Recordings & Info 181. The Bonny Earl of Murray
[There are several great articles attached to this page including "The Bonny Earl of Murray": The Ballad as History and the best article, The Dreadful Death of the Bonny Earl of Murray: Clues from the Carpenter Song Collection. Additonally a book was publiched in 1997 by Edward D. Ives entitled, Bonny Earl of Murray: The Man, the Murder, and the Ballad.
R. Matteson 2012]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection Index
4) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
5) Scottish Song in the James Madison Carpenter Collection
6) Folk Index
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 334: The Bonny Earl of Murray (53 Listings)
2) 'Dreadful Death of Bonny Earl of Murray' Review
3) "The Bonny Earl of Murray": The Ballad as History
4) The Dreadful Death of the Bonny Earl of Murray: Clues from the Carpenter Song Collection
Alternative Titles
The Earl of Murray
Traditional Ballad Index: Bonny Earl of Murray, The [Child 181]
DESCRIPTION: The Earl of Huntly slays the Earl of Murray (in his own bed?) as a result of the violent feud between them. The largest part of some versions is devoted to describing how noble Murray was
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1750 (Ramsay)
KEYWORDS: feud murder
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb 7, 1592 - Murder of the Earl of Moray. James VI ordered the Earl of Huntley to apprehend Moray/Murray (said to be involved in rebellion), and Huntley apparently decided to do more than that
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) US(MA,MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Child 181, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (2 texts)
Bronson 181, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (6 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 468-469, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (notes to a version called "The Treachery of Huntley" plus parts of 2 texts from Child)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 226-228, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 133-134, "Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 185-189, "The Bonnie Earl of Murray" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 36, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 491-493, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 264, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
OBB 95, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 155+334, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 144, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
TBB 24, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 107-108, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 212, "The Bonny Earl Of Murray" (1 text)
DT 181, EARLMURY* EARLMUR2*
ST C181 (Full)
Roud #334
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Willie Macintosh" [Child 183] (characters & situation)
NOTES: James Stewart (c. 1567-1592) became Earl of Moray as a result of marrying a daughter of Lord James Stewart (1531-1570), the bastard of James V who had been Regent of Scotland for much of the early reign of James VI prior to being murdered (Mitchison, p. 160). The younger James succeeded to the Moray earldom in 1590.
Moray's murder by Huntley seems to have been the result of a feud between the two, though James VI (by then ruling in fact as well as name) didn't seem too bothered by it; Huntly (c. 1563-1636), despite several quarrels with James VI (some of which look suspiciously like rebellion) was made a marquis in 1599. It probably helped that Huntly had married a daughter of the Earl of Lennox, a favorite of James's (Mitchison, p. 151).
The murdered Moray doesn't seem to have been a particularly noteworthy figure, except for his looks and the fact that he was murdered. In a place as messed-up as sixteenth century Scotland, getting killed by a rival was probably a positive.
In a combination of police work and propaganda, Moray's mother had a painting made of his corpse, of which a copy can be seen in one of the photo sections of Magnusson. The corpse has a caption (it almost looks like a speech balloon), "God revenge my cavs [cause]."
The artist looks to have been completely incompetent -- but, if the drawing is accurate enough to depict where the blows fell, it's hard to tell what actually killed Moray. There is a large wound on his leg, but that could not have been fatal unless he bled to death. The only wounds in the chest area are a couple of small scratches on his right side, the largest near the shoulder and not in a particularly vital area; in any case, it does not appear deep. There are the scratches on the face, but both look like flesh wounds (though one came close to Moray's right eye).
According to Thomson, p. 60, the conspiracy was also supposed to eliminate several senior members of Clan Cambell, who controlled the great Earldom of Argyll, but little came of that part of the plot.
According to Magnusson, pp. 396-397, the conspiracy arose because James VI was having trouble with his barons (in other words, nothing unusual in Scotland). The Earl of Bothwell had been fighting against the King -- at one time almost capturing him -- and Moray was allied with Bothwell.
