Bonnie Lass o' Benachie, The

DESCRIPTION: William Graham was secretly married to Lady Jean. Her father has him sent to war. Her father intercepts his letter and tells her that William is slain. She goes to Germany to find his grave. She finds him alive. Her father accepts the marriage.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1808 ("a chapbook by J. and M. Robertson, Glasgow," according to Greig/Duncan5)
KEYWORDS: love marriage separation reunion lie father soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #8, p. 1, "The Bonnie Lass o' Benachie" (1 text)
Greig/Duncan5 1005, "The Bonnie Lass o' Benachie" (2 texts plus 2 fragments on pp. 612-613, 3 tunes)
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, pp. 440-441, "The Lass o' Bennochie" (third version) (1 text)
Roud #6737
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany" [Laws N7] (plot) and references there
cf. "The Lass o' Bennochie" (plot) and references there
cf. "The Gallant Grahams" (tune, per Greig/Duncan5 quoting an 1808 chapbook)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lass o' Benachie
NOTES [80 words]: Greig/Duncan5 notes that Greig's version is a composite.
Greig: "Tradition says that 'The Bonnie Lass o' Benachie' was a Miss Erskine, heiress of Pittodrie, an estate close to Benachie in the parish of Chapel of Garioch. She was born about 1747 and married to her soldier lover about 1770. There is another and better known ballad ["Locks and Bolts"] which is said to refer to the same love episode." Greig then goes on to note "certain chronological difficulties to be faced." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD1005

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