Johnie Scot [Child 99]

DESCRIPTION: Johnny, serving at the English court, gets the king's daughter with child. He goes back to Scotland and sends for her; she sends word she is imprisoned. He comes with 500 men, fights the king's champion, and gains his lady.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1783/1799 (Riewerts-BalladRepertoireOfAnnaGordon-MrsBrownOfFalkland)
KEYWORDS: royalty pregnancy prison rescue battle love
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(Ap,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Child 99, "Johnie Scot" (20 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #10, #11}
Bronson 99, "Johnie Scot" (12 versions)
Bronson-SingingTraditionOfChildsPopularBallads 99, "Johnis Scot" (v3 ersions: #10, #11, #12)
Riewerts-BalladRepertoireOfAnnaGordon-MrsBrownOfFalkland, pp. 90-97, "Jack the Little Scot" (2 parallel texts plus a photo of the badly-transcribed tune; also two reconstructed tunes on p. 263)
Greig/Duncan5 1013, "Love Johnnie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lyle-Andrew-CrawfurdsCollectionVolume2 82, "Johnie Scott"; Lyle-Andrew-CrawfurdsCollectionVolume2 136, "Johnie Scott"; Lyle-Andrew-CrawfurdsCollectionVolume2 179, "Johnnie Scott" (3 texts)
Barry/Eckstorm/Smyth-BritishBalladsFromMaine pp. 213-224, "Johny Scot" (2 texts plus 1 fragments and sundry quotations, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #5, #1}
Moore/Moore-BalladsAndFolkSongsOfTheSouthwest 28, "Young Johnny Scott" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-AncientBalladsTraditionallySungInNewEngland3, pp. 45-55, "Johnssy Scot" (3 texts, the first being from "The Green Mountain Songster"; 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
Flanders/Olney-BalladsMigrantInNewEngland, pp. 101-104, "Johnny Scott" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
Creighton-MaritimeFolkSongs, pp. 15-17, "Johnie Scot" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Leach-TheBalladBook, pp. 303-308, "Johnie Scot" (2 texts)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 29, "Johnie Scot" (3 texts, 3 tunes){Bronson's #2, #12, #4}
Gentry/Smith-ASingerAmongSingers, #14, :Johnny Scott (Johnnie Scot)" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
Buchan-ABookOfScottishBallads 19, "Johnie Scot" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #10}
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H736, p. 489, "Johnny Scot" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 99, JSCOTT1* JSCOTT2*
Roud #63
RECORDINGS:
Mary Baylon, "Johnny Scott" (on IREarlyBallads)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1921), "Johnny Scot," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lang Johnny More" [Child 251] (plot)
cf. "Locks and Bolts" [Laws M13] (theme: girl locked away by father) and references there
NOTES [82 words]: Although reasonably well-known in Scotland, and also well represented in North America, there seem to be no English versions of this song. Which is probably not too surprising, since it clearly glorifies the Scots (though at least an English princess is worth marrying!), and of course nothing like this ever happened to a royal Englishwoman. There were members of the English royal family who married Scots (e.g. Joan Beaufort, Margaret Tudor), but those marriages were definitely planned! - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: C099

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