Here's the Traditional Ballad Index file on this song:
Mormond Braes (I)
DESCRIPTION: A (lass/lad) laments a lost sweetheart, (who promised to marry but proved fickle). At last (she) says she will find another sweetheart elsewhere. "So fare ye weel, ye Mormond braes, Where after I've been cheerie... Sin I hae lost my dearie."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1894 (Murison collection, according to Lyle, _Fairies and Folk_)
KEYWORDS: love abandonment rambling
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 171-173, "Mormond Braes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #1, pp. 2-3, "Mormond Braes"; Greig "Folk-Song in Buchan," pp. 63-64, "Mormond Braes"; Greig #6, p. 3, "Mormond Braes"; Greig #107, p. 2, ("Farewell to Pulteney-banks"); Greig #4, p. 3, ("Farewell ye Mormond Braes") (3 texts plus 5 fragments, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan6 1142, "Mormond Braes," GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Mormond Braes" (25 texts plus a single verse on p. 554, 22 tunes)
Ord, pp. 62-63, "Mormond Braes" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MORMBRAE*
Roud #2171
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Mormond Braes" (on SCMacCollSeeger01)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(124b), "Fareweel tae Blairgowrie," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890
NOTES: Greig #1: "The authorship of 'Mormond Braes' is usually attributed to Dr Gavin of Strichen, father of the late Dr Gavin. All tradtions of this kind, however are to be received with extreme caution, even when there exist no specific grounds for doubting them. And in the present case we are confronted with an awkward problem." He then goes on to quote the text of "Fareweel to Blairgowrie," which is lumped with "Mormond Braes," and discusses the problem of which came first, which borrowed what, and whether there might be an earlier ancestor. "There is really no settling such points." - BS
Last updated in version 2.6
File: FVS171
Blythe Mormond Braes
DESCRIPTION: "O, wat ye wha's in yon wee hoose Beneath blythe Mormond Braes?" It is where pretty Nellie sits bleaching her clothes. The singer is poor. Her parents are opposed but the singer says he "will tak' her frae them a' And love her till I dee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1876 (Christie)
KEYWORDS: love courting dowry father mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #123, p. 2, "Blythe Mormond Braes"; Greig #2, p. 1, "Mormond Braes, No. 2"; Greig #4, p. 3, "Mormond Braes, No. 2" (1 text plus 3 fragments)
GreigDuncan4 712, "Blithe Mormond Braes" (2 texts plus two fragments on p. 526 [the same as those in Greig #2], 2 tunes)
Ord, pp. 60-61, "Blythe Mormond Braes" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: W. Christie, editor, Traditional Ballad Airs (Edinburgh, 1876 (downloadable pdf by University of Edinburgh, 2007)), Vol I, p. 176, "Mormond Braes") (1 tune) [two verses]
Roud #4598 and 6152
NOTES: Apart from the title, this has nothing in common with the better-known "Mormond Braes." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: Ord060Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song ListGo to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or DiscographyThe Ballad Index Copyright 2015 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.