The Rantin Laddie
Encyclopedia
The Rantin' Laddie or Lord Aboyne (Child
# 240, Roud
# 103) is a traditional Scottish folk ballad telling of the valiant rescue of his lover by a noble Highland lord.
Child Ballads
The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...
# 240, Roud
Roud Folk Song Index
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...
# 103) is a traditional Scottish folk ballad telling of the valiant rescue of his lover by a noble Highland lord.
Synopsis
The singer tells how she has a love affair with Lord Aboyne (the Rantin' Laddie) but turns down the opportunity to marry him. It transpires that he has got her pregnant and now she must sit in the hall nursing her baby, scorned by family, friends and even servants. However, the kitchen boy takes pity on her and agrees to take a letter to her lover. When Lord Aboyne receives the news he is both gladdened to hear from her but also furious about her mistreatment. He assembles a force of five hundred armed men on horseback and marches across the Highlands to take her back to Castle Aboyne where she will be cared for as "his ain dear lady". Some versions end with a warning to girls about Lowland men who will be false but, instead, to choose a Highland laddie, who will be prepared to do battle for their lovers like the hero of this ballad.Recordings
- Ewan MacCollEwan MacCollEwan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
on The English And Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol. 1 - Child Ballads - Alan LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
on Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales: Vol. 2 - Jean RedpathJean RedpathJean Redpath MBE is a singer of folk songs and Scottish music.Redpath was born in Edinburgh, to musical parents. Her mother knew many Scots songs and passed them on to Jean and her brother; her father played the hammer dulcimer. She was raised in Leven, Fife,Scotland, and later returned to...
on First Flight (1989) - Gerda StevensonGerda StevensonGerda Stevenson is a Scottish actress, director and writer, described by The Scotsman in 1999 as "Scotland's finest actress". She has played a vast range of parts in the theatre, including both Desdemona and Lady MacBeth, and has appeared in many television dramas...
on the BBC's Robert Burns website