Recordings & Info 201. Bessy Bell and Mary Gray
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) Folk Index
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 237: Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (64 Listings)
2) The "Vicar of Bray"- Kidson 1892
3) Two Ballads from Allan Cunningham- Brooks 1955
Alternative Titles
O Bessie Bell and Mary Gray
Bessie Bell I Lued Yestreen
Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (I) [Child 201]
DESCRIPTION: "O Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, They war twa bonnie lasses; They biggit a bower on yon burn brae, And theekit it o'er wi' rashes." Despite these precautions, they die of the plague. They had hoped to be buried in Methven kirk yard, but this was not allowed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1688 (reference according to Opie-Oxford2); 1824 (Sharpe); 1842 (Halliwell: nursery rhyme) [see notes]
KEYWORDS: disease death burial
FOUND_IN: US(NE,SE) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (18 citations)
Child 201, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text: Sharpe's four verses)
Bronson 201, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (5 versions: Bronson's #1,2,5,6; #7 is nursery rhyme and #3-#4 are "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (II)")
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #293, pp. 169-170, "(Bessy Bell and Mary Gray)" (1 text: nursery rhyme)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 278-279, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (1 fragment plus a printed version that may have been the source: nursery rhyme, 1 tune) {Bronson's #7}
JHCox 22, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text, of only two verses: the first goes here but the second appears to be floating material[see notes])
Davis-Ballads 38B, 38C, 38D, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (3 text fragments: all first verse only); 38A, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text: nursery rhyme)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 190-191, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (1 fragment: close to first verse and half the second of Sharpe's version)
Opie-Oxford2 39, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (3 texts: nursery rhyme, Sharpe, two line "squib" [see notes])
Friedman, p. 302, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text: same text as Sharpe)
OBB 176, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text: same text as Sharpe)
Gummere, pp. 163+336, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text: same text as Sharpe)
GreigDuncan6 1256Aa, "Bessie Bell I Lued Yestreen" (close to Sharpe's first verse); 1257, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (close to Sharpe's first two verses)
DT BESSBELL (same text as Sharpe)
DT BESSBEL2 (nursery rhyme)
ADDITIONAL: Thomas Lyle, Ancient Ballads and Songs (London, 1827 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 160-161, "Bessy Bell an' Mary Gray" (1 text: four verses similar to Sharpe's)
T.F. Henderson, editor, Sir Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (New York, 1902 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol I, p. 26 fn, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" [added 1830: close to Sharpe's first and third verse].
James Orchard Halliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England (London, 1842 ("Digitized by Google")), #56 pp. 36-37, ("Bessy Bell and Mary Gray") (1 text: nursery rhyme)
Walter de la Mare, Come Hither, revised edition, 1928; notes to #62 (no title) (1 text: same text as Sharpe)
Roud #237
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (II)" (subject)
NOTES: This ballad is sometimes associated with a plague which struck Perth, Scotland in 1645. Few versions of this ballad, which is usually found only in fragmentary form, explain why the two women were denied burial in the town churchyard; homosexuality has been offered as a possible explanation. - PJS, RBW
Iona and Peter Opie write, "The local tradition (first written down c. 1773) about these two girls is that Mary Gray was the daughter of the Laird of Lednock and Bessy Bell of the Laird of Kinvaid, a place near by. They were both very handsome and an intimate friendship subsisted between them. While Bessy was on a visit to Mary the plague broke out at Perth (seven miles distant), and in order to escape it they built themselves a bower.... Here they lived for some time; but... they caught the infection from a young man who was in love with both of them and used to bring them provisions. They died in the bower, and since, according to the rule in case of plague, they could not be buried in a churchyard ... they were interred in the Dranoch-haugh."
The earliest "complete" 16-line text I have seen is Sharpe, Child's source (Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, _A Ballad Book_ (Edinburgh, 1891, reprint of 1824 edition), Vol I, #20 p. 50, "The Twa Lasses").
Lyle: "The above fragment is here collated from the singing of two aged persons, one of them a native of Perthshire. It is to be regretted, that none of the intermediate stanzas of this fine old Ballad are upon record; neither Bannatyne nor Maitland, have the Ballad entered into their MSS ...."
