Jeannie is a romantic fool. At at time when a woman's prospects depended on making a good marriage, she rejects her parents' efforts to secure her future by marrying her to a wealthy man (who treats her only with respect), instead preferring a life of poverty with a man who's left her behind to go travelling. Dying for love is romantic, but stupid. Instead she could have gone along with the marriage to Lord Saltoun while seeing young Annachie on the side - although admittedly in many ballads this often doesn't end well for one or both of the lovers.