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

Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, a ballad, as commonly sung in the North Countrie

Aberdeen: Lewis & James Smith

1862

7 pages

Chapbooks #6 in a bound collection of 17 chapbooks

ballads & songs

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 suggests that the fire was set by Lady Frendraught, who is described as watching without pity as Lord John and Rothiemay try futilely to escape from the burning tower. The second ballad describes the seventeenth century legend of how two ‘bonnie lasses’, Bessie Bell and Mary Gray build themselves a bower to hide within when a plague descends. They still catch the plague and die in their bower and therefore are doomed to lie in Dronach Haugh rather than be buried in the kirkyard. Their graves are registered with Scotland’s Places (http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/record/rcahms/26852//rcahms) This chapbook is part of a collection of chapbooks produced in Aberdeen which have been bound together in this volume.

Scottish History Online: entry: Burning of Frendraught: http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/frend.html

Burn-Brae, Scotland

Crime

Chapbooks - Scotland - Aberdeen

Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario

National Library of Scotland http://www.nls.uk/

JPEGs and PDF derived from master file, which was scanned from the original book in 24-bit color at 600 dpi in TIFF format using an Epson Expression 10000XL scanner.

In the public domain; For high quality reproductions, contact Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph libaspc@uoguelph.ca 519-824-4120 Ext 53413

English

Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario, Canada