Cox has the usual first verse and the following second verse: "They would n't have their shoes of red, Nor would they have them yellow; But they would have a bonny green, To walk the streets of Yarrow." That seems to have floated here but I can't see where it has floated from. It reminds Cox of the Child 200 (e.g., 200K.vs7) verse "They took off my high-heeled shoes, That were made of Spanish leather, And I have put on coarse Lowland brogues, To trip it oer the heather."
Aside from the reference to shoes I don't see the similiarity. I do see a parallel with verses that have two negative lines followed by a positive line and a conclusion (for example, Child 64A.vs19, "Some put on the gat green robes, And some put on the brown; But Janet put on the scarlet robes, To shine foremost throw the town" ). The verse fits the story in that green is usually associated with death (and/or witchcraft) in the ballads (see Lowry Charles Wimberly, _Folklore in the Englsih & Scottish Ballads_ (Dover, New York, 1965 reprint of 1928 edition), especially pp. 176, 178, 240, 241).
Opie-Oxford2 has two lines of "a squib on the birth of the Old Pretender (1688), beginning: Bessy Bell and Mary Grey, Those famous bonny lasses," that establishes a latest date for the creation of the ballad.
Besides the ballad form there is a nursery rhyme on the subject that has been collected in North America and Scotland: "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, They were two bonnie lasses, They built their house upon the lea, And covered it with rashes. Bessy kept the garden gate And Mary kept the pantry; Bessy always had to wait While Mary she had plenty"
There is another song beginning with the same first verse as Child 201, indexed here as "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (II)," written by Ramsay around 1720. Scott would have that be Ramsay's attempt to fill in the romantic part of the story. - BS
Child Collection Index- Child Ballad 201: Bessy Bell and Mary Gray
Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
201 Annie Watkins Betsy Bell Course and Fine; Songs and Ballads of Dundee 1985 No
201 Bell Duncan Bessie Bell and Mary Gray The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
201 Cherish the Ladies Betsy Belle and Mary Gray Woman of the House 2005 3:44 Yes
201 Ellen Rettie Bessie Bell and Mary Gray The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
201 Ewan MacColl Bessie Bell and Mary Gray The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 4 1956 No
201 Ewan MacColl Bessie Bell and Mary Gray The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 8 [Reissue] 196? 1:03 Yes
201 Ewan MacColl Bessie Bell and Mary Grey The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Child Ballads) - Vol. 2 1964 :53 Yes
201 Hector Campbell Bessie Bell and Mary Gray The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
201 Jamie MacDougall & Haydn Trio Eisenstadt Scottish Songs for William Whyte III – Bessy Bell and Mary Gray Haydn Edition 2008 3:03 Yes
201 Lal & Norma Waterson Betsy Belle A True Hearted Girl 1999 1:04 Yes
201 Maddy Prior Betsy Bell Ballads and Candles 2000 5:33 Yes
201 Martin Carthy Betsy Bell and Mary Gray Individually and Collectively 2000 1:36 Yes
201 Martin Carthy Betsy Bell and Mary Gray Shearwater 1972 1:33 Yes
201 Molendinar Betsy Bell and Mary Gray Folklore Aus Schottland 1979 3:02 Yes
201 Mrs. A. Goldenberg Two Bonnie Lassies The Edith Fowke Collection No
201 Paul & Liz Davenport Betsy Bell & Mary Gray Under the Leaves 2006 No
201 Peter Knight Betsy Bell and Mary Grey Too Late for Shadows 2005 No
201 Rebecca Fox Betsy Belle & Mary Grey Birmingham Traditional Music Club - Live at the Wagon & Horses 2006 1:33 Yes
201 Ron Gonnella Aikey Brae + Bessie Bell and Mary Gray + Bonnie Brier Bush Scottish Fiddle Magic 1992 3:11 Yes
201 Sarah Hill, Niall Mushet & Sara Stowe Betsy Bell & Mary Gray Scotland the Brave - A Pageant of Celtic Music 2008 No
201 Steeleye Span Betsy Bell & Mary Gray Tempted and Tried 1989 4:59 Yes
201 Steeleye Span Betsy Bell & Mary Grey Folk Rock Pioneers in Concert 2006 5:15 Yes
