I haven't seen the text printed in Folk-Song of the North East, but the one quoted here is a collation. Most of it is from a text sent to Grieg by Miss Annie Shirer (c.1908-9) which derived from her uncle Kenneth Shirer (88 at the time, it seems). She also sent a variant of her own (neither with tunes), but the other material here (verses 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 as quoted above) are taken, so far as I can see, from another text without tune, this time from David Rorie. Six of Kenneth Shirer's verses are omitted, while Jeannie Robertson's first line has been substituted for his ("There was three gipsy laddies came to Errol Castle gate"). The usual sorts of alterations of word and phrase, conscious and unconscious, are present.

A few notes.

Verse 2. Mr Shirer: "camprols". "Not in Dialect Dictionaries, but probably allied to 'camperlecks', which Jamieson gives as used in Buchan for magical tricks or 'cantrips'." (Notes, Grieg-Duncan Collection II, p 565: 278.J)

Verse 6. Mr Rorie: "The one denied, and the other replied"

Verse 9. "Breest": "... apparently an Aberdeenshire form of 'browst' (= a brewing)". "Eerie" is given as an alternative to "Urie".

Verse 10 (Mr Rorie's v 14) appears thus:

Last night I lay on a fine feather bed
And my great lord aside me oh
But this night I lie on a caul' open van
And the gipsies a' lyin' roon me oh.

Verse 11 (Mr Rorie's v 13) appears thus:

There is sixteen o' you, a' great men
And none o' ye tae ca' bonny oh
But ye shall a' hangèd be
For the stealin' awa' Lord Castles' lady oh.


Grieg-Duncan Collection II, no. 278, pp 331-336. Examples G (David Rorie) and J (Kenneth Shirer).