Recordings & Info 65. Lady Maisry
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Folk Index
4) Child Collection Index
5) 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
6) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud Number 45: Lady Maisry (89 Listings)
Alternative Titles
Bonnie Susie Cleland
The Burning o' Lady Marjorie
Sweet Maisry
Lord Dillard and Lady Flora
Traditional Ballad Index: Lady Maisry [Child 65]
DESCRIPTION: The Scottish heroine loves an English lord above all Scots. Her family, learning of her love and (in most versions) her pregnancy, prepare to burn her. She sends tokens to her love, but she has been burnt before he can arrive. (He takes bitter vengeance)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1783/1799 (GordonBrown/Rieuwerts)
KEYWORDS: love separation death hate hardheartedness family execution revenge
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,West),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Child 65, "Lady Maisry" (11 texts)
Bronson 65, "Lady Maisry" (13 versions, though some of these are really "Mother, Mother, Make My Bed")
GordonBrown/Rieuwerts, pp. 152-159, "Lady Maisery" (2 parallel texts plus a photo of the badly-transcribed tune; also a reconstructed tune on p. 275)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 448-449, "Lady Maisry" (notes only)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 117-119, "Bonnie Susie Cleland" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 16, "Lady Maisry" (2 fragments, the first probably this but the second is only the verse of the messenger boy swimming the river; I suspect it's actually from "Little Musgrave," or "Mother, Mother," or "Lord Lovell," or some other such source)
SharpAp 17 "Lady Maisry" (2 texts, 2 tunes){Bronson's #13, #12}
Sharp-100E 10, "Lady Maisry" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #8}
Leach, pp. 208-213, "Lady Maisry" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 74, "Lady Maisry" (1 text)
OBB 73, "Lady Maisry" (1 text)
PBB 40, "Janet (Lady Maisry)" (1 text)
Niles 26, "Lady Maisry" (2 texts, 2 tunes; the second is short, and appears to be a mixed text)
Gummere, pp. 218-222+352, "Lady Maisry" (1 text)
DBuchan 11, "Lady Maisry", 29, "Lady Maisry" (2 texts, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #1}
GlenbuchatBallads, p.. 37-41, "Lady Mazrey" (1 text)
Lyle-Crawfurd2 138, "The Burning o' Lady Marjorie" (1 text)
DT 65, SCLELAND* LMAISRY *
Roud #45
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Stolen Bride" (plot)
cf. "Mother, Mother, Make My Bed" (lyrics)
cf. "Kafoozalem (I)" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bonnie Susie Cleland
Sweet Maisry
Lord Dillard and Lady Flora
NOTES: Bronson, Roud, and Scarborough, and probably others, have filed "Mother, Mother, Make My Bed" with "Lady Maisry," but that ballad (composed largely of floating elements) lacks key plot elements, notably the reasons for, and fact of, the girl's condemnation and death. It appears to be a separate song, though perhaps composed on the fragments of this song.
Interestingly, it appears that every text Bronson has of "Mother, Mother" is part of his "C" tune group, and every text in the "C" group is either "Mother, Mother" or is too short to allow identification.
I also somewhat question the placing of "Bonnie Susie Cleland" with the other versions of "Lady Maisry." The plot is the same, but the form is very different, and Bronson places the two "Susie Cleland" tunes in a separate group from all the others (his "B"). It all feels like a deliberate rewrite to me.
The tale of a father murdering his daughter for some reason or other goes back in western folklore at least to Agamemnon and Iphigenia. Even earlier is the Biblical tale of Jephthah sacrificing his only daughter in fulfillment of a vow (Judges 11:30-40). There have been attempts to link this to folk tales or nature religions (InterpretersDict, volume II, p. 821; AbingdonComm: , p. 368, and HastingsDict, pp.. 431-432, all compare it to the "weeping for Tammuz" of Ezekiel 8:14), although all such parallels seem like a bit of a stretch to me.
