JOHNNY ARMSTRONG'S LAST GOODNIGHT ^^^
(Bob Coltman)

Word come to Scotland king,
Word about Johnny Armstrong,
Been a-robbing of the North country
And doing the people wrong.
The King wrote a lovely letter
And he's sealed it with his own hand,
And sent it to Johnny Armstrong's house,
Come see me in High Scotland.
Johnny read that letter over
And he sang like a bird in a tree,
I never stood before no king,
So the King I'm a-going to see.
But when he left his own front door
It come a cold shower of rain,
Fare you well, my childhood home,
I may never come back again.
Now when he come to High Scotland town
With all of his men riding,
The ladies curtseyed to the ground
More royal than to the King.
But when he come before the throne
To ask the King's pardon,
Away, away, you false traitor,
I'll see you condemned and hung.
Johnny looked over his left shoulder,

Said here's a graceless thing,
I should have known better than to ask
My pardon of such a king.
And then old Scotland all rise up,
Rise up by thousand three,
A cowardly man behind his back
Has stabbed my fair Johnny.
Beware, beware of a country where
Kings such treachery try,
He tossed back his yellow hair,
Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.
Welcome home, my red roan mare,
You always loved oats and hay,
But since you come back with your saddle bare
You must eat sorry straw today.

(Johnie Armstrong, No. 169)
        The Armstrongs were people of power in the border district of Liddesdale from the 14th century on, and by the 16th century they were a dominant force in Scottish national politics and a definite nuisance to England, said to command more than 3,000 horsemen. Nothing in the private sector except corporations could be called equivalent in our day for lawlessness, immorality and general applecart-upsetting.
        John Armstrong Laird of Kimockie with his brother Thomas Laird of Mangerton, Sym Armstrong of Whitlaugh and a chiel with the genial nickname of Ill Will Armstrong collaborated in a systematic series of raids over the Cheviots to lay waste the English side. In this absorbing pursuit they pulled down parish churches, scattered households, and brought Scotland and England to the brink of war (which was nothing new).
        Other measures having failed, or so it was said, King James V of Scotland, in the summer of 1530, levied an army and agreed with the lords and barons at Edinburgh to bring the Armstrongs and a number of other bad types to a reasonable facsimile of justice. Invitations were sent to the lairds for a grand deer hunt; there may have been an implicit understanding that pardon or amnesty or something might be involved. It did not fall out so. John Armstrong, among others, took the bait, coming with a band of followers, but no safe-conduct, to Edinburgh. He was fallen upon; his men were unequal to his defense, and he was taken, imprisoned, and hanged. No trial is recorded, and the summary nature of the execution dismayed many Scots who idolized John of Kilnockie.
        When I came to write my version I followed Armstrong's sympathizers. It was 1971, and the events seemed all too contemporary, with rage in the air, false talk of amnesty, and the shadow of death over all. The first spring flowers were getting ready to pop, and in the bliss of spring the sky was bringing destruction to faraway friends who could not be helped in time. No King seemed good to me. Nor does now. [BC]

@outlaw @border
Child #169
filename[ JARMSTR3
SOF


Son of Child CD Track 10 - listed as "Johnny Armstrong's Last Lament"