Woo'd and Married and A' (I)

DESCRIPTION: The bride cries because she is to be married and has "neither blankets nor sheets, Nor scarce a coverlet." Her family members tell her not to complain because she has plenty else. Willy says "though we be scant o' claes We'll creep the closer thegither"
AUTHOR: unknown (see NOTES)
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: dowry wedding nonballad brother father mother sister
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast "Folk-Song in Buchan," p. 20, "Woo'd and Married and A'" (1 fragment)
Whitelaw-BookOfScottishSong, pp. 65-66, "The Bride Cam' Out o' the Byre" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol II, pp. 358-360, "Woo'd and Married and A'"
David Herd, editor, Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc. (Edinburgh, 1870 (reprint of 1776)), Vol II, pp. 115-117, "Woo'd and Married and A'"
Roud #7159
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Woo'd and Married and A' (II)" (theme: whining bride, tune)
NOTES [106 words]: Whitelaw: "The author of this song to the tune of 'Woo'd and Married and A',' is unknown. It appears in Herd's collection of 1776, but is of much older date." - BS
According to Maurice Lindsay, The Burns Encyclopedia, 1959, 1970; third edition, revised and enlarged, St. Martin's Press, 1980, p. 320, Alexander Ross (1699-1784), "the most prominent of [Allan] Ramsey's poetic disciples... the son of an Aberdeenshire farmer" whose work was admired by Burns, wrote a piece entitled "Wooed and Married and A'" -- but it's not clear which one. I'd guess this one, since it seems to be the better known and no one else has claimed it. - RBW
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File: BdWoMar1

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