James was even more afraid of Bothwell than he would have been of an ordinary rebel, because he was deeply superstitious, and Bothwell was reputedly involved with witches (Mitchison, p. 150). The king commissioned Huntley to put down Bothwell's faction, meanwhile negotiating with Moray. But Huntley had a grudge against Moray (whose father had enriched himself at the expense of an earlier Huntley -- plus Huntley had a chance to perhaps inherit the Monray earldom).
Moray was at Donibristle, awaiting the chance to confer with the King, when Huntley showed up on February 7 and set fire to the castle. Moray reportedly escaped out a side gate, but was found and killed -- folklore claims that Huntley struck the first blow.
James may have been prepared to negotiate with Moray, but he certainly didn't grieve for him; Huntley was merely placed under house arrest for a week. This is what caused Moray's mother to raise such a stink; she wanted justice for her son.
James VI never did catch up with Bothwell, though the earl eventually fled into exile. But he did not die until 1624, only a year before James himself.
Cowan, in the article "Calvinism and the Survival of Folk," notes on p. 43 that, shortly before Moray was killed, Sir John Campbell of Cawdor was also killed. These two were both strong supporters of the Kirk, and Cowan reports a speculation that, instead of being killed for political reasons, they were killed by enemies of Calvinism. Cowan suggests, "The ballad was almost certainly Kirk-inspired and it attacks King James at several vulnerable points."
It appears that Cowan is referring to the lines stating that the earl, "He might have been a king," and "He was the Queen's love." Moray, as the husband of the descendent of a bastard of James V, was not in line for the kingship -- but some might have seen him so. As for being the Queen's love, this is pretty definitely false -- but it plays upon James VI's apparent homosexuality; James had children by his wife Anne, but was known for his male favorites.
Cowan on p. 44 says that James was forced to accept legislation establishing Presbyterianism in May 1592.
This is certainly an interesting speculation but its ultimate weakness is that there seems no hint of it in the chronicles, and the ballad as we now have it has no Presbyterian references that I can see.
It is ironic to note that this ballad is best-known for an error of hearing *after* it moved out of tradition: The lines "They ha(v)e slain the Earl of Murray And laid him on the green" was heard as "They have slain the Earl of Murray and Lady Mondegreen," giving us the word "mondegreen." - RBW
>>BIBLIOGRAPHY<<
Cowan: Edward J. Cowan, editor, _The People's Past: Scottish Folk, Scottish History_ 1980 (I use the 1993 Polygon paperback edition)
Magnusson: Magnus Magnusson, _Scotland: The Story of a Nation_, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000
Mitchison: Rosalind Mitchison, _A History of Scotland_, second edition, Methuen, 1982
Thomson: Oliver Thomson, _The Great Feud: The Campbells & The Macdonalds_, Sutton Publishing, 2000
Child Collection- Child Ballad 181: The Bonnie Earl o’ Moray
Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have Rec
181 Alastair McDonald Bonnie Earl O' Moray Velvet and Steel 1995 3:45 Yes
181 Alastair McDonald Bonny Earl O' Moray Scotfree 1999 No
181 Alex Beaton Bonnie Earl O' Moray Scotland Forever 1986 No
181 Brian Johnstone The Bonny Earl O' Murray Music Whaur I'm Frae - Songs O' the Scots-Anglo Border, Vol. 2 2003 No
181 Carl Peterson Bonnie Earl of Murray The Auld Scotch Sangs 1998 3:25 Yes
