Origins: The Laird of Drum (Child #236)

Subject: RE: Origins: The Laird of Drum (Child #236)
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 30 Jun 21 - 07:07 PM

Going back to the OP ‘s original request, I would have put my money on it being the Jock Tamson’s Bairns’ recording that she heard. The band included guitar, 2 fiddles, concertina, whistles and bodhran, though they didn’t necessarily all appear on every track, and the voice of Rod Paterson.
However, in the notes under the recently supplied YouTube, I think there is an error where it say that the writer and composer was JS Skinner: James Scott Skinner did write a tune called The Laird of DrumBLAIR, but that is a totally different tune, a rollicking strathspey!

Subject: ADD Version: The Laird o' Drum
From: Reinhard
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 11:50 PM

THE LAIRD O' DRUM
Jock Tamson's Bairns, The Lasses Fashion

The Laird o' Drum has a-hunting gane,
All in the morning early.
And he has spied a weel-taur'd May,
A-shearing her father's barley.
“My bonnie May, me weel-faur'd May,
It's will ve gang wi' me, O?
And will ye gang and be Leddy o' the Drum,
And leave your shearing a'-be. O?”

“I canna gang wi' you, kind sir,
Not leave my shearing a'-be, O;
For I'm ower low to be Leddy o' the Drum,
And vour Miss I scorn to be, O.
My father he is a shepherd mean,
Keeps sheep on yonder hill, O,
And ye may gang and speir at him,
I'm entirely at his will, O.”

Drum has to her father gane,
Keeping sheep on yonder hill, O:
“I've come to marry your ae dochtar,
Gin ye'll gie your goodwill, O.”
“My dochter can neither read nor write,
Nor was she bred at the school, O:
But she can work, baith oot and in,
For I've learned the girlie mysel', O.

“She'll work in your barn, and at your mill,
And brew your malt and your ale, O;
And saddle your steed in rime o' need,
And draw aff your boots hersel', O.”
“I'll learn the lassie to read and write,
And put her to the school, O;
And she'll never need to saddle my steed,
Nor draw aff my boots hersel', O.”

“But wha will bake my bridal bread,
And wha will brew my ale, O;
And wha will welcome my lowly bride,
Is mair than I can tell, O.”
Ah but four-and-twenty gentle knights
Gaed in at the yett o' Drum, O.
And there's never a one has lifted his hat
When the Leddy o' the Drum cam in, O.

Up and spake his brother John,
He says, “Ye've done us meikle wrang, O;
Ye've married a wife o' low degree,
She's a mock to a' our kin, O.
It's Peggy Coutts is a bonnie bride,
And Drum is big and gaucey;
But ye micht hae chosen a higher match
Than just a shepherd's lassie.”

Up and spake the Laird o' Drum;
He says, “I've dune ye nae wrang, O;
I've married a wife to work and win.
And ve've married ane to spend, O.
Now' the first time that I took to me a wife,
Whe was tar abune my degree, O;
And I durstna gang in to the room where she was.
But my hat below' my knee, O.”

It's twice he's kissed her cherry cheek,
And thrice her cherry chin, O.
And twenty times her comely mou'–
And “Ye're welcome, my Leddy Drum, O!”
And when a had eaten and drunken weel,
And they were bound for bed, O,
The Laird o' Drum and his Leddy fair
In ae bed they were laid, O.

“Gin ye had been o' high renown,
As ye're o' low degree, O,
We micht hae gaed down to the yett o' Drum
Amang gude companie, O.
And o' a' yon four-and-twenty knights
That gaed in at the yett o' Drum, O,
There ne'er was a one wadna lifted his hat
When the Leddy o' the Drum cam in, O.”

“I tell'd ye w'eel ere we were wed,
Ye was far abune my degree, O;
But now we're married, in ae bed laid,
I'm just as gude as ye, O.
And when you are dead, and I am dead,
And baith in ae grave laid, O.
Ere seven years are at an end,
They'll no ken your dust frae mine, O.”

---

Recording by Jock Tamson's Bairns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPkI1TMnYPc

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: RTim
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 11:01 PM

Pick the bones out of this...It must lead somewhere....Tim Radford

https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/thelairdodrum.html

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: GUEST,#
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 09:57 PM

"The Laird O'drum" by Jock Tamson's Bairns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPkI1TMnYPc

The OP's recollected stanza is in the above recording.

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 04:57 PM

Joe - needs work

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: GUEST,sharyn
Date: 19 Sep 03 - 09:39 PM

Thank you all. I'll try to get a hold of the Jock Tamson's Bairns recording and see if it is the one I'm looking for.

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 19 Sep 03 - 09:34 PM

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: kendall
Date: 19 Sep 03 - 09:23 PM

Trickett, Bok and MUir did it to my satisfaction.

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 19 Sep 03 - 09:15 PM

"Rougher" being descriptive, of course, and not a value judgement! Please do keep looking in; there are quite often questions that come up here that you'd be in a good position to help with.

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: ianfb
Date: 19 Sep 03 - 08:04 PM

Malcolm Douglas wrote "I don't know what instrumentation he used, but there was almost certainly a guitar at any rate. He has a rougher singing voice than Rod Paterson of the Bairns, if that's any help."

I used open D tuning for the version I did on "So Far" and tried to uptempo it a bit......failed miserably......the song doesn`t translate into jig time........one lives and ...hopefully....learns

Ian F Benzie

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: ianfb
Date: 19 Sep 03 - 07:55 PM

I picked it up from Jock Tamson`s Bairns. Never heard anybody else do it......maybe I haven`t listened enough:-)
Ian F Benzie

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: sharyn
Date: 18 Sep 03 - 02:02 AM

Refresh (and by the way, I started this thread and am not a guest -- I just lost my cookie.

