227BONNY LIZIE BAILLIE

a.‘Bonny Lizie Balie, A New Song very much in Request,’ Laing broadsides, No 46; no date or place.b.‘Bonny Lizzie Bailie,’ Maidment’s Scotish Ballads and Songs, 1859, p. 13.c.‘My bonny Lizzie Baillie,’ Johnson’s Museum, ed. 1853, IV, *451.d.‘Lizae Baillie,’ Herd’s MSS, I, 101, and, in part, II, 121.e.‘Lizie Baillie,’ Campbell MSS, I, 98.f.‘Lizzie Bailie,’ Smith’s Scotish Minstrel, IV, 90.g.‘Lizie Baillie,’ Buchan’s Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 173.

a, from the collection of broadsides made by David Laing, now in the possession of Lord Rosebery, may probably have been printed at the beginning of the last century, at Edinburgh.bwas taken “from a tolerably old copy printed at Glasgow.” Excepting the lack of two stanzas, the variations from a are mostly of slight consequence; two or three are for the better,c(only the beginning, stanzas 1–41) was communicated by C. K. Sharpe, from a “MS. copy of some antiquity.”d-gare of no authority.d,eare fragmentary stanzas, misremembered if not corrupted.fhas ten stanzas, eight of which (some with a word or two changed) are fromd.gis a washyrifacimento.

dis printed in Herd’s Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, 1776, II, 3. The copy in Johnson’s Museum, No 456, p. 469, isdwithout the first stanza.

Stanzas 19–21 ofa,b, and their representatives ind,e, recall ‘The Gypsy Laddie.’

Lizzie Baillie, of Castle Gary, Stirlingshire, while paying a visit to a sister at Gartartan, Perthshire, makes an excursion to Inchmahome, an island in Loch Menteith. Here she meets Duncan Graham, who, against the opposition of her parents, persuades her to prefer a Highland husband to any Lowland or English match.

“The heroine of this song,” says Sharpe, “was a daughter of Baillie of Castle Carey, and sister, as it is said, to the wife of Macfarlane of Gartartan.” The Baillies, as Maidment has shown, acquired Castle Gary “at a comparatively recent date,” and that editor must be nearly, or quite, right in declaring the ballad to be not older than the commencement of the last century. Buchan has a bit of pseudo-history anent Lizie Baillie in his notes, at II, 326.

The story is told in a somewhat disorderly way even in a, and we may believe that we have not attained the original yet, though this copy is much older than any that has appeared in previous collections.

1It fell about the Lambmass tide,When the leaves were fresh and green,Lizie Bailie is to Gartartain [gane],To see her sister Jean.2She had not been in GartartainEven but a little whileTill luck and fortune happend her,And she went to the Isle.3And when she went into the IsleShe met with Duncan Grahame;So bravely as he courted her!And he convoyd her hame.4‘My bonny Lizie Bailie,I’ll row thee in my pladie,If thou will go along with meAnd be my Highland lady.’5‘If I would go along with thee,I think I were not wise;For I cannot milk cow nor ewe,Nor yet can I speak Erse.’6‘Hold thy tongue, bonny Lizie Bailie,And hold thy tongue,’ said he;‘For any thing that thou does lack,My dear, I’ll learn thee.’7She would not have a Lowland laird,He wears the high-heeld shoes;She will marry Duncan Grahame,For Duncan wears his trews.8She would not have a gentleman,A farmer in Kilsyth,But she would have the Highland man,He lives into Monteith.9She would not have the Lowland man,Nor yet the English laddie,But she would have the Highland man,To row her in his pladie.10He took her by the milk-white hand,And he convoyed her hame,And still she thought, both night and day,On bonny Duncan Grahame.11‘O bonny Duncan Grahame,Why should ye me miscarry?For, if you have a love for me,We’ll meet a[t] Castle Carry.12‘As I came in by Dennie bridge,And by the holland-bush,My mother took from me my cloaths,My rings, ay and my purse.13‘Hold your tongue, my mother dear,For that I do not care;For I will go with Duncan GrahameTho I should ner get mair.14‘For first when I met Duncan GrahameI met with meikle joy,And many pretty Highland menWas there at my convoy.’15And now he is gone through the muir,And she is through the glen:‘O bonny Lizie Bailie,When will we meet again!’16Shame light on these logerheadsThat lives in Castle Carry,That let away the bonny lassThe Highland man to marry!17‘O bonny Lizie, stay at home!Thy mother cannot want thee;For any thing that thou does lack,My dear, I’ll cause get thee.’18‘I would not give my Duncan GrahameFor all my father’s land,Although he had three lairdships more,And all at my command.’19And she’s cast off her silken gowns,That she weard in the Lowland,And she’s up to the Highland hills,To wear [the] gowns of tartain.20And she’s cast off her high-heeld shoes,Was made of the gilded leather,And she’s up to Gillecrankie,To go among the heather.21And she’s cast off her high-heeld shoes,And put on a pair of laigh ones,And she’s away with Duncan Grahame,To go among the brachans.22‘O my bonny Lizie Bailie,Thy mother cannot want thee;And if thou go with Duncan GrahameThou’ll be a Gilliecrankie.’23‘Hold your tongue, my mother dear,And folly let thee be;Should not I fancie Duncan GrahameWhen Duncan fancies me?24‘Hold your tongue, my father dear,And folly let thee be;For I will go with Duncan GrahameFore all the men I see.’25‘Who is it that’s done this turn?Who has done this deed?’‘A minister it’s, father,’ she says,‘Lives at the Rughburn bridge.’26‘A minister, daughter?’ he says,‘A minister for mister!’‘O hold your tongue, my father dear,He married first my sister.’27‘O fare you well, my daughter dear,So dearly as I lovd thee!Since thou wilt go to Duncan Grahame,My bonny Lizie Bailie.’28‘O fare you well, my father dear,Also my sister Betty;O fare you well, my mother dear,I leave you all compleatly.’

