|
17 Oct 02 - 12:47 AM (#805093) Subject: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: poetlady Jean Redpath's version ends with: Oh faither dear ye've seven sons Ye may wed them all tomorrow For the fairest flower amang them all Was the lad that I lo'ed on Yarrow This confused me. (It didn't confuse me until yesterday, when I was singing it to myself and subsequently became confused.) Her ploughman can't be one of her father's seven sons. Not only would that be quite improper, but there is an obvious difference in rank. "The lad I loved on Yarrow," however, seems to me to refer to her ploughman. Does anyone know what she's talking about? |
|
17 Oct 02 - 04:20 AM (#805140) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST,Boab Just acquired a Heather Heywood album [good stuff!} and her singing of the song has the last line refer to "the Plooman lad", I believe. Maybe that still leaves some ambiguity---och!--ne'er heed; it's a grand Border Ballad. |
|
17 Oct 02 - 04:35 AM (#805149) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: DMcG We have a version of this at www.folkinfo.org with some notes by Malcolm Douglas that you might find helpful. |
|
17 Oct 02 - 05:59 AM (#805182) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: IanC To paraphrase: Dad, you've got 7 sons and, since they're all alive, you can marry them to whoever you want - tomorrow if you like. There's only one bloke I could have got married to, he's much prettier than any of my brothers, and he's just expired. ;-) |
|
17 Oct 02 - 06:17 AM (#805190) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: DMcG IanC, you have a real grasp for the poetry of the thing! :-) Perhaps you need to start a new competion: identify ballads from the precis |
|
17 Oct 02 - 06:52 AM (#805205) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: IanC DMcG Compliments!!! ... now there's a good idea for a quiz :-) |
|
17 Oct 02 - 12:13 PM (#805441) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Big Tim It's one of those songs that I'd always loved for atmosphere, dialect, timelesness, etc but never thought much about the actual meaning of the lyrics. First heard it on Gordeanna McCulloch's album c. 1965 or 6. Thanks for the memory! |
|
17 Oct 02 - 10:53 PM (#805786) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST,leeneia As time passes, people keep adding verses to ballads, and the verses tend to get weaker and weaker. This sounds like one of that kind. |
|
17 Oct 02 - 11:23 PM (#805802) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST,Richie I actually wrote a book about this entitled "The Braes O'Yarrow". It is a fictional book that uses the lyrics as a basis for the tragic story. I have also recorded an Appalachian version (solo guitar) for Mel Bay Pub. It would make a great movie and film score. I'm so busy I've never tried to publish it. In the version I remember the plowboy kills all the brothers except for one, who is hiding behind a bush and jumps out and stabs the plowboy in the back, killing him. It's really one of the great tragedies. -Richie |
|
17 Oct 02 - 11:59 PM (#805833) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Thomas the Rhymer Context is important here. Her father has just told her that she needn't cry, because he will be able to wed her to a 'better' man... This explains to me what she was referring to... In a sense, she seems to be saying, "If you've got to be marrying somebody..., DAD!,... get one of your seven sons (or all of them if you like) and marry them off tomorrow... I'm still in love with the lad I loved on the dowie dens o yarrow... and just leave me alone right now. ttr |
|
20 Oct 02 - 01:51 AM (#807059) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: poetlady Thank you all very much for explaining this for me. It was very helpful, and I appreciate it. |
|
20 Oct 02 - 02:05 AM (#807065) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: sharyn That's right. Our heroine is standing there weeping and Dad says O dochter, dochter dinna grieve Or break your heart wi' sorrow I'll wad ye on a better man Than the one you lost in Yarrow She corrects him, of course, saying, There never was a better man Than the one I lost in Yarrow And, in the version I sing, she goes on to recap the start of the fight, a land-and-cattle war: Tak a' your ousen, tak a' your kae For they hae bred our sorrow I wist they had all gone mad When first we came to Yarrow. |
|