These tales share a theme of a father killing a daughter but very little in the way of motivation -- both Agamemnons' and Jephthah's daughters were sacrificed.. A better parallel, because it is a punishment rather than a sacrifice, may be afforded by the case of Saint Barbara. Barbara supposedly lived in the fourth century, and was a very pretty girl -- but she was a Christian among pagans. The details of the story vary, but they agree that she was executed for her faith, with her father being the one who actually struck the fatal blow (DictSaints, p. 27). The year supposedly was 306, the place Heliopolis in Egypt (Haziltt, p. 26). Her feast day is December 4.
The improbability of the whole story is shown by the fact that the father was slain by lightning moments later -- a detail which "Susie Cleland" quite properly omits. As far as I know, the story is pure fiction; at least, checking half a dozen histories of the Christian church did not turn up a single reference to the tale. - RBW
Bibliography
AbingdonComm: Frederick Carl Eiselen, Edwin Lewis, and David G. Downey, editors, The Abingdon Bible Commentary, Abingdon Press, 1929
DictSaints: Revd. Philip D. Noble, editor, The Watkins Dictionary of Saints, Watkins Publishing, 2007
HastingsDict: James Hastings et al, editors, Dictionary of the Bible, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1947
Hazlitt: W. C. Hazlitt, Dictionary of Faiths & Folklore, Reeves & Turner, 1905 (I use the 1995 Studio Editions paperback)
InterpretersDict: [George Arthur Buttrick et al, editor], The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, four volumes, 1962 (a fifth supplementary volume was published later)
Folk Index: Lady Maisry [Ch 65/Sh 17]
Rt - Lord Dillard and Lady Flora; Mother, Mother Make My Bed
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p 74 [1806ca]
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p208
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p211
Bishop, Mrs. Dan. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 99/# 17B [1917/08/21]
Kathy and Carol. Kathy & Carol, Elektra EKS-7 289, LP (1965), trk# 9
Knuckles, Delie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 97/# 17A [1917/05/16]
Langstaff, John. Langstaff, John / Lark in the Morn, Revels CD 2004, CD (2004), trk# 7 [1949-56]
Lovingood, Charity. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p138 [1930ca]
Unidentified Singer. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p137/N 26A [1934/07] (Sweet Maisry)
Child Collection Index: Child Ballad 065: Lady Maisry
Child No.-- Artist-- Title-- Album-- Year-- Length-- Have
065 Alice Penfold Little Footman Boy Travellers - Songs, Stories and Tunes from English Gypsies 1979 1:59 Yes
065 Alice Penfold The Little Footman Boy Here's Luck to a Man .. - An Anthology of Gypsy Songs & Music from South-East England 2003 No
065 Arthur Nightingale Lady Maisry The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
065 Bedlam Boys Bonnie Susie Clelland Rakish Paddy 1997 5:31 Yes
065 Beggars' Circus Bonnie Susie Cleland Moor for the Asking 2004 5:58 Yes
065 Bell Duncan Lady Maisry (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
065 Bell Duncan Lady Maisry (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
065 Bell Duncan Lady Maisry (3) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
065 Bella Hardy Bonny Susie Cleland Night Visiting 2007 5:12 Yes
065 Bill Shute & Lisa Null Suzie Cleland The Feathered Maiden and Other Ballads 1977 4:42 Yes
065 Brothers 3 Bonnie Suzie Clelland The Journey That Lies Before 2003 No
065 Cammi Vaughan Lady Maisry Lass of Roch Royal 2005 No
