Roslin on the Lee

DESCRIPTION: Sir Simon Fraser and Sir John Comyn led "ten thousand hielan' laddies Drest in their tartan plaidies." "For one hour and a quarter There was a bloody slaughter Till the English cried for quarter And in confusion flee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Greig/Duncan1)
KEYWORDS: battle England Scotland
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greig/Duncan1 111, "Roslin on the Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5785
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Battle of Roslin
NOTES [385 words]: Bodleian, 2806 c.11(109) ["Performer: Simpson, MacGregor"], "Roslin on the Lee" ("Just leave your tittle tattle"), The Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1849-1880 appears to be this ballad but could not be downloaded to be verified.
Greig/Duncan1: "This Scottish victory over an English force took place at Roslin, south of Edinburgh, on 24 February 1303."
For some background on Scotland's rebellion against Edward I see "Scots Wha Hae (Bruce Before Bannockburn)." - BS
This is one of those cases where folklore significantly exaggerates. Yes, there was scattered opposition to the occupation by Edward I after the defeat of Wallace at Falkirk -- but there wasn't much. Sir Simon Fraser and John Comyn the Red were among the leaders -- but both would eventuallly submit to Edward I (see Magnus Magnusson, Scotland: The Story of a Nation, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000, pp. 151-152). It was, in fact, Robert Bruce's murder of the Red Comyn which formally started his war with Edward I (Magnusson, pp. 165-166).
Roslin was little more than a skirmish, involving far fewer men than this song would imply -- and was so minor that it was not even mentioned in the first six Scottish histories I checked. Its strategic significance was nil.
SImon Fraser would end up being executed by Edward I after being captured in 1306; there was even a fairly well-known poem, "The Execution of Simon Fraser." Child included it in his earlier book of ballads, English and Scottish Ballads, volume VI, pp. 274-283, but dropped it from his magnum opus. It's from British Library MS. Harley 2253, follios 59v-61v (the "Harley Lyrics" manuscript). It is Brown/Robbins-IndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse #1889, DigitalIndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse, #3111. "Lystneth, lordynges, a newe song ichulle bigynne." It is very nearly contemporary with the events; the manuscript is dated to the reign of Edward II (reigned 1307-1327).
Joseph Ritson Ancient Songs and Ballads from the Reign of King Henry the Second to the Revolution, also prints it, under the uninformative title "A Ballad Against the Scots," pp. 25-34 in the 1877 edition re-edited by Hazlitt. For a text with very detailed analysis, see Rossell Hope Robbins, Historical Poems of the XIVth and XVth Century, Columbia University Press, 1959, #4, pp. 14-21, with notes beginning on p. 252. - RBW
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File: GrD1111

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