Origin: Queen Mary's Escape from Lochleven Castle

Subject: RE: History of a Scottish Folk Tune
From: masato sakurai
Date: 25 Jan 02 - 10:16 PM

Hopekirk's songbook gives no background info. After other searches failed, I went to Levy. I got the sheet music by putting "put off" in the search box. "row with speed" or "put off put off and row with speed" works, but phrases with wi' doesn't. To get the info through Digitrad and Forum Search, keywords would be "Robert Allan" or "row wi' speed" (and of course "Queen Mary's Escape").

I don't know who Robert Allan was, but two songs by him were found.

ALISTER MCALPINE'S LAMENT (in the DT)

On the Banks of the Dee (1836) (in Levy)

~Masato

Subject: RE: History of a Scottish Folk Tune
From: melblackrose
Date: 25 Jan 02 - 05:49 PM

Thanks all. Got it! Masato, you are my hero! Where on earth did you find this???

Mel

Subject: RE: History of a Scottish Folk Tune
From: masato sakurai
Date: 19 Jan 02 - 11:57 PM

"Queen Mary's Escape" has been posted and discussed HERE.
~Masato

Subject: RE: History of a Scottish Folk Tune
From: masato sakurai
Date: 19 Jan 02 - 11:01 PM

P.S. On the historical background, see "Escape Of Queen Mary From Lochlevin Castle" [Harper's new monthly magazine. / Volume 2, Issue 7, December 1850, pp. 22-25], which we can read at The Nineteenth Century in Print: The Making of America in Books and Periodicals (Library of Congress).
~Masato

Subject: RE: History of a Scottish Folk Tune
From: masato sakurai
Date: 19 Jan 02 - 10:33 PM

Another (possibly more common) title of this song is "Queen Mary's Escape (From Lochleven Castle)" (or "... Loch Leven Castle"). Entered in The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music (CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE), without author or composer's name.

~Masato

Subject: RE: History of a Scottish Folk Tune
From:
Date: 19 Jan 02 - 08:19 PM

You might want to join the Scots-L mailing list. They love questions like this.

Scots-L Mailing List

Subject: RE: History of a Scottish Folk Tune
From: Amergin
Date: 19 Jan 02 - 04:22 PM

sorry...i do not know anything about it....couldn't find anything about it either....

you could always make something up.....

Subject: History of a Scottish Folk Tune
From:
Date: 19 Jan 02 - 01:12 PM

Hey all. I'm in need of some assistance. I need some history of a particular song. The title is "Put Off and Row Wi' Speed." The author is Robert Allan 1774-1841. I'll even give you the first verse...

Put off, put off, and row with speed
For now is the time and the hour of need
To oars, to oars and trim the bark
Nor Scotland's queen be a warder's mark
Yon light that plays round the castle's moat
Is only the warder's random shot
Put off, put off and row with speed
For now is the time and the hour of need

It was published in an anthology called The Scottish Minstrel (published between 1820 and 1824) and was in '70 Scottish songs' by Helen Hopkirk, originally published in 1905 by the Oliver Ditson Co. of Boston.

What we need is "the story" behind the lyrics. I've hunted high and low and can't find much more than this.

Any info would be great!

Thanks

Melissa Hannon - [e-mail]