Adam Cameron

DESCRIPTION: Adam Cameron, "second son to Boyndie," leaves his love Fanny to join the army. Letters arrive that his brother, the heir, and Fanny are to marry. He and his colonel ride to Boyndie. He proposes, Fanny accepts, and the colonel marries them.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1881 (Christie)
KEYWORDS: courting wedding parting reunion money brother soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #51, p. 1, "Adam Cameron"; #49, p. 1, "Adam Cameron"; "Folk-Song in Buchan," pp. 61-62, "Adam Cameron" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Greig/Duncan5 1025, "Adam Cameron" (5 texts plus a single verse on p. 623, 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: W. Christie, editor, Traditional Ballad Airs (Edinburgh, 1881 (downloadable pdf by University of Edinburgh, 2007)), Vol II, pp. 204-205, "Adam Cameron" (1 tune)
Roud #5528
NOTES [146 words]: Greig comments on the confusion between "Boyndie" (Aberdeenshire) and "Boyndlie" (Banffshire, about 17 miles east of Boyndie) and, convinced that the ballad comes from Banffshire, settles on Boyndlie. However, he finds no record that the Camerons were ever landowners in Boyndlie. - BS
Greig #49: "Part of our version came from a correspondent in Zion City - an old Banffshire man; the rest has been made up from Christie's [Traditional Ballad Airs, 1881] set." - BS
There is a possibly interesting subplot here, in that the song is suspected to date from the early nineteenth century. Which was the era of commission by purchase. It was not unusual for a family to buy a commission for a younger son who had no hope of inheriting property -- but could this be an instance where the older brother bought his pesky younger brother an army post to get him out of the way? - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: GrD1025

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