Cruel Brother- Bell Duncan (Aber) c.1860 Carpenter
[My date. From: James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/2/2/D, pp. 04600-04601. That a ballad that supposedly died out in the UK around the mid-1800s was still found in Aberdeenshire eighty years later is almost a miracle. Since Bell was born in 1847 and since her mother, Bell's source, was born in 1807 it's easy to understand that the ballad was learned during the time when it was still popular.
R. Matteson 2018]
The Cruel Brother- sung by Miss Bell Duncan of Insch, Aberdeenshire. Learned from her mother Jean.
There cam a man to my bedside
o'er the hills an' far awa',
He wis askin' me tae be his bride,
For the wind blaws aye my plaid away'.
My father he gaen his consent,
An' my mother she wis weel content,
My sister she was well pleased
But my brother said she sudna reased,
The weddin' was set and the weddin' came,
An' the steed cam there to tak her hame,
Her mother led her through the room,
An' her sister dear she brocht her doon,
Her father led her through the close,
An' her brother set her on her horse,
Below his cloak he wore a brand,
He concealed it weel wi' his left hand,
he has slipped it through a strae,
An' through her body made it gae,
They hadna ridden a mile bet ane;
"Stop, stop! My bonnie bride's pale an' wan,
Frae her steed she then was ta'en,
An' her vera heairts bleed rin on the green,
"Fat will ye leave tee yer father dear?"
"The guid grey steed that brocht me here."
"Fat will ye leave tee yer mother dear?"
"Three long tits o my yellow hair,"
"Fat will ye leave tee yer sister dear?"
"my marriage goon and the weed I wear,"
"Fat will ye leave tee yer Brother John?"
"A high gallows tree for to hang on,"
"Fat will ye leave tee yer bother's wife?"
"A vera sad an unhappy life,"
"Fat will ye leave tee yer brother's bairns?"
"That they may die in each other's arms."