Anyone else have any ideas about how to identify this singer or recording? Does anyone routinely tape the folk music shows off of KALW or keep playlists of Thistle and Shamrock, etc.?

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 02:35 PM

Thank you all -- I don't think we have it yet, although I'm certainly happy to listen to some of the versions you mention. Maybe I'll contact some DJ's here and see if anyone remembers ever playing it.

Anyone else?

It's hard for me to characterize someone's voice with words. This singer's voice is fairly light and smooth. He makes subtle use of ornaments -- it's not the forthright singing style of a Jeannie Robertson or a Belle Stewart, but it doesn't sound at all contrived or like he's straining to sing in Scots. He doesn't torture the lines as much as Dick Gaughan. Any guesses?

I appreciate all of the help I get. Thank you.

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 16 Sep 03 - 04:12 PM

Looks like Jock Tamson's Bairns then, so far. Their set does contain the words quoted.

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: Maryrrf
Date: 16 Sep 03 - 04:04 PM

Ian F. Benzie did record the song and did a grand job of it, but the version he sings doesn't contain the lyrics given above. This is a really long song and I'm sure he cut some of it out.

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 16 Sep 03 - 03:12 PM

Of the above, very few might fit the bill. Most are from traditional singers and, while accompaniment is not impossible in a few of those cases, guitar and fiddle is vanishingly unlikely. Of the commercial recordings made by male Revival performers named above, the only one I know to have used only fiddle (actually, two) and guitar was Jock Tamson's Bairns. Norman Kennedy and Andy Hunter have both recorded the song; but both, I think, unaccompanied. Ian F Benzie might be a possible; I don't know what instrumentation he used, but there was almost certainly a guitar at any rate. He has a rougher singing voice than Rod Paterson of the Bairns, if that's any help.

Subject: RE: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: masato sakurai
Date: 16 Sep 03 - 02:44 PM

From folktrax:

LAIRD O DRUM, THE - "has a-hunting gane" - CHILD #236 - ROUD #247 - Alexander Irvine d.1687 - Drum is 10 miles west of Aberdeen - BUCHAN 1828 Ancient Ballads & Songs #2 pp184-188 - GREIG-DUNCAN 4 1990 #835 p249 (26var) - FORD VSB 1899 pp4-9 13v (w/o) - GREIG-KEITH LL 1925 - TOCHER #5 1972 p162 coll by Alan Bruford from Ethel Findlater - BUCHAN & HALL TSFS 1973 p88 Lizzie Higgins - PORTER-GOWER 1995 pp184-6 11v from Jeannie Robertson & notes --- CREIGHTON MFS 1961 p28 NB, Canada -- Wm MATHIESON #009, John SUTHERLAND #032, Jean CAMPBELL #057, James ADIE #155, John CHRISTIE #171, Alex & Hector CAMPBELL #194, Mrs William DUNCAN #197, Alex CLARK #276, Bell DUNCAN #290, Mrs Mary J. Smith HASTIE #299, Robert NICOL #300, Mary STEWART ROBERTSON #304, Ellen RETTIE #316/ 339/ 341, Elizabeth ROBB #324-5/ 338, Alex ROBB #344 rec on Dictaphone by James M.Carpenter, N.E.Scotland 1929-35 - John STRACHAN rec by Alan Lomax & Hamish Henderson, Fyvie, Aberdeenshire 16/7/51: ROUNDER 82161-1835-2/ 065 - Togo CRAWFORD rec by Seamus Ennis, Mossdale, Kirkcudbrightsh 28/5/53: RPL 21865/ 262 "The Gates of Drum" - Jeannie ROBERTSON Aberdeen rec by PK, London, Nov 1953: 186/ (PRESTIGE International 13075) - Ethel FINDLATER rec by PK, Dounby, Orkney 1955: 063/ 7"RTR-0690 - Lucy STEWART rec by PK, Fetterangus, Aberdeen 27/6/55: 365/ rec by Kenneth Goldstein 1961: FOLKWAYS FG-3519 1961 - Jane TURRIFF rec Fetterangus: TOPIC 12-T-180 1968 "I canna wash" - Ewan McCOLL: RIVERSIDE RLP-12-621 1956 - Jock TAMSON'S BAIRNS (Folk Group): TOPIC 12-TS-424 1982 (from Ford)

Subject: Seeking Recording of 'The Laird of Drum'
From: GUEST,sharyn
Date: 16 Sep 03 - 01:27 PM

Hi all,

I'm trying to identify a particular recording of "The Laird of Drum." What I have is five or six verses I managed to tape off the radio. It is sung by a male singer, in Scots, accompanied by guitar and fiddle. The singer has either a Scots or a Geordie accent -- my guess is Scots The verses have four lines only -- no repeats or refrains, like this:

It's thrice he's kissed her cherry cheek
And thrice he's kissed her chin O
And twenty times her comely mou'
Saying, "You're welcome, Lady Drum O."

I heard this version on one of the local folk music radio shows on KALW in San Francisco -- I'm not sure which. And it was a while ago, perhaps several years. But I'm currently mad for this version and would like to hear the rest of it. Does anyone have any ideas? Ring a bell? Anyone collect versions of "Laird of Drum?"

Please don't refer me to the Child Collection: Been there, done that. This is a contemporary recording.

Thanks for your help.