Jock o the Side [Child 187]

DESCRIPTION: Jock o the Side has been taken prisoner in a raid. His neighbors hope to ransom him, but (Hobie Noble/The Laird's Jock) will free him with five men. They make their way to Jock's prison, break down the doors and perform other feats, and bring Jock away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1750 (Percy Folio)
KEYWORDS: borderballad prisoner escape rescue
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland(Aber)) US(MA)
REFERENCES (16 citations):
Child 187, "Jock o the Side" (4 texts)
Bronson 187, "Jock o the Side" (4 versions)
Bronson-SingingTraditionOfChildsPopularBallads 187, "Jock o the Side" (2 versions: #1, #3)
Hales/Furnival-BishopPercysFolioManuscript, volume II, pp. 203-209, "John a Side" (1 text)
Chambers-ScottishBallads, pp. 36-41, "Jock o' the Syde" (1 text)
Stokoe/Reay-SongsAndBalladsOfNorthernEngland, pp. 145-147, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text, 1 tune) {Compare Bronson's #3, a variant of the same tune but with different text}
Wells-TheBalladTree, pp. 69-73, "Jock of the Side" (1 text, 1 tune) {tune is Bronson's #4; text is from a different source}
Friedman-Viking/PenguinBookOfFolkBallads, p. 246, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
Quiller-Couch-OxfordBookOfBallads 138, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
Warner-TraditionalAmericanFolkSongsFromAnneAndFrankWarnerColl 191, "Bold Dickie and Bold Archie" (1 text, 1 tune, primarily Child 188 but possibly with elements of 187)
Whitelaw-BookOfScottishBallads, pp. 379-381, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
Whiting-TraditionalBritishBallads 25, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania, pp. 238-240, "Jock O' The Side" (fragments of text with a prose interludes describing what happens; possibly a version derived from print)
DT (187/188), JOCKSIDE JOHNWEBB*? BOLDARCH*?
ADDITIONAL: Michael Brander, _Scottish and Border Battles and Ballads_, 1975 (page references to the 1993 Barnes & Noble edition), pp. 118-122, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
MANUSCRIPT: {MSPercyFolio}, The Percy Folio, London, British Library MS. Additional 27879, page 254
Roud #82
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hobie Noble" [Child 189] (characters)
cf. "Archie o Cawfield" [Child 188] (plot)
NOTES [308 words]: Jock o' the Side (Side is a region in Liddesdale) was a well-known thief and raider of the 1560s. - SF
It is interesting to note that (apart from Jock himself), the characters in this drama are completely unfixed; in one version, Robin Hood's companion Much the miller's son is one of the raiders (and not a very bold one). Another version features Hobie Noble, from the ballad of the same name [Child 189].
It is not entirely clear whether Jock was historical or not; Child briefly notices a few mentions of him outside this song but also speculates that his story was a loose retelling of the tale of Kinmont Willie. This evidence is perhaps stronger than Child hints. James Reed, The Border Ballads, University of London/The Athlone Press, 1975, pp. 53-56, quotes a poem by Sir RIchard Maitland, a sixteenth century judge, which is a list of Liddesdale outlaws. A stanza on p. 54 runs,
He is weil kend, John of the Syde;
A greater theif did never ryde.
He never tyres
For to brek byris;
Ouir muir and myris
Ouir guide ane gyde.
On p. 57, Reed says, "There is some evidence for the existence of John of the Side, apart from Maitland's commemorative stanza; R. B. Armstrong prints two bonds in which John Armstrong of the Syde is a party, dated 1562 and 1563. He also appears, or at least the name appears, first about 1550 in a list of marauders against whom complaint was made to the Bishop of Carlisle 'presently after' queen Mary Stuart's departure for France. 'Syid' is marked on Blaue's map of Liddesdale of 1590."
It's a fairly convincing list, but it's at least possible that he was simply legendary -- perhaps a threat to children, the way the Black Douglas became in Britain or Jesse James in America, even after the latter two were dead. Of course, Douglas and James were real, but there are instances of such bogies who were not. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: C187

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography