Ballan Doune Braes

DESCRIPTION: "The laird o' the town" tells Betsy "that a father, a brother, and a husband he'd be." But "short was his courtship ... When he cam' to his own he wad own me nae mair" People mock her. Left forlorn with children she returns to die on Ballan Doune braes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(677)
KEYWORDS: seduction promise home betrayal childbirth death
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greig/Duncan6 1153, "Ballan Doune Braes" (1 text)
Roud #6819
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(677), "Sweet Barren Doun Braes" ("As I walked out one morning, one morning in spring"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 26(24), "Ballandine Braes"; Firth b.28(31a), "Ballandine Breas"; Harding B 19(30), 2806 c.15(173), "Ballintown Brae"; 2806 c.14(89) , "Sweet Ballenden Braes"
Murray, Mu23-y1:049, "Ballandine Braes!" ("Over yon moorlands and down by yon glen"), James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bessie of Ballington Brae" [Laws P28] (sequel)
NOTES [74 words]: Broadside Harding B 11(677) is an abbreviated version of the story but shares its chorus ("False was his promise guile was his way, He decoyed me far far from sweet Barren Down Brae") with the longer versions. By the time it was collected in Greig/Duncan6 those lines were only in the first verse. The Greig/Duncan6 first line is the line from the broadsides listed other than Harding B 11(677): "Over yon moorlands and down by yon glen." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BdBaDoBr

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography