Young Johnston
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1979.15.6
Original Tape ID
Summary
In this tragic ballad, Young Johnston proposes to the Colonel that they marry each other's sisters; the Colonel refuses, insulting Johnston's sister. Johnston kills the Colonel and flees to his sister's house, where he confesses his crime. She refuses to shelter him from his pursuers and he flees to the home of his sweetheart (the Colonel's sister). She shelters him, despite his crime. He hides when his pursuers appear, but is enraged when his sweetheart [seemingly] sleeps with one of the armed men to distract them. Johnston emerges [after they have left] and stabs his sweetheart through the heart. Instantly remorseful, he begs her to live, but she is mortally wounded and dies. He takes his own life to join her in death.
Item Notes
20 verses of 4 lines; hesitation in verses 10 and 12.
'Tocher' 23 (1976) pp. 253-254
Greig-Duncan vol. 8, p. 342, no. 1929
'The Scottish Ballads' (R. Chambers, 1829) pp. 293-297
'Scotish Songs' vol. 2 (J. Ritson, 1794, 1869) pp. 521-523
'Ballads of Scotland' vol. 2 (W. E. Aytoun, 1858) pp. 107-114
'Ancient Ballads and Songs' vol. 2 (P. Buchan, 1828) pp. 20-22
'Minstrelsy Ancient & Modern' (W. Motherwell, 1827) pp. 193-200
'Traditional Ballad Airs' vol. 1 (W. Christie, 1876) pp. 156-157
'Book of Scottish Ballads' (A. Whitelaw, 1845) pp. 104-105, 257-259
'Ancient & Modern Scottish Songs' vol. 1 (D. Herd, 1869, 1973) pp. 165-166
'Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads & Songs' vol. 1 (E. Lyle, 1975) pp. 15-18
Recording Location
County - Midlothian
Parish - Edinburgh
Village/Place - Edinburgh
Language
English
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good