181 Carl Peterson The Bonny Earl O' Murray Drifting with Michener 2006 No
181 Christopher Dean The Bonnie Earl O' Moray The Gael - A Celtic Music Collection 2002 4:07 Yes
181 Clifford Hughes Bonnie Earl O' Moray Over the Sea to Skye 1973 2:45 Yes
181 David Hammond The Bonnie Earl of Moray The Singer's House 1980 No
181 David Keith Jones Bonnie Earl O' Moray Scotland the Brave - Robert Burns + Tearlach 2010 No
181 Ewan MacColl The Bonnie Earl O' Murray The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 4 1956 No
181 Ewan MacColl The Bonnie Earl O' Murray The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Child Ballads) - Vol. 1 1961 2:47 Yes
181 Ewan MacColl The Bonnie Earl O' Murray The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 7 [Reissue] 196? 2:00 Yes
181 Ewan MacColl The Bonny Earl of Moray Poetry and Song, Vol. 6 1967 No
181 Ewan MacColl The Earl O' Murray Blood and Roses - Vol. 4 1986 2:13 Yes
181 Felicity Lott & Graham Johnson The Bonney Earl O' Moray Britten: Folk Song Arrangements - The English Song Series, Vol, 10 2005 2:36 Yes
181 Five Hand Reel The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Earl O'Moray 1978 5:04 Yes
181 Five Hand Reel The Bonnie Earl O' Moray The Collection 1997 5:04 Yes
181 Five Hand Reel The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Five Hand Reel + For A' That + Earl O' Moray 2007 5:04 Yes
181 Folque Jarlen Av Murray Kjempene På Dovrefjell (The Giants in the Dovre Mountains) 1975 2:15 Yes
181 Gaberlunzie Bonnie Earl O' Moray Highland Lines 1990 2:23 Yes
181 George Edwards Bonnie Earl of Murray The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
181 Glen Tomasetti The Bonny Earl O' Moray Folk Songs with Guitar 1963 3:18 Yes
181 Hermes Nye Earl of Murray Anglo-American Ballads 1952 1:20 Yes
181 Isla St. Clair Bonnie Earl of Moray Royal Lovers & Scandals 2000 2:25 Yes
181 Isla St. Clair Bonnie Earl of Moray Highland Songs 2004 2:29 Yes
181 Isla St. Clair Bonnie Earl of Moray Great Songs and Ballads of Scotland 2009 No
181 Isobel Buchanan The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Songs of Scotland 1995 2:38 Yes
181 Jackie Leven The Bonnie Earl O' Moray I Say a Little Prayer 1994 2:10 Yes
181 Jackie Leven The Bonnie Earl O'Moray Days of 49 2005 3:19 Yes
181 James Gordon The Bonny Earl of Murray Endomusia 2004 3:13 Yes
181 Jock Tamson's Bairns The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Rare 2005 4:55 Yes
181 John Turner Bonnie Earl of Moray A Giant in His Field - Scottish Fiddle Music 2006 No
181 Kenneth McKellar The Bonnie Earl of Moray Sleeps the Noon in the Deep Blue Sky 2006 No
181 Killiecrankie The Bonnie Earl of Moray The Haggis Egg 1994 4:00 Yes
181 Lorna Anderson The Bonny Earl O' Moray Britten - the Folksong Arrangements 2000 No
181 Marie McLaughlin The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Songs of Scotland 2000 No
181 Mark Wilde & David Owen Norris The Bonny Earl O' Moray Britten - Complete Scottish Songs 2011 3:14 Yes
181 Mary O'Hara The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Mary O'Hara's Scotland 1974 2:42 Yes
181 Mary Strachan Bonnie Earl O' Moray Celtic Harp 1999 2:24 Yes
181 Max Dunbar The Bonny Earl of Moray Songs and Ballads of the Scottish Wars, 1290-1745 1956 1:39 Yes
181 Mr. Vance Randolph The Bonny Earl of Murray The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection :50 Yes
181 Old Blind Dogs The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Legacy 1997 4:06 Yes
181 Old Blind Dogs The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Live 1999 4:10 Yes