201 Steeleye Span Betsy Bell and Mary Gray The Official Bootleg 2004 No
201 Steeleye Span Betsy Bell and Mary Gray The 35th Anniversary World Tour 2004 2004 5:34 Yes
201 Steeleye Span Betsy Bell and Mary Gray A Rare Collection 1972-1996 1999 4:23 Yes
201 Steeleye Span Betsy Bell Toasted - Live at Nettle Back Folk Club, Oxfordshire, England 2006 8:01 Yes
201 Steeleye Span Betsy Bell and Mary Gray [DVD] Live at a Distance 2009 No
201 Steeleye Span Betsy Bell and Mary Gray Another Parcel of Steeleye Span - Their Second Five Chrysalis Albums 1976-1989 2010 4:56 Yes
201 Sue Brown & Lorraine Irwing Betsy Bell and Mary Gray The 13th Bedroom 2012 No
201 The Demon Barbers Betsy Bell +24db 2008 No
201 The Elliot Family Nancy Grey and Betsy Grey - Betsy Bell and Mary Grey + Stanley Market (medley) The Elliots of Birtley - A Musical Portrait of a Durham Mining Family 1961 No
201 Therese Honey Bessie Bell Mosaic - Celtic Harp 1996 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
201. BESSY BELL AND MARY GRAY
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 278 / Cox, F-S South, 134 / Cox, W. Fa. School Journal and Educator^ 428 / Davis, Trd Bid Fa, 432 / Mother Goose's Melodies (James Miller, N.Y., 1 869) / Scarborough, Sgctchr So Mis, 191.
Local Titles: Bessy (Betsey) Bell and Mary Gray.
Story Types: A: The first four lines of the Child ballad exist as a song by themselves. Examples: Davis (C, D).
B: The first four lines of the Child ballad, with a nursery stanza added, exist as a nonsense rime.
Examples: Barry (A), Davis (A).
C: A two-stanza song is made up of the first stanza used by Types A and B in addition to a stanza on the green, not red or yellow, shoes the girls wore. Examples: Cox, F-S South.
D : The first stanza is that of Type A, The second stanza tells of the death, coming from the town and killing the 1 girls.
Examples: Scarborough.
Discussion: This ballad is based on the old Scottish story concerning two girls, Mary Gray, daughter of a laird of Lednock; and Bessy Bell, daughter of the laird of Kinvaid. When the latter girl was visiting the former in 1645, a plague broke out. The two women sought refuge in a bower. However, before long they were infected by a young man who was in love with one or
both and who brought them food. They were buried near-by. The London Times of July 8, 1832 (and again of July 8, 1932) prints a report of the fencing in of the girls' grave by Lord Lynedoch in order to protect it from sightseers.
Davis, Trd Bid 7a, 432 reports that there are two mountains in County Tyrone in Ireland that have the same names as the girls. These titles have also been given to twin peaks near Staunton, Va. For further details consult Child, IV, 75 --6.
The American texts are fragmentary, but this condition seems to be the rule in the New World. Davis, of. cit., 433 notes that "several people have told me they had known the first stanza of the ballad all their lives, but had no idea it was a ballad". Type A is of this sort. Compare it with Child's text, Stanzas I or 4. See also Ramsay's Poems, Edinburgh, 1721, 80 as quoted by Child, IV, 75. Type E is found as a nursery rime in Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes of England, 1874, 2 4^ an( i * s ^ e most common American type. Type C seems to have been corrupted by The Gypsie Laddie (Child 200), while Type D constitutes an incomplete form of the Child text. See Stanzas I and 2 in Child.
Folk Index: Bessie Bell and Mary Gray [Ch 201]
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p302 [1823]
Johnson, James & Robert Burns (eds) / Scots Musical Museum, Amadeus, Bk (1991/1853), #128 [1788]
Ball, Grandma. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p191 [1930ca]
Cherish the Ladies. Woman of the House, Rounder 7063, CD (2005), trk# 7 (Betsy Bell and Mary Grey)
Hughes, Elmira Gresell. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p134/# 22 [1915/12/07]
McPherson, James. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p100/# 39 [1930s]
Steeleye Span. Tempted and Tried, Shanachie 64020, Cas (1989), trk# A.05 (Betsy Bell and Mary Grey)