1It fell about the Lambmass tide,When the leaves were fresh and green,Lizie Bailie is to Gartartain [gane],To see her sister Jean.

It fell about the Lambmass tide,

When the leaves were fresh and green,

Lizie Bailie is to Gartartain [gane],

To see her sister Jean.

2She had not been in GartartainEven but a little whileTill luck and fortune happend her,And she went to the Isle.

She had not been in Gartartain

Even but a little while

Till luck and fortune happend her,

And she went to the Isle.

3And when she went into the IsleShe met with Duncan Grahame;So bravely as he courted her!And he convoyd her hame.

And when she went into the Isle

She met with Duncan Grahame;

So bravely as he courted her!

And he convoyd her hame.

4‘My bonny Lizie Bailie,I’ll row thee in my pladie,If thou will go along with meAnd be my Highland lady.’

‘My bonny Lizie Bailie,

I’ll row thee in my pladie,

If thou will go along with me

And be my Highland lady.’

5‘If I would go along with thee,I think I were not wise;For I cannot milk cow nor ewe,Nor yet can I speak Erse.’

‘If I would go along with thee,

I think I were not wise;

For I cannot milk cow nor ewe,

Nor yet can I speak Erse.’

6‘Hold thy tongue, bonny Lizie Bailie,And hold thy tongue,’ said he;‘For any thing that thou does lack,My dear, I’ll learn thee.’

‘Hold thy tongue, bonny Lizie Bailie,

And hold thy tongue,’ said he;

‘For any thing that thou does lack,

My dear, I’ll learn thee.’

7She would not have a Lowland laird,He wears the high-heeld shoes;She will marry Duncan Grahame,For Duncan wears his trews.

She would not have a Lowland laird,

He wears the high-heeld shoes;

She will marry Duncan Grahame,

For Duncan wears his trews.

8She would not have a gentleman,A farmer in Kilsyth,But she would have the Highland man,He lives into Monteith.

She would not have a gentleman,

A farmer in Kilsyth,

But she would have the Highland man,

He lives into Monteith.

9She would not have the Lowland man,Nor yet the English laddie,But she would have the Highland man,To row her in his pladie.

She would not have the Lowland man,

Nor yet the English laddie,

But she would have the Highland man,

To row her in his pladie.

10He took her by the milk-white hand,And he convoyed her hame,And still she thought, both night and day,On bonny Duncan Grahame.

He took her by the milk-white hand,

And he convoyed her hame,

And still she thought, both night and day,

On bonny Duncan Grahame.

11‘O bonny Duncan Grahame,Why should ye me miscarry?For, if you have a love for me,We’ll meet a[t] Castle Carry.

‘O bonny Duncan Grahame,

Why should ye me miscarry?

