Origins/abc file for Mormond Braes

Subject: RE: abc file for Mormand Braes
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Jul 15 - 04:19 AM

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

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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: Ord060

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Subject: RE: abc file for Mormand Braes
From: GUEST,jens
Date: 16 Apr 07 - 05:55 AM

i try to sing the roving ploughboy... can anybody help me with the chords???

thanx a lot

Subject: RE: abc file for Mormand Braes
From: A. Root
Date: 31 Mar 98 - 10:03 PM

The Old Blind Dogs' version includes another verse (as the second verse, I think):

"So I'll put on a goon o' green It's love forsaken's token Tae tell the laddies roond aboot That the bonds of love are broken."

Subject: RE: abc file for Mormand Braes
From:
Date: 28 Mar 98 - 02:24 AM

There is a webwide index for ABC files at

http://www.gre.ac.uk/~c.walshaw/abc/#index

It is a big file, and my connection is too slow at the moment to see if Mormand Braes is in it.

Murray

Subject: RE: abc file for Mormand Braes
From: B.Booth
Date: 27 Mar 98 - 12:06 PM

Baz and Jon W. Thanks very much for all of your help! I really appreciate the effort

Sincerely,

Barry

Subject: Tune Add: MORMAND BRAES
From: Jon W.
Date: 25 Mar 98 - 07:34 PM

Here is the ABC the way I hear it. Disclaimer - I didn't have an instrument with me to check the accuracy - but it sounds just about right to me.

X: 1
T:Mormand Braes
M:2/4
L:1/4
Q:60
K:D
D/2|G G|G3/2 F/2|G D|D3/2 D/2|G d|d A|B2|A2|
d3/2 d/2|d f|B B|G D/2D/2|E F|A F|E2|D3/2 Z/2|

G3/2 G/2|G3/2 F/2|G D|D3/2 D/2|G d|d A|B2|A2|
d3/2 d/2|d f|B B|G D/2D/2|E F|A F|E2|D3/2

Subject: Lyr Add: MORMAND BRAES
From: Jon W.
Date: 25 Mar 98 - 06:07 PM

Here are the lyrics from a tape I once checked out from a public library. The liner notes were missing so I'm not sure of the details of the artist etc. but I think is Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. Note that I'm not a Scots speaker so the spelling is just my interpretation of the dialect.

Mormand Braes

As I gaed down by Striken Town,
I heard a fair maid mournin'
She was makin' sair complaint
For her true love ne'er returnin'

Chorus:
Fare ye well, ye Mormand Braes,
for ofttimes I've been cheery,
Fare ye well, ye Mormand Braes,
for it's there I lost my deary.

There's mony a horse has snappet and fa'n,
and risen again full rarely,
Many a lass has lost her lad
and gotten another right early

There's as guid fish intae the sea,
as ever yet was taken,
I'll cast my line, and I'll try again,
for I'm only ance forsaken

Sae I'll gae down tae Stricken town,
where I was bred and born in,
And there I'll get another sweetheart,
will marry me in the mornin'

From "25 Scottish Favorites" (Cassette)
Probably Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger

The tune that BAZ posted above doesn't match the one on the tape very well. I'll try to post my interpretation of that sometime soon also.

Subject: Tune Add: ROVING PLOUGHBOY/MORMOND BRAES
From: BAZ
Date: 25 Mar 98 - 05:48 PM

This is the tune shown in P.Kennedy's that is supposed to be similar.

X: 1
T:Roving Ploughboy O
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:120
K:D
D2|FF2FA3F|E2D2D3D|D2d>dB2d2|B2A2A3A|B>BB>Ad2F>E|
D2D>FA4|d2B>BA2D>F|E2D2D4||D2F2(A3F)|E2D2D3D| D2d>BA2D>F|E2D2D4||

% Output from ABC2Win Version 2.1 f on 25/03/98
Baz

Subject: RE: abc file for Mormand Braes
From: BAZ
Date: 24 Mar 98 - 08:15 PM

The words are on the database. I searched under Braes and it turned up. The ABC seems to be scarce. I've looked it up in P.Kennedy's Folk songs of England and Ireland and it says the tune is similar to the Rovin Ploughboy O. I can type that one in in ABC if it's any use. I've got a CD with Alex Campbell singing Mormond Braes and if you're still looking at the weekend I'll get my wife to transcribe it off the record for me.

Regards Baz.

Subject: abc file for Mormand Braes
From: B.Booth
Date: 24 Mar 98 - 03:30 PM

I was wondering if anyone knows where I could find an abc file that has both the words and music to Mormand Braes?

Thanks, Barry