Wae's Me For Prince Charlie
DESCRIPTION: "A wee bird came tae our ha' door... And aye the (burden) o' his lilt, Was "Wae's me for Prince Charlie." The singer asks the bird about Charlie's fate. The bird tells how Charlie is pursued in the Highlands. The bird says it will live in Scotland no more
AUTHOR: William Glen? (Source: Digital Tradition)
EARLIEST DATE: 1821 (Hogg, according to the Digital Tradition); 1825 (chapbook, "Nonny Mally Stewart; Her blue rollin' e'e, The braes o' Fleniffer, Waes me for prince Charlie, printed by W. Macnie of Stirling)
KEYWORDS: bird Jacobite hardtimes escape
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1720-1788 - Life of Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie"
1722-1790 - Life of Flora MacDonald
1745-1746 - '45 Jacobite rebellion led by Bonnie Prince Charlie
Apr 16, 1746 - Battle of Culloden. The Jacobite rebellion is crushed, most of the Highlanders slain, and Charlie forced to flee for his life.
Jun 28-29, 1746 - Aided by Flora MacDonald, and dressed as her maidservant, Charles flees from North Uist to Skye in the Hebrides.
Sep 20, 1746 - Charles finally escapes to France
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
DT, WEEBIRD
ADDITIONAL: Kenneth Norman MacDonald, "The Gesto Collection of Highland Music," 1895 (reprinted 1997 by Llanerch Publishers), p. 39, "Wae's Me For Prince Charlie (1 tune)
Roud #16902
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(175), "Waes me for Prince Charlie," unknown, n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonnie House o Airlie" [Child 199] (tune, per broadside Bodleian 2806 c.14(175))
NOTES [42 words]: In addition to the Bodleian broadside cited above, I have a badly damaged chapbook by W. Macnie (Stirling), 1825, "Bonny Mally Stweart/Her blue rollin' e'e, The braes o' Gleniffer, Waes me for prince Charly." I have not seen this chapbook online. - RBW
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