065 Carolyne Hughes Lady Maisry The Elfin Knight - The Classic Ballads 1 1976 No
065 Carolyne Hughes The Little Boy Blackdog & Sheepcrook 1975 No
065 Chris Foster Lady Maisry Layers 2002 6:13 Yes
065 Chris Foster Lady Maisry Jewels 2004 7:40 Yes
065 Cilla Fisher, Hamish Moore & Alan Reid Bonnie Susie Clelland A Celebration of Scottish Music 1988 4:48 Yes
065 Derek & Dorothy Elliott Lady Maisry Derek & Dorothy Elliott 1972 2:14 Yes
065 Eileen McGann Bonny Susie Cleland Beyond the Storm 2001 4:56 Yes
065 Ewan MacColl Lady Maisry Blood and Roses - Vol. 4 1986 7:38 Yes
065 Fraser & Ian Bruce Bonnie Susie Clelland Mrs. Bruce's Boys - Vol. 2 1985 No
065 Hen Party Bonny Susie Cleland Nobody Here But Us.. 1998 No
065 Irene Watt The Ballad of Susie Clellend Tide of Change 2008 No
065 Jean Redpath Bonnie Susie Cleland Father Adam 1979 5:58 Yes
065 Jim Reid Bonnie Susie Cleland Emfae Dundee 2001 5:24 Yes
065 John Langstaff Lady Maisry John Langstaff Sings - Archival Folk Collection 1949-1961 2004 No
065 John Langstaff Lady Maisry John Langstaff Sings the Lark in the Morning and Other Folksongs and Ballads 2004 2:49 Yes
065 June Tabor & The Oyster Band Susie Clelland New Electric Muse - The Story of Folk Into Rock 1996 5:13 Yes
065 June Tabor & The Oyster Band Susie Clelland Freedom and Rain 1990 5:13 Yes
065 June Tabor & The Oyster Band Susie Clelland Medium Rare - A Collection of Rarities and Non-Album Tracks in Celebration of Rykodisc's 10th Anniversary 1993 No
065 June Tabor & The Oyster Band Bonnie Suzie Clelland Live at First Avenue [Minneapolis 1991] 1991 5:32 Yes
065 Kathy & Carol Lady Maisry Kathy & Carol 1965 4:06 Yes
065 Katrina of Coventry & Gerald of Leesville Bonnie Susie Cleland <website> 2007 2:46 Yes
065 Lucy Pringle & Chris Wright Lady Maisry The Speaking Heart 2010 No
065 Marilyn Maltzer & Anne Price Suzie Cleland Happy Landings 1989 5:07 Yes
065 Mark T. Lady Maisry Folk Songs and Ballads 2011 No
065 Maureen Jelks Bonnie Susie Cleland Old Songs & Bothy Ballads - 'Some Rants o Fun' 2006 No
065 Mrs Alex Campbell Lady Maisry The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
065 Mrs Nightingale Lady Maisry The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
065 Oyster Band Bonnie Susie Cleland Liberty Hall 1985 5:29 Yes
065 Peter Bellamy The Burning Tell It Like It Was 1975 3:25 Yes
065 Phil Cooper, Margaret Nelson & Kate Early Susie Cleland Love & War 2005 4:19 Yes
065 Sheena Wellington Bonnie Susie Cleland Hamely Fare 2003 5:30 Yes
065 The Clutha Binnie Susie The Bonnie Mill Dams 1977 4:56 Yes
065 Tim Grimm Lady Maisry Names 2004 4:35 Yes
065 Tony Cuffe Bonny Susie Clelland Live in Stonehaven 1987 3:13 Yes
065 Wyldefyre Bonnie Susie Clellan All's Faire 2005 4:30 Yes
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
65. LADY MAISRY
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 448 (trace) / Davis, Trd Bid Va^ 180 / Scarborough, Sgctchr So Mts, 137 / SharpK, Eng F-S So Aplchns I, 97 / Va FLS Still, # 1 1.
Local Titles: Lady Maisry.
Story Types: A: A girl is with child, and her parents are planning to burn her at the stake. She sends her oldest brother's son to tell her lover what has happened and to get him to attend the burial. The boy goes and informs the lover who hurries to the girl's house blowing his bugle. The girl, hearing, is tied to the stake unafraid. The hero rushes up just in time to tear her
dying form from the flames and kiss her. He then wills his land to the oldest brother's son. Examples: SharpK (A).
B: The same story is told. However, it is abbreviated and has a cliche ending added so that the man is late and can only stop the funeral, kiss the corpse, and die himself.
Examples: Scarborough.