181 Old Blind Dogs The Bonnie Earl O Moray Four on the Floor 2007 4:57 Yes
181 Peter Mallan Bonnie Earl O' Moray Scotland 1999 2:15 Yes
181 Raun MacKinnon Bonnie, Earl of Murray American Folk Songs 1962 2:10 Yes
181 Richard Dyer-Bennet The Bonnie Earl of Morey The Art of Richard Dyer-Bennet [The Essential Richard Dyer-Bennet] 1993 2:48 Yes
181 Richard Dyer-Bennet The Bonnie Earl of Morey Richard Dyer-Bennet Vol. 1 1997 3:07 Yes
181 Richard Morrison Bonnie Earl O' Moray Songs of My Home 2008 No
181 Robbie O'Connell The Earl of Murray Close to the Bone 2004 No
181 Robbie O'Connell The Earl of Murray Recollections, Vol. 1 2006 3:17 Yes
181 Robert Tear & Sir Philip Ledger The Bonnie Earl O' Murray Britten: Winter Words - on This Island - Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo - Folk Song Arrangements - Canticles I-III 2002 No
181 Robin Hall & Jimmie MacGregor & the Galliards The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Scottish Choice 1961 No
181 Ronnie Browne The Bonnie Earl O' Murray Scottish Love Songs 1995 2:54 Yes
181 Ronnie Browne The Bonnie Earl O' Moray The West Highland Way Song Collection 2007 No
181 Rory & Alex McEwan & Isla Cameron The Bonny Earl O' Moray Folksong Jubilee 1958 No
181 Rory & Alex McEwen The Bonny Earl O' Moray Great Scottish Ballads 1956 2:55 Yes
181 Ross Kennedy The Earl of Moray Scottish Voice and Acoustic Guitar 2007 3:18 Yes
181 Seraffyn The Bonnie Earl O' Mowray Of Love, of War, of Many Things 1964 2:44 Yes
181 Stone Ring [Standing Stones] Bonny Earl of Moray A Toast to the Company 1999 5:51 Yes
181 Sydney MacEwan The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Silver Threads Among the Gold 1998 No
181 Sydney MacEwan The Bonnie Earl O' Moray Folk Songs and Ballads 1999 No
181 The Corrie Folk Trio & Paddie Bell The Bonny Earl O' Moray More Folk Songs for the Burds 1963 2:35 Yes
181 The Corries Earl O' Moray Live from Scotland Vol.3 & 4 2000 2:56 Yes
181 The Ian Campbell Folk Group Earl of Moray Four Highland Songs 1966 No
181 The Ian Campbell Folk Group Earl of Moray Swarb! - Forty Five Years of Folk's Finest Fiddler - The Life and Music of Dave Swarbrick 2003 3:31 Yes
181 The Ian Campbell Folk Group The Bonny Earl of Moray Borderlands - The Best of Scottish Folk 2006 3:31 Yes
181 The Ian Campbell Folk Group The Earl of Moray Sampler Volume 2 1969 3:24 Yes
181 The Iron Horse The Earl of Moray + The Gift + The Conclusion Thro' Water, Earth & Stone 1993 5:33 Yes
181 The Iron Horse The Earl of Moray + the Gift + the Conclusion The Celtic Collection - 30th Anniversary of KRL 2008 No
181 Thomas Allen The Bonny Earl O' Moray Britten: Folk Song Arrangements 2 - The English Song Series, Vol, 13 2005 No
181 Thomas Allen The Bonny Earl O' Moray Benjamin Britten - The Folk Songs 1995 No
Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America
by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
181. THE BONNY EARL OF MURRAY
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 468 (trace) / Brown Coll / JAFL, XX, 158; XLIV, 297.
Local Titles: Highlands and Lowlands.
Story Types: A: One text is an almost lyric moan for the Earl of Murray
who has been slain and laid on the green. It was ordered he be captured, not
killed. He was a. capable man, a favorite of the Queen, and might have be-
come King. Examples: JAFL, XLIV, 297.
B : A similar lyric, which mourns Murray, upbraids Huntly for killing the man in his bed, reminds him his wife will rue the deed, and tells him he will not dare come into Dinnybristle town for a long time.
Examples: JAFL, XX, 158.
