almost instantly with the fine people of Port Glasgow, Paisley, kilmacolm and the area. When the my dear friend, June Ross of Kilmacolm, introduced me to the music of the Corries, I loved them. I didn't know I couldn't go to a concert to hear them. When I heard of the cancer, I cried. It was several years late, but I cried. I still am sad of the loss. Their music makes me laugh, cry, love Scotland. My mom also informed me I am part Scottish !

[boboe511]

My dad raised me with these songs in America and they will always be a part of me in some way for the rest of my life even though most people in America don't understand them.

[bigdjindustriez]

Pretty cool. Although I have to say John Allan Cameron from Cape Breton did the best version (if you can find it anymore)

[rebelsoulbhoy]

My mum loved this

[Wallace5000001]

A masterpiece .

Instrumentation in total accord with Roy's great voice .

Singing with the Angels Roy.

[dazz011]

yea im english through and through, but this song makes me feel good. the corries especially roy williamson has a tramendous voice. corries = 10/10

[ufgatorpaw]

The first time I heard this song it was by Joan Baez, she does a lovely version of it as well. I must say I love this version. The instruments that they play make it so much more lovely, along with the texture of the vocal. Astoundingly beautiful and sad.

[spiro2200]

Scottish History, Well sung by the Corries.

[myveryownjaneexdoe]

This song gets me every time.

*tear*