28 May 14 - 01:57 PM (#3628751) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Q (Frank Staplin) Lyr. Add: THE DOWIE DENS O' YARROW Henry Scott Riddle Oh, sister, there are midnight dreams That pass not with the morning, Then ask not why my reason swims In a brain sae wildly burning; And ask not why I fancy how Yon wee birds sing wi' sorrow, For bluid lies mingled with the dew In the dowie dens o' Yarrow. My dream's wild light was not o' night, Nor o' the doolfu' morning, Thrice on the stream was seen the gleam That seemed his sprite returning; For sword-girt men came down the glen, An hour before the morrow, And pierced the heart aye true to mine, In the dowie dens o' Yarrow. Oh! there are red, red drops of dew Upon the wild flower's blossom, But they couldna cool my burning brow, And shall not stain my bosom; But from the clouds o' yon dark sky A cold, cold shroud I'll borrow, And long and deep shall be my sleep In the dowie dens o' Yarrow. This from the bluid-died flower shall press By the heart o' him that lo'ed me; And I'll steal frae his lips a long, long kiss, In the bower where oft he wooed me; For my arm shall fold and my tresses shield The form o' my death-cold marrow, When the breeze shall bring the raven's wing O'er the dowie dens o' Yarrow. A version has been collected in Oklahoma from transplanted Scots, according to Ben Schwartz; collected by E. and C. O. Moore, 1964, Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, University of Oklahoma Press and University collections. |
|
28 May 14 - 02:06 PM (#3628755) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Q (Frank Staplin) The above verses by Riddle from: R. Borland, 1890, YARROW: It's Poets and Poetry. Thomas Fraser, Dalbeattie. Online as an ebook. |
|
28 May 14 - 04:17 PM (#3628777) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST,leeneia When I come across a weak verse like that in the OP, I change it. "Oh faither dear ye've seven sons Ye may wed them all tomorrow For the fairest flower amang them all Was the lad that I lo'ed on Yarrow." my version: Oh father dear ye've seven sons; Ye may wed them all tomorrow. BUT the fairest flower among them all Was the lad that I LOST on Yarrow. |
|
28 May 14 - 04:38 PM (#3628780) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Jack Blandiver This was famously sung by Davie Stewart. Hear it over at the Alan Lomax archive HERE. |
|
28 May 14 - 06:58 PM (#3628797) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Q (Frank Staplin) Leeneia, in the words of Sir Walter Scott: "Now haud your tongue, my daughter dear For a' this breeds but sorrow; I'll wed ye to a better lord, Than him ye lost on Yarrow."- "O haud your tongue, my father dear: Ye mind me but of sorrow; A fairer rose did never bloom Than now lies cropp'd on Yarrow." The verse you think weak (and it is) was from Jean Redpath, according to the note in the DT Lyrics. There are many folk versions of this composed song. No version can match "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow," as written by Sir walter Scott in his Border Minstrelsy. |
|
28 May 14 - 08:35 PM (#3628806) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: BobKnight Leeneia. If you remove "that" from the last line it will scan better. It's one of those words that people stick in all the time when they are writing songs, and nine times out of ten it can be dispensed with. |
|
29 May 14 - 10:10 AM (#3628887) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST,leeneia But Bob, the 'that' fits nicely into the tune that I happen to know for this song. Of course it might be dispensed with if a singer sings a different tune. Q, you are right. Scott's verses make it clear what each speaker has in mind. |
|
29 May 14 - 12:03 PM (#3628918) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Q (Frank Staplin) Two songs are often confused and mixed in later folk versions; The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" and "The Douglas Tragedy." Verses about the "seven sons" are taken from "The Douglas Tragedy." Clean versions of both are in the DT, along with the mixed version; Jean Redpath, "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow;" - and the verse that leeneia sings (see above). |
|
29 May 14 - 04:44 PM (#3628987) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST,gutcher Q. On what authority do you base your assertion that the Dowie Dens O Yarrow was composed by Sir Walter Scott? |
|
29 May 14 - 05:04 PM (#3628997) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Steve Gardham Hi Gutcher, Mike didn't say Scott composed it. But most scholars are probably right in thinking that he altered it considerably like he did most things. |
|
30 May 14 - 03:10 AM (#3629073) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST,threelegsoman This is the version I have uploaded to YouTube, based largely on The Corries: Dowie Dens of Yarrow There lived a lady in the North You could scarcely find her marrow She was courted by nine noble lords And a plooman lad fae Yarrow They nine sat drinking at the wine Sat drinking wine in Yarrow And they've made a vow among themselves For tae fecht for her on Yarrow She's washed his face, she's combed his hair As oft she'd done afore oh She's made him like a noble lord For tae fecht for her on Yarrow As he gaed doon the high, high hill Doon tae the howe o' Yarrow 'Twas there he spied nine armed men Come tae fecht wi' him on Yarrow There's three he slew and three withdrew And three he wounded sairly oh Till her brother John came in fae behind And has wounded him most foully "Oh, faither dear, I dreamed a dream I doubt it will bring sorrow I dreamed I pulled the heather green On the dowie dens o' Yarrow" So she gaed doon the high, high hill Doon tae the howe o' Yarrow And there she's found her lover John Lying pale and wan on Yarrow Her hair it was three quarters long The colour it was yellow She's wrapped it round his middle sae small And she's bore him up frae Yarrow "Oh faither dear, ye've seven sons Ye may wed them all tomorrow For the fairest floo'r amang them a' Was the lad that I lo'ed on Yarrow The Dowie Dens of Yarrow |
