Lyr Req: The Douglas Tragedy

Subject: Lyr Req: Lord william and lady Margaret ?????
From: GUEST,Guesty
Date: 13 Oct 04 - 03:47 AM

The song starts..........

Rise up, rise up my husband dear,
put on your armour so bright,
let it never be said that
your Daughter was wed to a Lord
in the dark of the night

Can anyone finsih this old song and tell me who sings it?

Thanks for ANY help

K

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lord william and lady Margaret ?????
From: Turlough
Date: 13 Oct 04 - 04:36 AM

Hello K!

The song is called "The Douglas Tragedy", you can find it in the DT by clicking here

Like you said, it is an old song. Actually, it's a Child ballad, meaning that it's AT LEAST more than one hundred years old (Child wrote his books in the late 19th century).

I'm sure there are plenty of recordings of this song, or one of its many variations, but I can't give you any names now.

T.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lord william and lady Margaret ?????
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Oct 04 - 09:06 AM

EXCELLENT !
Thank you so much T.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Douglas Tragedy
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 May 14 - 11:54 AM

"The Douglas Tragedy" took place in the Glens of Blackhouse; Blackhouse belonged to Douglas.

The version in the DT is very close to the one in R. Borland, 1890, Yarrow: Its Poets and Poetry, Thomas Fraser, Dalbeatie.

In folk tradition, the song is often mixed with "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow"- see Jean Redpath's version of The "Dowie Dens...," also in the DT.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Douglas Tragedy
From: GUEST,#
Date: 29 May 14 - 02:35 PM

http://www.bartleby.com/243/39.html

All twenty stanzas there.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Douglas Tragedy
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 29 May 14 - 04:48 PM

The version given above appears to be closest to the version published by Scott in his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. Unfortunately Child included this relatively late (18thc) ballad in with a ballad called Earl Brand (Child 7) which tells more or less the same story. Nowadays we would treat them as 2 separate songs as they have no text in common except for the motif of the girl holding the horse which also occurs in some more recent ballads like The Bold Dragoon.

It has been reprinted in many ballad anthologies so it shouldn't be difficult to get hold of a copy. Even copies of Child's first volume which gives about 8 variants is relatively easy to get hold of and very cheap. Try Amazon.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Douglas Tragedy
From: GUEST
Date: 30 May 14 - 12:38 PM

Guest, all 20 verses are in the mudcat DT.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Douglas Tragedy
From: GUEST,#
Date: 30 May 14 - 03:21 PM

And that's a good thing.