For, if you have a love for me,

We’ll meet a[t] Castle Carry.

12‘As I came in by Dennie bridge,And by the holland-bush,My mother took from me my cloaths,My rings, ay and my purse.

‘As I came in by Dennie bridge,

And by the holland-bush,

My mother took from me my cloaths,

My rings, ay and my purse.

13‘Hold your tongue, my mother dear,For that I do not care;For I will go with Duncan GrahameTho I should ner get mair.

‘Hold your tongue, my mother dear,

For that I do not care;

For I will go with Duncan Grahame

Tho I should ner get mair.

14‘For first when I met Duncan GrahameI met with meikle joy,And many pretty Highland menWas there at my convoy.’

‘For first when I met Duncan Grahame

I met with meikle joy,

And many pretty Highland men

Was there at my convoy.’

15And now he is gone through the muir,And she is through the glen:‘O bonny Lizie Bailie,When will we meet again!’

And now he is gone through the muir,

And she is through the glen:

‘O bonny Lizie Bailie,

When will we meet again!’

16Shame light on these logerheadsThat lives in Castle Carry,That let away the bonny lassThe Highland man to marry!

Shame light on these logerheads

That lives in Castle Carry,

That let away the bonny lass

The Highland man to marry!

17‘O bonny Lizie, stay at home!Thy mother cannot want thee;For any thing that thou does lack,My dear, I’ll cause get thee.’

‘O bonny Lizie, stay at home!

Thy mother cannot want thee;

For any thing that thou does lack,

My dear, I’ll cause get thee.’

18‘I would not give my Duncan GrahameFor all my father’s land,Although he had three lairdships more,And all at my command.’

‘I would not give my Duncan Grahame

For all my father’s land,

Although he had three lairdships more,

And all at my command.’

19And she’s cast off her silken gowns,That she weard in the Lowland,And she’s up to the Highland hills,To wear [the] gowns of tartain.

And she’s cast off her silken gowns,

That she weard in the Lowland,

And she’s up to the Highland hills,

To wear [the] gowns of tartain.

20And she’s cast off her high-heeld shoes,Was made of the gilded leather,And she’s up to Gillecrankie,To go among the heather.

And she’s cast off her high-heeld shoes,

Was made of the gilded leather,

And she’s up to Gillecrankie,

To go among the heather.

21And she’s cast off her high-heeld shoes,And put on a pair of laigh ones,And she’s away with Duncan Grahame,To go among the brachans.

And she’s cast off her high-heeld shoes,

And put on a pair of laigh ones,

And she’s away with Duncan Grahame,

To go among the brachans.

22‘O my bonny Lizie Bailie,Thy mother cannot want thee;And if thou go with Duncan GrahameThou’ll be a Gilliecrankie.’

‘O my bonny Lizie Bailie,

Thy mother cannot want thee;

And if thou go with Duncan Grahame

Thou’ll be a Gilliecrankie.’

23‘Hold your tongue, my mother dear,And folly let thee be;Should not I fancie Duncan GrahameWhen Duncan fancies me?

‘Hold your tongue, my mother dear,

And folly let thee be;

Should not I fancie Duncan Grahame

When Duncan fancies me?

24‘Hold your tongue, my father dear,And folly let thee be;For I will go with Duncan GrahameFore all the men I see.’

‘Hold your tongue, my father dear,

And folly let thee be;

For I will go with Duncan Grahame

Fore all the men I see.’

25‘Who is it that’s done this turn?Who has done this deed?’‘A minister it’s, father,’ she says,‘Lives at the Rughburn bridge.’

‘Who is it that’s done this turn?

Who has done this deed?’

‘A minister it’s, father,’ she says,

‘Lives at the Rughburn bridge.’

26‘A minister, daughter?’ he says,‘A minister for mister!’‘O hold your tongue, my father dear,He married first my sister.’

‘A minister, daughter?’ he says,

‘A minister for mister!’

‘O hold your tongue, my father dear,

He married first my sister.’

27‘O fare you well, my daughter dear,So dearly as I lovd thee!Since thou wilt go to Duncan Grahame,My bonny Lizie Bailie.’

‘O fare you well, my daughter dear,

So dearly as I lovd thee!

Since thou wilt go to Duncan Grahame,

My bonny Lizie Bailie.’

