Tune Req: Jeannie Robertson's Mary Hamilton tune

Subject: Tune Req: Jeannie Robertson's Mary Hamilton tune
From: Roberto
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 01:28 AM

Jeannie Robertson said that when she was a child, they used to recite, not sing, the ballad Mary Hamilton as learned from relatives in Pertshire, Scotland (she was from Aberdeenshire). In a recording made in 1953, she first recites some stanzas, then she sings the rest. Where does the tune she sings come from? I can't remember who said it was American. But it is similar to the tune used by Ethel Findlater, Orkney Islands. I also find it in many American recordings, Joan Baez included. It is now, I'd say, the most popular tune to the ballad. Where does it come from?

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Jeannie Robertson's Mary Hamilton tune
From: BobKnight
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 06:07 AM

Relatives in Perthshire were probably the Stewarts of Blair. Alec Stewart, Belle's husband was Jeannie's cousin.