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Glenlogie

or: Bonnie Jeannie o' Bethelnie

arr. Dick Gaughan

Music sequenced © by Ron Clarke / 03.2000
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  • (Trad)

    There were four and twenty nobles rade through Banchory Fair
    And bonnie Glenlogie was the floo'er o' them there

    There were four and twenty maidens dined in the Queen's ha' (ha'- (arch.) house)
    Bonnie Jeannie o' Bethelnie was the floo'er o' them a'

    Bonnie Jeannie at a window sae fine and sae fair
    She has fancied Glenlogie abune a' that were there

    She spier't at his footman wha rade by his side
    For his name and his surname an' whaur he did bide

    He bides at Glenlogie when he is ta hame
    He is of the fine Gordons, and George is his name

    She wrote him a letter for tae tell him her mind
    Oh my love is laid upon you, now will you prove in kind

    He turned him aroond lichtly as dae Gordons a'
    Oh I'm sorry my young lady but I'm promised awa'

    Glenlogie, Glenlogie, Glenlogie, cried she
    If I getna Glenlogie I surely shall dee

    Oh haud yer tongue, dochter, an' greet nae sae sair
    An' I'll get ye Glenfindlay, his faither's ain (ane?) heir

    Haud yer tongue, faither, and say nae tae me
    If I getna Glenlogie I ken I shall dee

    Now her faither's ain minister was a man o' great skill
    An' he's written tae Glenlogie, the cause o' her ill

    Pale and wan was she when Glenlogie cam in
    Ah but red and rosy grew she when Glenlogie won ben (won ben - came through)

    And up spake her faither wi' a tear in his e'e
    Ah ye're welcome Glenlogie, ye're welcome tae me

    For it's turn ye Bonnie Jeannie, turn ye tae your side
    For I will be your bridegroom gin you'll be my bride

    (as sung by Dick Gaughan)

Susannes Folksong-Notizen

  • [?:] Very popular ballad, refers to Jean, daughter of the Laird of Bethelnie in Aberdeenshire, Baron Meldrum. She was a favourite of the Queen, and was staying at the Queen's House of Fetternear when she met Sir George Gordon of Bethelnie [sic!] whom she married at the age of 15. (???)

  • [1978:] The words of this version are a mixture of the version sung by John Strachan on the record in the Folk Songs of Britain series, Vol. 5 (12T161) and that in Greig's Folk-Song of the North-East. (Notes Dick Gaughan, 'Gaughan')

  • [1979:] The 'gay', the 'gey', the 'great' and the 'noble' Gordons, one of the principal families of the North-East, have enough in their history to provide themes for four-score ballads. As it is, their name resounds through such famous songs as Baron o' Brackley, Geordie and Willie Macintosh, and in many versions of Glenlogie it is the family name of both the hero and the heroine. [...] Although the text illustrates very well the ballad maker's habit of "thinking in balances, antitheses, appositions and parallelisms", and although it can be shown to be made up largely of a sequence of commonplaces, this ballad has as strongly marked a personal identity as any; young Glenlogie who "turns about lichtly, as Gordons dae a'", and Jeannie who gets her father's chaplain to write her love letter for her, are flesh and blood characters, realised with a quite amazing economy. (Hamish Henderson, notes 'The Muckle Sangs', Scottish Tradition vol. 5)

  • [1993:] Bethelnie lies north west of Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire. (Ian Benzie, notes Old Blind Dogs, 'Close to the Bone')

  • [1997:] This version is pretty much that as sung by John Strachan. I added the second part of the tune. Although having a two-strain melody removes it from the classic ballad form, and in effect doubles the length of the verses, I felt it helped with adding a slight increase in pace at the crucial parts of the story. I didn't use it at the beginning because an essential element of the ballad form is the slightly hypnotic effect of a repetitive short and simple AB melody which sets the mood for the tale to follow. I saved the extra bit of the tune for the first real event in the story, the arrival of Jeannie and her setting her sights on Glenlogie. (Dick Gaughan)

Quelle: Scotland

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10.02.2000, aktualisiert am 22.10.2003