Discussion: The Type A story follows Child A closely, while Type B is an incomplete variation which resembles Child B (Stanzas 6 and 9) in its final two stanzas. In Type B the speakers and the story background are not clear. For the complete story behind the ballad and for the details of the murder of Murray by Huntly in February 1592 see Child, III, 447.
Barry found a Maine sea-captain who recognized the song. See Barry, Brit Bids Me, 468.
----------------------
Scottish Song in the James Madison Carpenter Collection
by Ian A. Olson
Folk Music Journal, Vol. 7, No. 4, Special Issue on the James Madison Carpenter Collection (1998), pp. 421-433
There are two ballad versions (Child 181A and 181B) surrounding the dreadful murder of the second, ('Bonny') Earl of Moray in 1592. The commonly sung A version gives no details of the murder as such but historians have so far agreed that the Earl was cut down after fleeing from a house besieged and set on fire by his enemy the Earl of Huntly. When I examined the forensic evidence of the wounds portrayed i n a detailed c ontemporary death portrait o f Moray it turned out to support the neglected B version of the ballad, in which the Bonny Earl is described as having been treacherously murdered in his bed. But, from the unique version, 'The Bonny Earlo f Murry',g iven by one of Carpenter'sin formants,i t would appeart hat Child's A and B versions are in fact but part of one longer ballad, thus emphasizing the 'ahistorical' story it tells. A close re-examination of the 'contemporary' historical accounts shows that they were mostly written long after the event, by people who had a vested interest in blackening the name of Moray's supposed murderer, the Earl of Huntly, and that in reality there are no first-hand eye-witness accounts. Thus these important clues from the Carpenter Collection not only advance ballad scholarship but face historians with the need to re-examine the entire event and its significance in Scottish history.
Folk Index: Bonnie Earl of/o' Murray [Ch 181]
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p265 [1750]
Luboff, Norman; and Win Stracke (eds.) / Songs of Man, Prentice-Hall, Bk (1966), p 92
Scottish Song Book for Contralto, Bayley & Ferguson, Sof (1910s?), p 24 (Bonnie Earl of Moray)
Brander, Michael (ed.) / Scottish and Border Ballads and Battles, Barnes & Nobel, Bk (1993/1976), p 97
Brander, Michael (ed.) / Scottish and Border Ballads and Battles, Barnes & Nobel, Bk (1993/1976), p246
Johnson, James & Robert Burns (eds) / Scots Musical Museum, Amadeus, Bk (1991/1853), #177 [1788]
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p492a
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p 90
Campbell, Ian; Folk Group. Ian Campbell Folk Group Sampler, Vol. 2, Transatlantic TRASAM 012, LP (196?), trk# 12 (Earl of Moray)
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Richard Dyer-Bennet 1, Dyer-Bennet 1, LP (1955), trk# A.06
Hall, Robin; and Jimmie MacGregor. Scottish Choice, Eclipse ECS 2074, LP (1971), trk# B.04
Hammond, David. Singers House, Greenhays GR 702, LP (1980), trk# 7 (Bonnie Earl of Moray)
Kelley, Robert (Bob). Edwards, Jay; and Robert Kelley / Coffee House Songbook, Oak, Sof (1966), p152
Mac Kinnon, Raun. American Folk Songs, Parkway SP 7024, LP (1962), trk# A.07
McLeod, Mrs.. Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p492b [1906/12]
O'Connell, Robbie. Close to the Bone, Green Linnet SIF 1038, LP (1982), trk# 4 (Earl of Murray)
O'Hara, Mary. Mary O'Hara's Scotland, Tradition 2121, LP (197?), trk# B.01 (Bonnie Earl of Moray)
Seraffyn. Of Love, of War, of Many Things, Columbia CL 2157, LP (1964), trk# A.03
Tear, Robert; and Philip Ledger. Foggy Foggy Dew, Musical Heritage MHS 4792Y, LP (1983/1975), trk# B.06