The story of the ballad of Lord Lovat is set in the time of...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1980.52.3
Original Tape ID
Summary
The story of the ballad of Lord Lovat is set in the time of the Crusades: he returns too late, to find his sweetheart dead.
Stanley Robertson tells the story of 'Lord Lovat's Lament' as he had it from his mother.
In the days of the crusaders, a knight called Lord Lovat went to fight in the Holy Land. (Stanley's mother also talked about a battle against the Saracens where a river flowed with human blood.) One night he dreamt of his sweetheart, Lady Nancybelle, dressed in a shroud and wading across a river of blood. So he came home, and found people mourning for her. He ordered the coffin to be opened and kissed her. He died shortly afterwards: it is thought that he poisoned himself.
Stanley prefers this account of the ballad's background to the one offered by academics.
Item Notes
The story is told with circumstantial details and historical explanations. On the next track on the same tape (SA1980.52), Stanley Robertson sings the ballad under discussion.
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good