The Earl of Murray- Edwards (VT) 1934 Flanders
[From Ancient Ballads; Flanders, notes Coffin, 1963. Their notes follow. Perhaps a ballad recreation from a memory and print, as Edwards has recreated ballads before. It seems unlikely that this very rare ballad was in the repertoire of his grandfather in Yorkshire. Remembering the name, Dinnisbristle, from his early childhood seems a stretch and points to a print/recollection recreation. As usual, Flanders asks no questions in invalidate this version.
R. Matteson 2015]
The Bonnie Earl of Murray
(Child 181)
In the winter of 1592, the Earl of Huntly was given a commission by the King to bring his arch enemy the Earl of Murray to trial in connection with Bothwell's raid on Holyrood House. Huntly went to Donibristle, where Murray was staying with his mother, but could not get Murray to surrender. He fired the house, causing the inmates to flee. Murray, who waited till the last possible moment to leave the burning building, nearly escaped, but was spotted among the rocks because the tip of his helmet had caught fire. He was captured and slain. Huntly's men made their leader, who had no part in the actual killing, stab the corpse so he would be unable to shirk responsibility for the crime. However, in spite of public indignation, Huntly was never punished. See Edward D. Ives, "'The Bonny Earl of Murray': The Ballad as History," in MWF,IX, 133-138, for a thorough treatment of these events and the anti-Catholic feelings involved in them. Ives believes the ballad was originally used to fan anti-Huntly indignation.
The ballad tells little of the story, though it may have been more complete at one time. Child has two versions that are merely lyric laments. In America, it is usually found in the form of Child A, although Child B seems to have had some currency in Wisconsin and New England. The Flanders A text is Child A with the fourth stanza omitted. The Flanders B text is a fusion of Child A and B. Flanders stanzas 1, 2, and 5 correspond to Child A 1, 2, and 4, while stanzas 3 and 4 correspond to Child B 5 and 6. The final stanza from the Vermont text is not in the Child versions.
See Coffin, 117, for the brief American bibliography. The song is not listed in Dean-Smith.
The two tunes for Child 181 are not related.
B. The Earl of Murray. Recorded, as remembered, by George Edwards of Burlington, Vermont. Mr. Edwards knew this song from childhood days in Yorkshire, England,. His grandfather sang many border ballads to teach him history. H. H. F., Collector; October 14, 1934. Structure: A B C D (2,2,2,2); Rhythm divergent; Contour: arc; Scale: major t.c. E-flat. For mel. rel., see possibly FCB4, 83, No. 36.
Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,
Oh, where have ye been?
They have slain the Earl of Murray
And they laid him on the green!
"Woe be to thee, Huntly!
And wherefore did ye sae?
I bade you bring him to me
But did not say to slay."
Now Huntly leaped upon his horse
And hie'd him to the King.
"I welcome you, brave Huntly.
Will you tell me where you've been?"
"I come from Dinnisbristle,
And that is where I've been;
And I have killed the Earl of Murray,
And I dare not be seen.
"He was a gallant nobleman
And played at the ball.
Oh, the bonny Earl of Murray
Was the flower among them all."
The false-hearted Huntly
With his wicked cruel band,
He has slain the Earl of Murray-
The noblest in the land.