Lady Mary Anne
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1970.22.B2
Original Tape ID
Summary
In this song, a young woman loves a much younger boy. She decides to send him to school for another two years with a blue ribbon around his cap to let the ladies know that he's growing. The singer compares Mary Ann's beauty to a flower. Her sweetheart is described as the offspring of an oak who will grow to become the boast of the forest.
Item Notes
5 verses of 4 lines. On tape SA1973.151 there is an account of how Lizzie Higgins had help from her father (Donald Higgins) in adapting a pipe tune to fit this song. Her version is very close to Robert Burns' 'Lady Mary Ann', which is his adaptation of the traditional ballad known as 'The College Boy'.
See:
Greig-Duncan vol. 6, pp. 410-412, no. 1222
'Scotland Sings' (E. MacColl, 1953) pp. 78-79
'Bothy Songs & Ballads' (J. Ord, 1930) p. 112
'Singing Island' (E. MacColl & P. Seeger, 1960) p. 19
'Scottish Ballad Book' (N. Buchan, 1973) pp. 133-134
'The Scotish Minstrel' vol. 4 (R. A. Smith, 1824) p. 14
'Ballads of Scotland' vol. 2 (W. E. Aytoun, 1858) p. 117
'The Scottish Folksinger' (N. Buchan & P. Hall, 1973) p. 71
'Vagabond Songs & Ballads' vol. 2 (R. Ford, 1901) pp. 183-184
'Songs from David Herd's Manuscripts' (H. Hecht, 1904) p. 145
'Minstrelsy Ancient & Modern' (W. Motherwell, 1827) pp. 86-87
'Folksongs of Britain & Ireland' (P. Kennedy, 1975) pp. 473-474
'Traditional Ballad Airs' vol. 2 (W. Christie, 1881) pp. 212-213
'Everyman's Book of English Country Songs' (R. Palmer, 1979) pp. 178-180
'The Works of Robert Burns' (R. Burns ed. A. Cunningham, 1845 edn) pp. 410-411
'The Scots Musical Museum' vol. 4 (J. Johnson & R. Burns, 1853) p. 390, no.377
'Travellers' Songs from England and Scotland' (E. MacColl & P. Seeger, 1977) pp. 117-118
Recording Location
County - Aberdeenshire
Parish - Aberdeen
Village/Place - Aberdeen
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good