Earl o' Murray- McLeod (WI-SCT) 1906 Eldred JAF
[My title; none given. From: Some New Ballad Variants by Arthur Beatty; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 20, No. 77 (Apr. - Jun., 1907), pp. 154-156. His notes follow.
R. Matteson Jr. 2015]
SOME NEW BALLAD VARIANTS
THE four ballad variants here printed for the first time were collected in the month of December, 1906, from Mrs. McLeod of Dumfries, Scotland, when she was on a visit to her relatives at Lake Mills, Wisconsin. The versions are undoubtedly traditional, as the reciter could not read or write, nor could her parents before her. She said that she had learned the ballads from her parents, but that she was not always sure of the words in particular cases.
All four are readily classified as variants of ballads already printed in F. J. Child's " English and Scottish Popular Ballads." I is a new version of Child, No. 26 ("The Three Ravens," and "The Twa Corbies"); II is Child, No. 27 (" The Whummil Bore"); III is the first intelligible version known to me of Child, No. 40 ("The Queen of Elfan's Nourice"); and IV is a variant of Child, No. i8i ("The Bonny Earl of Murray").
The collector of these variants, Mr. Claude H. Eldred, an undergraduate of the University of Wisconsin, deserves great praise for the pains and tact necessary for the accomplishment of his task in so thorough a manner.
CHILD, No. 181.
Oh mourn, oh mourn, ye Lowlands,
Oh mourn, ye Highlands a',
They have slain the Earl o' Murray,
On the greensward ha' he fa'.
Oh shame be to ye Huntly,
To treat your brother sae,
To meet him wi' your claymore,
An' in his bed to slay.
Oh, your lady will be sorrowfu'
Whe ye to hame have sped,
An' she learns the Earl o' Murray
You have murdered in his bed.
An' your corn will often ripen,
An' your meadow grass grow green,
Ere you in Dinnybristle town
Will daurna to be seen.