Heres a folk singer called Dave Sewell I recorded on a folk night in a pub in Barnes Southwest London performing a marvelous version of an aninymous Scottish border song "The Dowie Dens o Yarrow" .
"The Dowie Dens of Yarrow", also known as "The Braes of Yarrow" is a Scottish border ballad. It exists in many variants (Child collected at least 18) and it has been printed as a broadside, as well as published in song collections. It is considered to be a folk standard, in that the original author is unknown, and versions have been performed by many artists.
The song describes an unequal conflict between a group of men and one man, concerning a lady. This takes place in the vicinity of Yarrow. The one man succeeds on overcoming nearly all his opponents but is finally defeated by (usually) the last one of them.
In some versions, the lady (who is not usually named) rejects a number (often nine) wealthy suitors, in preference for a servant or ploughman. The nine make a pact to kill the other man and they ambush him in the "Dens of Yarrow".
There lived a lady in the West,
I neer could find her marrow;
She was courted by nine gentlemen
And a ploughboy-lad in Yarrow.
These nine sat drinking at the wine,
Sat drinking wine in Yarrow;
They made a vow among themselves
To fight for her in Yarrow.[1]
In some versions it is unclear who the nine (or other number of men) are; in others, they are brothers or are men sent by the lady's father.[2] In the ensuing fight, eight of the attackers are generally killed or wounded, but the ninth (often identified as the lady's brother, John or Douglas) fatally wounds the victim of the plot, usually by running him through with a sword and often by a cowardly blow, delivered from behind.
Four he hurt, an five he slew,
Till down it fell himsell O;
There stood a fause lord him behin,
Who thrust his body thorrow.[3]
The lady may see the events in a dream, either before or after they take place and usually has some sort of dialogue with her father about the merits of the man who has been ambushed and killed.
"O hold your tongue, my daughter dear,
An tak it not in sorrow;
I'll wed you wi as good a lord
As you've lost this day in Yarrow."
"O haud your tongue, my father dear,
An wed your sons wi sorrow;
For a fairer flower neer sprang in May nor June
Nor I've lost this day in Yarrow. Dowie is Scots and Northumbrian English for sad, dismal, dull or dispirited.
The song is closely associated with the geographical area of the valley of the Yarrow Water that extends through the Scottish borders towards Selkirk. Almost all versions refer to this location, perhaps because the rhyming scheme for multiple verses, in most versions, relies on words which more or less rhyme with "Yarrow": "marrow", "morrow", "sorrow", "thorough", "narrow", "arrow" and "yellow" for example.
The song is believed to be based on an actual incident. The hero of the ballad was a knight of great bravery, popularly believed to be John Scott, sixth son of the Laird of Harden. According to history, he met a treacherous and untimely death in Ettrick Forest at the hands of his kin, the Scotts of Gilmanscleugh in the seventeenth century[9] . However, recent scholars are sceptical about this story as the origin of the song
Kind Regards
Jim Clark
All rights are reserved on this video recording copyright Jim Clark 2011
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The Corries --- The Dowie Dens O' Yarrowby mandolinda66,833 views
Superb stuff!
jacknife360 7 months ago