Discussion: The American versions remain pretty close to the Child story, although the complete tale does not exist over here. Child (II, iiz)'s summary of the story, as quoted by Davis, Trd Bid Va> 1 80, gives the action as follows: It is discovered that Maisry goes with child. Her brother or father demands that she renounce the lord who is the English lover, but she refuses.
Her father offers her the choice of marrying an old man or burning at the stake. In some versions the family (in keeping with romance practice) begins preparations to burn her without mention of choice. Maisry is warned of her fate and sends a devoted young messenger to carry word to her lord. The English lord, on learning what has happened, saddles his best steeds and hurries off. Maisry, in the flames, hears the bugle. She scorns her family's efforts. In some texts she cries out to her lover that she would cast his son from the fire if her hands were free. He leaps into the blaze for a last kiss as her body crumbles. On seeing her dead, the Englishman threatens cruel retaliation on the family, deeds to be followed by his suicide.
The Type A text seems to substitute the will-writing for the revenge threats, though one can not be sure. Certainly the ending of this incomplete version is less severe. The Type B story is not in Child and is quite conventional (See Lord Lovel and Barbara Allen).
Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music
Lady Maisry / The Burning / Bonnie Susie Cleland
[Roud 45; Child 65; Ballad Index C065; trad.]
Derek & Dorothy Elliott recorded Lady Maisry in 1972 for their eponymous album, Derek & Dorothy Elliott. They commented in their sleeve notes:
This ballad can be found in greater detail in Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads. The many versions found there suggest that Lady Maisry was pregnant by a lord of whom her family disapproved, and they made preparations for her for a last kiss, but her body fells apart. The version here was collected by Cecil Sharp in Somerset, and omits these gruesome details, leaving a sad romantic song similar to Lord Lovell.
Peter Bellamy sang The Burning unaccompanied to his own tune on his 1975 album Tell It Like It Was. He commented in the album's liner notes:
This fragment, probably of the ballad Lady Maisry, was brought to my attention by a good friend and singer, John Moreton, who found the words in an old Norfolk miscellany. The tune is mine.
The Clutha sang Bonnie Susie Cleland on their 1977 Topic album The Bonnie Mill Dams.
Chris Foster sang Lady Maisry in 1977 on his Topic album Layers and in 2004 on his Tradition Bearers CD Jewels. He commented in the booklet notes:
I found the main guts of the text and tune for the ballad Lady Maisry in the Hammond manuscripts at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library in London. Henry Hammond collected the song in 1906 from Sam Gregory at Beaminster, a small Dorset town that I often hitch hiked through om the way to the seaside at West Bay in my youth. I filled out the Sam Gregory text with verses from versions in the Child collection in order to complete the story.
June Tabor sang Susie Clelland in 1990 on her album with the Oysterband, Freedom and Rain. A live recording from the American public radio programme “Mountain Stage” was included in 1993 on the Rykodisk anniversary sampler Medium Rare.
Maureen Jelks sang Bonnie Susie Cleland at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival, Collessie, Fife in May 2006. This recording was released in the following year on the festival anthology Some Rants o' Fun (Old Songs & Bothy Ballads Volume 3). The liner notes commented:
This is a version of the ballad of Lady Maisry (Child 65) and, in this form, it was originally collected by William Motherwell in the west of Scotland and first published (words and tune) in his Minstrelsy of 1827. It does not seem to have survived in the living tradition but has been recorded by several singers in recent years.
It seems unlikely that the ballad is a record of a historic event. However, there were a number of witch burnings in Dundee, the last being that of Grissell Jaffray in November 1669. Local tradition holds that a number of women were killed for consorting with English soldiers in the years after the Siege of Dundee in 1651 when General Monk's troops sacked the city.