28‘O fare you well, my father dear,Also my sister Betty;O fare you well, my mother dear,I leave you all compleatly.’

‘O fare you well, my father dear,

Also my sister Betty;

O fare you well, my mother dear,

I leave you all compleatly.’

34. conveyd;cf.102.

174.Suspicious.I’ll surely grant theeinb,which preserves the rhyme, and is otherwise preferable.

203.bavoidsGillecrankiehere by readingto the Highland hills,and lacks22.

232, 242.Hardly possible.In 232bhas, With your folly let me be.

271. fair ye:cf.281,3.

11, upon the.

13. gane.

21. been long at.

23. to her.

34. convoyd.

43. wilt.

51. I should: with you.

52. They’d think.

53. can neither.

63. dost.

64. I will teach.

72. That wears.

73. But she would.

74. he wears trews.

83. have a.

84. That lives.

112. you.

114. at.

143. mony a: Highlandman.

151. now she.

152. And he.

153. O my.

173. dost want.

174. I’ll surely grant thee:better.

191. Now she’s: gown.

192. wore: Lowlands.

194. the gowns.

202. oiledforthe gilded.

203. to the Highland hills.

204, 214. gang.

212. Andwanting.

22.Wanting.

232. With your folly let me be.

234. ‘Fore all the men I see.

24 (or, 234241–3).Wanting.

251. that has.

252. Or who hath.

254. Red Burn.

271. SoforO.

272. love.

273. go with.

274. Thou’lt get no gear from me.

Only1–41given.

11. It was in and about the Martinmass.

Absurd. Lammas, even, is late enough for leaves to be fresh and green; in fact both are verbiage.

13. gane.

21. She was nae in.

22. Evenwanting.

23. When luck.

24. she gaed.

31. When she gaed to the bonny Isle.

11stanzas:13,4, 32,4; 4; 5,in two forms, one struck out; 6 (?), 20, 19, 9, 11 (?), 12, 18, 16.

5.‘I am sure they wad nae ca me wise,Gin I wad gang wi you, sir,For I can neither card nor spin,Nor yet milk ewe nor cow, sir.’6.‘My bonie Liza Baillie,Let nane o these things daunt ye;Ye’ll hae nae need to card or spin,Your mither weel can want ye.’9.She wad nae hae a Lawland laird,Nor be an English ladie,But she wad gang wi Duncan Grame,And row her in his plaidie.11.(?)She was nae ten miles frae the townWhen she began to weary;She often looked back and said,‘Farewell to Castlecarry!’12.The first place I saw my Duncan GrameWas near yon holland-bush;My father took frae me my rings,My rings but and my purse.19.And she’s cast aff her bonie goun,Made o the silk and sattin,And she’s put on a tartan plaid,To row amang the bracken. (214.)20.Now she’s cast aff her bonie shoon,Made o the gilded leather,And she’s put on her Highland brogues,To skip amang the heather.

5.‘I am sure they wad nae ca me wise,Gin I wad gang wi you, sir,For I can neither card nor spin,Nor yet milk ewe nor cow, sir.’

‘I am sure they wad nae ca me wise,

Gin I wad gang wi you, sir,

For I can neither card nor spin,

Nor yet milk ewe nor cow, sir.’

6.‘My bonie Liza Baillie,Let nane o these things daunt ye;Ye’ll hae nae need to card or spin,Your mither weel can want ye.’

‘My bonie Liza Baillie,

Let nane o these things daunt ye;

Ye’ll hae nae need to card or spin,

Your mither weel can want ye.’

9.She wad nae hae a Lawland laird,Nor be an English ladie,But she wad gang wi Duncan Grame,And row her in his plaidie.

She wad nae hae a Lawland laird,

Nor be an English ladie,

But she wad gang wi Duncan Grame,

And row her in his plaidie.

11.(?)She was nae ten miles frae the townWhen she began to weary;She often looked back and said,‘Farewell to Castlecarry!’

11.

(?)She was nae ten miles frae the town

When she began to weary;

She often looked back and said,

‘Farewell to Castlecarry!’

12.The first place I saw my Duncan GrameWas near yon holland-bush;My father took frae me my rings,My rings but and my purse.

12.

The first place I saw my Duncan Grame

Was near yon holland-bush;

My father took frae me my rings,

My rings but and my purse.

