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Mary of Castle-Cary: To which are added, Roslin Ruins, Rob’s Jock, The Lass of Humber-side.
Four ballads about love and women. Some are sad or bitter, others are humorous, but none have happy endings. Mary of Castle-Cary: Two young men fight over the love of the beautiful young Mary who apparently has been kissing them both, if not more.…
The hermit of Powis: a ballad romance of the olden times
This chapbook includes a tragic ballad of the Earl of Leslie, who falls in love and marries a young woman of lowly birth. When the King goes to war against the English who are raiding across the border, Leslie attends him and wins honour on the…
The Duke of Gordon's three daughters; to which are added, Jem of Aberdeen; and the Bonny house o'Airly
A collection of songs and ballads. In the first ballad, the youngest daughter of the Duke of Gordon goes to visit Aberdeen with her sisters and ends up marrying a handsome but poor captain without her father’s consent. When the Duke finds out, he…
The excellent old Scottish song of the blaeberry courtship; to which is added The crook & plaid
Two songs about love. The first is the story of the love between a Highland lad and a Lowland girl. The girls’ father is against the match and disinherits her when she decides she runs off with him. In the beginning, it looks like she has made the…
Sir William's pilgrimage to the Highlands: a heroic ballad, in three cantos
A satirical and allegorical story of a knight and his squire who go on a pilgrimage to the Highlands in order to free them from the dread giant of Orthodoxy. The two heretical figures, clad in the armor of ‘heresy’ and Arian and Unitarian faith…
The Yule feast, with songs of the lass of Aberdeen, and The Forlorn shepherd
This is an interesting chapbook in that it contains songs within a larger ballad narrative describing the events, food, and music played at a Christmas celebration. The chapbook begins with a short little rhyme on the theme of Christmas, introducing…
Auld Ronald: a well-known local character, and other rhymes
A collection of four ballads, mostly humorous. The first is a satirical ballad about a local figure named Auld Ronald who appears to be well-known around Aberdeen. He is humorously portrayed as scantily clad, poor, and possibly a bit crazy, although…
The burning of Frendraught, a ballad, as sung in Aberdeenshire; and Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, a ballad, as commonly sung in the North Countrie
The chapbook contains two ballads. The first describes the burning of Frendraught house in 1630 after a boundary dispute led to bloodshed between the Crichtons and the Gordons. While the actual cause of the fire had never been proven, the poem…
A dream prophetic: or, Bacchus dethroned. A temperance poem by a Working Man
The chapbook begins with a “Publisher’s Preface” describing the evils intemperance and alcohol in this troubled time, and supporting the author in his desire for a society governed by temperance and the absence of drink. In the verses of the…