The name Cleland is a Lanarkshire name—and Motherwell's versions came from singers in Kilbarchan, Ayrshire and Glasgow. The name was not common in the Dundee area and is not included among the names of those burned in Dundee in the Presbytery records. A spine-chilling manuscript is in Dundee's archives. This account lists the sums spent on the 1590 burning of a witch, such as two shillings (£0.10) to Esmie Goldman for four fathoms of rope, fifteen shillings (£0.75) for three baskets of coal, six shillings (£0.30) for two tar barrels and six shillings and eightpence (£0.33) for the hangman's travel expenses from St Andrews. The treasurer totals the expense as five pounds, sixteen shillings and eightpence (£5.81)—but the name of the poor woman does not merit a mention!
Bella Hardy sang Bonnie Susie Cleland in 2007 on her CD Night Visiting.
Alasdair Roberts sang Bonnie Susie Cleland in 2011 on Concerto Caledonia's CD Revenge of the Folksingers.
Mark T sang Lady Maisry in 2011 on his CD Folk Songs and Ballads.
Lyrics
Chris Foster sings Lady Maisry
O the young men of the North Country
Have all wooing gone
To win the love of Lady Maisry
But of them she would have none.
“O hold your tongues, young men,” said she,
“And think no more of me,
For I've given my love to an English lord
Who promised to marry me.”
Then word has to her father gone
As he put on his shoe
That Lady Maisry goes with a child
Unto some English lord.
Then in there come her bold father dear
Stepping on the floor.
Hey says, “They tell to me, my daughter Maisry
That your are become a whore.”
“O a whore father, a whore father,
That is what I'll never be,
Though I've given my love to an English lord
Who promised to marry me.”
“But couldn't you have gotten a duke or a lord
From you own country
But now you have gone with this English lord
To bring this shame on me.”
“Now where are all my merry young men
Whom I give meat and fee
Tu pull the thistle and the thorn
to burn her vile body.”
Then her father has to the greenwood gone,
Her brother has to the broome,
All for to kindle a bold bonfire
To burn her body in.
Then in there come an old woman
Lady Maisry's nurse was she,
But before she could speak one single word
A salt tear blinded her eye.
“O your father has to the greenwood gone,
Your brother has to the broome,
All for to kindle a bold bonfire
To burn your body in.”
And her father was the first man
Who tied her to a stake
And her brother was the second man
Who did the fire make.
And her mother was the first woman
Who did the fire fetch
And her sister was the second woman
Who lighted it with a match.
They blew the fire and they kindled the fire
Till it reach her knee.
“O mother, mother, quench the fire
For the smoke it'll smother me.”
“O had I but a little footboy
My errand he could run,
He would run unto gay London town
And bid my lord come home.
“O nurse come and fetch to me my little footboy
Who is called my sister's son,
So that he may go and tell to my own true love
That I am sick at home.”
Well the first two miles the little boy walked,
The second two he run,
And he run until he come to some broad waterside
And then he's fell upon his breast and he swum.
Until he come undo some dry land again.
Then he took to his heels and he run
And he run until he come to some high park gate
Where lords were sitting at their meal.
“O if you did but know what news I have brought
Not a bite more would you eat.”
“O is my park gates overthrown
Or is my walls falling down?”
“O your high park gates they are all overthrown,
Your high park walls they are all a-falling down,
And your Lady Maisry lies sick at home
And shall die before you can come.”
“O mother go and fetch to me my milk-white steed
And saddle it with speed
So that I may go and kiss her cherry cheeks
Before they are turned to clay.”
“Now where are all my merry young men
By one, by two and three?”
Then he's mounted up on his milk-white steed
To get to his Lady Maisry.
They blew the fire and they kindled the fire
Till it did reach her head.
“O mother, mother, quench the fire!
For I am nearly dead.”
Then she's turned her head on her right shoulder,
She saw her lord come riding home,
“O mother, mother, quench the fire!
For I am nearly gone.”
Then he's mounted off of his milk-white steed
And he's leapt into the fire,
He was thinking to save his Lady Maisry
But he had stayed too long.
And the Lady she was buried in a cold churchyard,
The lord was buried in the choir,
And out of her heart there sprung a sweet rose
And out of his mouth a sweet briar.
