"Jamie Douglas" ( eng. Jamie Douglas , also Lord Douglas , Child 204 , Roud 87 [1] ) is a Scottish folk ballad , closely related to the folk song " O Waly, Waly " (also Oh Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny and The Water Is Wide , in Russian translation - "Alas, alas!"). For the first time in fragmentary form was published by in 1776 in the second edition of the Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs . Five of her versions, heard orally, were recorded by , and six more by . Francis James Child in his collection cites, including these, sixteen of its versions, one of which he considers a song [2] [3] .
Some researchers believe that the ballad is older than O Waly, Waly . Others, including , admit that the borrowing could have gone the other way, and that there was an attempt to clothe the contents of the old song in the form of a ballad narration [3] [4] [5] .
In Russian "song" version of the ballad, which is present in Child's compilation, entitled " Alas, alas! Translated Osip Borisovich Rumer [2] .
Story
In many versions of the ballad there are lamentations of women, which are widely used as a folk song “ O Waly, Waly ”. However, in the ballad versions, unlike the song, the names of the characters are indicated, and there is a plot. The lady (who in various ways is the daughter of Lord Murray, the Earl of York, then Earl Mara) in the first person casts her grief, telling how she was blackened before her husband, Lord James (Jamie) Douglas. According to a certain Blackwood, she cheated on a spouse with another (in some cases the alleged lover is named Jamie Lockhart). The Lord believes the accusation, and his wife becomes rejected by him. Her father finds out about this and sends people to bring his daughter home. In some embodiments, he offers her to marry another, but the lady angrily rejects the offer, keeping her loyalty. At the end of the ballad, she says goodbye to her husband, asking him to take care of the three children she left. In the final of one of the options, he hangs a liar-accused and comes with children to her father's house [2] [4] .
The historic event, which is believed to have formed the basis of the ballad, took place in the 17th century, when, in 1681, James Douglas, 2nd Marquis of Douglas , divorced his wife Barbara Erskine. The motive of a girl who complains about her beloved is widespread in the folklore of many nations [2] [3] .
Robert used the motive of an abandoned woman from this ballad in the song “You Leave Me, Jamie” ( Eng. Thou Hast Left Me Ever, Jamie ) written in 1793, indicating that she should be sung to Fee him, father, fee him [2] [6] .
Notes
- Fol Folk Arts ’English Folk Dance & Population Society . www.vwml.org. The appeal date is February 8, 2019.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 English and Scottish folk ballad: Collection / Comp. L. M. Arinstein. - M: Rainbow, 1988. - 512 p. - ISBN 5-05-001852-8 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 Jürgen Kloss. "The Water Is Wide". The History Of A "Folksong" (English) . .... Just Another Tune. Songs & Their History (July 2012). The appeal date is January 7, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 Jamie Douglas [Child 204] (Eng.) . The Traditional Ballad Index. An annotated source of folk song from the English-speaking world . Robert B. Waltz. The appeal date is January 7, 2017.
- ↑ Bertrand Harris Bronson. The Ballad as Song . - University of California Press, 1969. - p. 271. - 324 p. - ISBN 0520013999 .
- ↑ Robert Burns Country: Thou Hast Left Me Ever, Jamie: . robertburns.org. The appeal date is February 8, 2019.