|
30 May 14 - 05:33 AM (#3629103) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Gutcher Sorry all--this uneducated backwoodsman equated written as synonymous with composed. Scott states--"this ballad, which is a very great favourite among the inhabitants of Etrick Forest, is universally believed to be founded in fact. I found it easy to collect a variety of copies; but very difficult indeed to select from them such a collated edition as might, in any degree, suit the taste of " these more light and giddy-paced times". It has always been my view that the "plowboy" was intruded into the ballad at the end of the 19th C. with the advent of the bothy ballads. |
|
30 May 14 - 09:15 AM (#3629148) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST,Allan Conn It looks quite different from the Corries version especially at the beginning. The first verse in particular would seem a bit strange, maybe not for a Scot in general, but certainly for a Borderer to sing. Yarrow is about as far south as you can get in Scotland and we always refer to this area as the south. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OjJZguuUak |
|
30 May 14 - 12:32 PM (#3629185) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST,Q posting as guest Hi, Gutcher. Sorry I was not too clear in my post; 'written' can be misinterpreted; Sir Walter did not originate the song, but his revised version is perhaps the best (my personal opinion). The Corries version is good, uncontaminated by 'The Douglas Affair." My computer crashed; later I will post a couple of versions found in North America. |
|
30 May 14 - 01:42 PM (#3629197) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Jim Carroll Irish version Jim Carroll THE DEWY GLENS OF YARROW 1 There was a lady from the North, I ne'er could find her marrow; She was courted by nine noblemen And her ploughboy John from Yarrow. 2 These noblemen sat drinking wine, The wine they sat a drinking And each of them did make a vow To fight for her on Yarrow. 3 Her father had but one ploughboy, It was said she loved him dearly; She dressed him up in nobleman's clothes To fight for her on Yarrow. 4 There were three he slew and three he drew And three lay sorely wounded, When her false young brother from behind a tree Slew him with an arrow. 5 'Go home, go home, you false young man, And tell your sister Sarah That her ploughboy John lies dead and gone On the dewy glens of Yarrow.' 6 Her hair it hung three quarters long And the colour of it was yellow; She tied it round his waist so small And carried him home from Yarrow, 7 'Oh father dear, dig me a grave And dig it long and narrow; My true love died for me today, I'll die for him tomorrow.' 8 'Oh daughter dear, dry up your tears And think no more on Yarrow For I'll wed thee to a higher degree Than your ploughboy John from Yarrow. 9 'Oh father, you have seven sons, You may wed them all tomorrow, But the sweetest flower that ever grew Lies dead for me on Yarrow.' Mrs Brigid Murphy (b. 1913), housewife, Forkhill, Co. Armagh, in the Forester's Hall, Forkhill, on 1 Oct. 1983 during a 'sing-around'. Rec. TM. Child no 214 |
|
30 May 14 - 02:47 PM (#3629202) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST,Guest (crashed Q) Jim, the last verse is an add-on from The Douglas Tragedy. Here is one from Flanders, Vermont; Irish? origin. Lyr. Add: THE DEWY DENS OF DARROW Now a father had a young ploughboy, Whom this lady loved most dearly; She dressed him as a gallant knight To fight for her on Darrow 2 Then he went up this high, high hill, And on the lane so narrow, And there he saw nine noble knights On the Dewy Dens of Darrow. 3 "Oh, it's will you try the hunting hound? Or will you try the arrow? Or will you try the single sword On the Dewy Dens of Darrow?" 4 "No, I won't try the hunting hound, Nor will I try the arrow, Hut I will try the single sword On the Dewy dens of Darrow." 5 His sword he drew, three knights he slew And was fighting with the other, When her brother sprang from behind a tree, And they shot him with their arrow. 6 And she went up this high, high hill And on the lane so narrow, And there she saw her noble knight On the Dewy Dens of Darrow. 7 Her hair was about three-quarters long, And the color being yellow, She tied it around his waist so strong, And she carried him home to Darrow. 8 "O daughter, dear, dry up those tears, And give no more to sorrow, For tomorrow you'll wed with a handsomer knight Than the one you lost on Darrow." 9 "O father, dear, you have nine sons, And you may wed them all tomorrow; But you'll never find a handsomer knight, Than the one I lost on Darrow." Printed in "Ballads Migrant in New England," 235; pp. 255-259, with musical score, Helen H. Flanders, "Ancient Ballads Traditionally Sung in New England," vol. 3, Ballad 215; Univ. Pennsylvania Press. |