And they growed so high unto the church wall
Until they could not grow any higher,
And there they did twang in a true lover's knot
For all true lovers to admire.
Peter Bellamy sings The Burning
My father was the first good man
Who tied me to the stake;
My mother was the first good woman,
She did the fire make.
My brother was the second good man,
He did the fire fetch;
And my sister was the second good woman
Who lighted it with a match.
And they blew the fire, they kindled the fire
Till it did reach my knee:
“Oh mother, mother, quench the fire!
For the smoke do smother me.”
“Oh had I but my little foot-page,
An errand he might run;
I would send him away to London gay
To bid my lord come home.”
Well, by there stood by her sister’s child,
Her own dear sister’s son:
“It's many an errand I’ve run for thee
And this one too I’ll run.”
He ran, where the bridge it were broken down,
He bent his bow and swam;
He swam till he came to the good green land,
There he jumped to his feet and ran.
And he ran till he came to his uncle’s hall
Where is uncle sat at meat:
“Good meat, good meat, good uncle, I pray,
If you knew what I have to say,
How little you would eat!”
“Oh is my castle broken down,
Or is my tower won?
Or is my lady brought to bed
Of a daughter or a son?”
“Your castle is not broken down,
Nor is your tower won;
Nor is your lady brought to bed
Of a daughter or a son.”
“But she has give me a gay gold ring
With posies round the rim,
And she swears if you bear any love for her,
You will ride to her burning.”
So he's called up his merry men
By one, by two, by three;
And heÄs mounted upon his milk-white steed
To ride to Margery.
She's looked o'er her left shoulder,
Saw her girdle hanging free:
“Oh God bless them that gave me this!
For no more they’ll give to me.”
She's looked o'er her right shoulder,
Saw her lord come riding home:
“Oh mother, mother, quench the fire!
For I am nearly gone.”
But they blew the fire, they kindled the fire,
Till it did reach her chin:
“O mother, mother, quench the fire!
For I am nearly gone.”
He's mounted down from his milk-white steed
And into the fire he's run;
He was thinking to save his lady gay,
But he had staid too long.
June Tabor sings Susie Cleland
There lived a lady in Scotland
Oh my love, oh my love
There lived a lady in Scotland
Oh my love, so early
There lived a lady in Scotland
She's fallen in love with an Englishman,
Bonnie Susie Cleland, to be married in Dundee.
The father to the daughter came,
The father to the daughter came,
The father to the daughter came,
Saying, “Will you forsake that Englishman?”
Bonnie Susie Cleland, to be married in Dundee.
“I will not that man forsake,
Oh my love, oh my love
I will not that man forsake,
I will not that man forsake,
Though you should burn me at the stake.”
Bonnie Susie Cleland, to be married in Dundee.
“Where can I get a fine young boy,
Where can I get a fine young boy,
Where can I get a fine young boy,
To carry the tidings to my joy?”
Bonnie Susie Cleland, to be married in Dundee.
Up and spoke the fine young boy,
Up and spoke the fine young boy,
Oh my love, so early
Up and spoke the fine young boy,
“I'll carry the tidings to your joy.”
Bonnie Susie Cleland, to be married in Dundee.
“Give to him this little pen knife,
Give to him this little pen knife,
Give to him this little pen knife,
Tell him to get him another wife.”
Bonnie Susie Cleland, to be married in Dundee.
“Give to him this fine gold ring,
Give to him this fine gold ring,
Give to him this fine gold ring,
Tell him I'm going to my burning.”
Bonnie Susie Cleland, to be buried in Dundee.
The father dragged her to the stake,
Oh my love, oh my love
The father dragged her to the stake,
Oh my love, so early
The father dragged her to the stake,
The mother then the fire did make,
Bonnie Susie Cleland, to be buried in Dundee.
There lived a lady in Scotland
Oh my love, oh my love
There lived a lady in Scotland
Oh my love, so early
There lived a lady in Scotland
She's fallen in love with an Englishman,
Bonnie Susie Cleland, to be buried in Dundee.