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Bonnie Susie Clelland

  • Trad - Child 65

    There lived a lady in Scotland
    Hey my love and oh my joy
    There lived a lady in Scotland
    Wha dearly lo'ed me
    There lived a lady in Scotland
    And she's fallen in love wi' an Englishman
    And bonnie Susie Clelland's
    Tae be burned in Dundee

    The faither tae the dochter cam
    Hey my love and oh my joy
    The faither tae the dochter cam
    Wha dearly lo'ed me
    The faither tae the dochter cam
    Saying, Will you forsake yon Englishman
    And bonnie Susie Clelland's
    Tae be burned in Dundee

    I'll no that Englishman forsake
    Hey my love and oh my joy
    I'll no that Englishman forsake
    Wha dearly lo'ed me
    I'll no that Englishman forsake
    Though ye maun burn me at the stake
    And bonnie Susie Clelland's
    Tae be burned in Dundee

    Oh where will I find a bonnie wee boy
    Hey my love and oh my joy
    Oh where will I find a bonnie wee boy
    Wha dearly lo'ed me
    Oh where will I find a bonnie wee boy
    Tae carry the tidings tae my joy
    That bonnie Susie Clelland's
    Tae be burned in Dundee

    Then gie tae him this gey gowd ring
    Hey my love and oh my joy
    Then gie tae him this gey gowd ring
    Wha dearly lo'ed me
    Then gie tae him this gey gowd ring
    Tell him that we'll no meet again
    For bonnie Susie Clelland's
    Tae be burned in Dundee

    Her faither he's ca'd up the stake
    Hey my love and oh my joy
    Her faither he's ca'd up the stake
    Wha dearly lo'ed me
    Her faither he's ca'd up the stake
    And her brother he the fire did make
    And bonnie Susie Clelland
    Was burned in Dundee

    As sung by Cilla Fisher

Susannes Folksong-Notizen

  • [1977:] This song, a version of the better known Lady Maisry [Child 65], was first published by William Motherwell in his 'Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern' (1827) and he is the only collector to report it. Some think it may have been Motherwell's composition, though his manuscript collection contains three slightly differing versions - two of them credited to Mrs. Thomson of Kilbarchan and Mrs. McLean of Glasgow. (Don Martin, notes The Clutha, 'The Bonnie Mill Dams')

  • [1979:] There are those who suspect Motherwell ("Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern", 1825) of having composed this ballad since he is the only collector to report it. His manuscript does, however, contain three slightly differing versions. I was drawn to the sweeping melody and the starkness of the last stanza in particular. I am aware as I sing it that my audiences are completely confident that the parental inflexibility will in fact soften ... until the final harsh and poignant line. (Notes Jean Redpath, 'Father Adam')

  • [1979:] The choice of a partner, especially for women of wealthy families, was a serious business of property and politics - little or nothing to do with their feelings. The ballad [Lady Diamond] shows us just how serious the penalties were for those who stepped out of line. [...] There's also the Scots ballad Lady Maisry (Child no. 65) where the woman herself, usually too valuable a commodity to be wasted, is burnt alive by her brother for being pregnant by an English lord. (Henderson / Armstrong 55)

  • [1986:] Misalliance is a common ballad theme. Generally, it is a matter of social disparity, more rarely a difference in the age of a couple. In this Scots ballad, it is nationality which is at issue and one could search through the entire Child canon without finding anything to equal its fierce anti-English sentiments. The fearful death of the heroine at the hand of her brother is by no means far-fetched: death by fire was, it seems, the regular penalty for incontinence in an unmarried woman. There may have been no actual law to that effect but every country in Europe has a stock of songs and tales dealing with this form of punishment. (Notes Peggy Seeger, 'Blood and Roses', vol. 4)

  • [1988:] It may seem a little extreme for a lady to be burned at the stake for loving an Englishman but maybe there was more to it than that. In Lady Maisry we find the girl is pregnant and is called a "vile whore" so perhaps there are also elements of a witch-hunt in the whole affair. Cilla learned the song from [...] Gordeanna McCulloch. (Notes 'A Celebration of Scottish Music')

  • more: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=17101

Quelle: Scotland

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