|
30 May 14 - 02:49 PM (#3629203) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: GUEST Oops! forgot to close bracket. Got it. -Mod |
|
30 May 14 - 03:12 PM (#3629207) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Jim Carroll "Jim, the last verse is an add-on from The Douglas Tragedy." Hi Q I'm afraid that, having spent a fair amount of time examining the song tradition in relation to our having carried out 40 years of field work among various communities, a few of them still alive and creating songs, I still find myself an extreme agnostic in the matter of song origins, particularly in attempting to attribute them to literary sources. The way Mrs Murphy sang it is very much in the Ulster Scots tradition - I remain unconvinced that the verse can be attributed to one or other of the ballads. Jim Carroll |
|
30 May 14 - 04:45 PM (#3629222) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Gutcher There were five sons and two were twins There were five sons in Yarrow And they did fecht for their ain true love In the dowie dens o Yarrow. O mither dear I hae dreamed a dream A dream o dule and sorrow For I dreamp't I was puin heather bells In the dowie dens o Yarrow. O dochter dear I reid yer dream Yer dream o dule and sorrow For your true love Jhone lies pale an wan In the dowie dens o Yarrow. She's sought him up an she's sought him doon She's sought him braid and narrow And it's there in a lirk by yon water side She has found him slain in Yarrow. Noo her hair it was baith lythe and lang And the colour o it was yallow She's roud it roon his middle sma And she's bourn him hame frae Yarrow She's washed his face and she's kaimed his hair as aft she'd done afore o And she's rowed him in his winding sheet While the tears ran doon for sorrow And sine she's heid her ouwr the lee Out ouwr the lee tae Yarrow And in the deepest poat in yon boskie den She has drooned hersel in Yarrow. |
|
31 May 14 - 01:30 PM (#3629358) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Q (Frank Staplin) Child included a variety of texts of 214 under the title "214 The Braes O Yarrow." His text A (communicated to Percy by Dr William Robertson, Principal of Edinburgh) is worth posting. Lyr. Add: THE BRAES O YARROW, Child A 1 I dreamed a dreary dream this night, That fills my heart wi sorrow; I dreamed I was pouing the heather green Upon the braes of Yarrow. 2 'O true-luve mine, stay still and dine, As ye has done before, O,' 'O I'll be hame by hours nine, And frae the braes of Yarrow.' 3 I dreamed a dreary dream this night, That fills my heart wi sorrow; I dreamed my luve came headless hame, O frae the braes of Yarrow. 4 'O true-luve mine, stay still and dine, As ye ha done before, O;' O I'll be hame by hour nine, And frae the braes of Yarrow.' 5 "O are you going to hawke,' she says, As ye ha done before, O?, Or are ye going to weild your brand Upon the braes of Yarrow?' 6 'O I am not going to hawke', he says 'As I have done before, O, But for to meet your brother Jhon, Upon the braes of Yarrow.' 7 As he gade down yon dewy den, Sorrow went him before, O, Nine well-wight men lay waiting him, Upon the braes of Yarrow. 8 'I have your sister to my wife, Ye' think me an unmeet marrow; But yet one foot will I never flee Now frae the braes of Yarrow.' 9 Than' four he killed and five did wound, That was an unmeet marrow! And he had weel nigh wan the day Upon the braes of Yarrow.' 10 Bot' a cowardly 'loon' came him behind, Our Lady lend him sorrow! And wi a rappier pierced his heart, Upon the braes of Yarrow. 11 'Now Douglas' to his sister gane, Wi meikle dule and sorrow; 'Gae to your love, sister,' he says, Upon the braes of Yarrow.' 12 As she went down yon dowy den, Sorrow went her before, O; She saw her true-love lying slain Upon the braes of Yarrow. 13 She swoond thrice upon his breast That was her dearest marrow; Said, 'Ever alace and wae the day Thou wentst frae me to Yarrow!' 14 She kist his mouth, she kaimed his hair, As she had done before, O; She 'wiped' the blood that trickled doun Upon the braes of Yarrow. 15 Her hair it was three quarters lang, It hang baith side and yellow; She tied it round 'her' white hause-bane, 'And tint her life on Yarrow.' |
|
01 Jun 14 - 01:14 PM (#3629552) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Gutcher In two of the versions given in this thread the lady commits suicide. Do any of the other versions end in this manner? |
|
01 Jun 14 - 03:45 PM (#3629582) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Q (Frank Staplin) Child gives versions A to S, and there are a lot more. There are several that suggest suicide, including drowning (in most, she just dies). In one- And wi' a crack her head did brack, upon the braes of Yarrow. Several have her big with child and she dies in her father's arms. The lady being six months with child To the ploughman lad of Yarrow She fell into her father's arms And died wi grief on Yarrow. Milne |
|
01 Jun 14 - 07:10 PM (#3629610) Subject: RE: Dowie Dens of Yarrow From: Q (Frank Staplin) On the brighter side, there are versions in which she refuses her father's suggestions, but no mention that she died. |