19.And she’s cast aff her bonie goun,Made o the silk and sattin,And she’s put on a tartan plaid,To row amang the bracken. (214.)

19.

And she’s cast aff her bonie goun,

Made o the silk and sattin,

And she’s put on a tartan plaid,

To row amang the bracken. (214.)

20.Now she’s cast aff her bonie shoon,Made o the gilded leather,And she’s put on her Highland brogues,To skip amang the heather.

20.

Now she’s cast aff her bonie shoon,

Made o the gilded leather,

And she’s put on her Highland brogues,

To skip amang the heather.

This is enough to show the quality ofd. It has been extensively corrupted. 11 is out of character, and suggested by‘Lizie Lindsay.’

Stanzas 4, 5, 17, 20, 19, 9, only.

5.‘If I wad gang alang wi youThey wadna ca me wise, sir;For I can neither card nor spin,Nor yet can I speak Erse, sir.’9.She wadna hae a Lawland laird,Nor be a English lady,But she’s awa wi Duncan GrahameHe’s rowd her in his plaidy.17.‘My bonny Lizie Baillie,Your minny canna want you;Sae let the trooper gang his lane,And carry his ain portmanteau.’

5.‘If I wad gang alang wi youThey wadna ca me wise, sir;For I can neither card nor spin,Nor yet can I speak Erse, sir.’

‘If I wad gang alang wi you

They wadna ca me wise, sir;

For I can neither card nor spin,

Nor yet can I speak Erse, sir.’

9.She wadna hae a Lawland laird,Nor be a English lady,But she’s awa wi Duncan GrahameHe’s rowd her in his plaidy.

She wadna hae a Lawland laird,

Nor be a English lady,

But she’s awa wi Duncan Grahame

He’s rowd her in his plaidy.

17.‘My bonny Lizie Baillie,Your minny canna want you;Sae let the trooper gang his lane,And carry his ain portmanteau.’

17.

‘My bonny Lizie Baillie,

Your minny canna want you;

Sae let the trooper gang his lane,

And carry his ain portmanteau.’

19.Nearly as ind. A’ wrought wi gowd an satin: To sport amang.

20.Nearly as ind. Spanish leather.

173,4is not intelligible, and may have slipped in from some “Trooper” ballad.

10stanzas, edited from some copy ofd. f 3–9, 10==d 2–8, 12,nearly.

11. Lammas time.

12. trees were.

13. L. B. gaed to Garter town.

2,3.She’d no been lang in Garter townTill she met wi Duncan Graham,Wha kindly there saluted her,And wad convoy her hame.

2,3.

She’d no been lang in Garter town

Till she met wi Duncan Graham,

Wha kindly there saluted her,

And wad convoy her hame.

42. Ye’s hae a tartan plaidie.

93. wad gang wi Duncan Graham.

94. And wear a tartan plaidie.

191. her lowland braws.

193. put on the worset gown.

194. To skip amang the breckin.

14 stanzas.

2.She meant to go unto that placeTo stay a little while;But mark what fortune her befellWhen she went to the Isle.It fell out upon a day,Sheep-shearing at an end,Lizie Baillie she walkd out,To see a distant friend.3.But going down in a low glenShe met wi Duncan Græme,Who courted her along the way,Likewise convoyed her hame.

2.She meant to go unto that placeTo stay a little while;But mark what fortune her befellWhen she went to the Isle.

She meant to go unto that place

To stay a little while;

But mark what fortune her befell

When she went to the Isle.

It fell out upon a day,Sheep-shearing at an end,Lizie Baillie she walkd out,To see a distant friend.

It fell out upon a day,

Sheep-shearing at an end,

Lizie Baillie she walkd out,

To see a distant friend.

3.But going down in a low glenShe met wi Duncan Græme,Who courted her along the way,Likewise convoyed her hame.

But going down in a low glen

She met wi Duncan Græme,

Who courted her along the way,

Likewise convoyed her hame.

The whole ballad is treated with the like freedom and feebleness.

22.‘O stay at hame,’ her father said,‘Your mither cannot want thee;And gin ye gang awa this nightWe’ll hae a Killycrankie.’

22.

‘O stay at hame,’ her father said,

‘Your mither cannot want thee;

And gin ye gang awa this night

We’ll hae a Killycrankie.’

Killycrankiefor arow:a droll emendation ofa, and the only spirited line in the piece.

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