The Dowie Dens of Yarrow: Outlander, chapter 34

Mad Pudding in Dirt & Stone -1996 (except V verse) listen. Amazing version of the Canadian group – British Columbia – founded in 1994, very good but little known.

Matthew White (Canadian countertenor): Skye Consort in the Cd “O Sweet Woods 2013”, the arrangement is very interesting, with a Baroque atmosphere that echoes the era in which the first version is traced. Only verses I, II, IV, V, VI, VIII and XIV are performed.

I
There lived a lady in  the north;
You could scarcely find her marrow.
She was courted by nine noblemen
On the dewy dells of Yarrow
II
Her father had a bonny ploughboy
And she did love him dearly.
She dressed him up like a noble lord
For to fight for her on Yarrow.
III
She kissed his cheek, she kamed his hair,
As oft she had done before O,
She gilted him with a right good sword
For to fight for her on Yarrow.
IV
As he climbed up yon high hill
And they came down the other,
There he spied nine noblemen
On the dewy dells of Yarrow.
V
‘Did you come here for to drink red wine,
Or did you come here to borrow?
Or did you come here with a single sword
For to fight for her on Yarrow?’
VI
‘I came not here for to drink red wine,
And I came not here to borrow,
But I came here with a single sword
For to fight for her on Yarrow’
VII
‘There are nine of you and one of me,
And that’s but an even number,
But it’s man to man I’ll fight you all
And die for her on Yarrow’
VIII
Three he drew and three he slew
And two lie deadly wounded,
When a stubborn knight crept up behind
And pierced him with his arrow.
IX
‘Go home, go home, my false young man,
And tell your sister Sarah
That her true lover John lies dead and gone
On the dewy dells of Yarrow’
X
As he gaed down yon high hill
And she came down the other,
It’s then he met his sister dear
A-coming fast to Yarrow.
XI
‘O brother dear, I had a dream last night,’
‘I can read it into sorrow;
Your true lover John lies dead and gone
On the dewy dells of Yarrow.’
XII
This maiden’s hair was three-quarters long,
The colour of it was yellow.
She tied it around his middle side
And she carried him home to Yarrow.
XIII
She kissed his cheeks, she kamed his hair
As oft she had done before O,
Her true lover John lies dead and gone,
on the dewy dells of Yarrow.
XIV
O mother dear, make me my bed,
And make it long and narrow,
For the one that died for me today,
I shall die for him tomorrow
XV
‘O father dear, you have seven sons;
You can wed them all tomorrow,
For the fairest flower amongst them all
Is the one that died on Yarrow.

NOTE
1) the north is not only a geographical location but a code word  in balladry for a sad story
2) marrow= a companion, a bosom friend, a kindred spirit (a husband)
3) dowue, dewy= sad, melancholy, dreary, dismal
Dens, dells= a narrow valley or ravine, usually wooded, a dingle
4) Yarrow is a river but also an officinal herb, Achillea millefolium. So the definition of the place “the valleys of the Yarrow” becomes more vague but also symbolic: the yarrow is a plant associated with death, and in popular beliefs the sign of a mourning.
From the healing powers already known in the times of Homer and used by the Druids, the plant is the main ingredient of a magic potion worthy of the secret recipe of the Panoramix druid. It is said that in the Upper Valle del Lys (Valle d’Aosta, Italy) the Salassi were great consumers of a drink that infused courage and strength. It became known as Ebòlabò and it is a drink still prepared by the inhabitants of the valley based on “achillea moscata”.
5) In some versions the boy is a country man but not necessarily a peasant, rather a cadet son of a small country nobility. Near Yarrow (Yarrow Krik) there is still a stone with an ancient inscription near a place called the “Warrior’s rest“.
6) Matthew White
“She killed here with a single sword
On the dewy dells of Yarrow”
7) the typical behavior of a devoted wife who looks after, combs and dresses her husband, the same care and devotion that she will give to the corpse
8)  In the Middle Ages the girls wore very long hair knotted in a thick braid
9) some interpret the verse as an expression of mourning in which the girl cuts her long hair (that reaches her knees) up to her waist. The phrase literally means, however, that she uses her hair to carry away the corpse interweaving them like a rope. The image is a little grotesque for our standards, but it must have been a common practice at the time
10) the verse says that the handsome peasant was the bravest of all, certainly not the brother!

I
There was a lady in the north
You scarce would find her marrow
She was courted by nine gentlemen
And a plooboy lad fae Yarrow
II
Well, nine sat drinking at the wine
As oft they’d done afore O
And they made a vow amang themselves
Tae fight for her on Yarrow
III
She’s washed his face, she’s combed his hair,
As she has done before,
She’s placed a brand down by his side,
To fight for her on Yarrow.
IV
So he’s come ower yon high, high hill
And doon by the den sae narrow
And there he spied nine armed men
Come tae fight wi’ him on Yarrow
V
He says, “There’s nine o’ you and but one o’ me
It’s an unequal marrow”
But I’ll fight ye a’ noo one by one
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow
VI
So it’s three he slew and three withdrew
An’ three he wounded sairly
‘Til her brother, he came in beyond
And he wounded him maist foully
VII
“Gae hame, gae hame, ye fause young man
And bring yer sister sorrow
For her ain true love lies pale and wan
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow”
VIII
“Oh mither, I hae dreamed a dream
A dream o’ doul and sorrow
I dreamed I was pu’ing the heathery bells
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow”
IX
“Oh daughter dear, I ken yer dream
And I doobt it will bring sorrow
For yer ain true love lies pale and wan
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow”
X
An’ so she’s run ower yon high, high hill
An’ doon by the den sae narrow
And it’s there she spied her dear lover John
Lyin’ pale and deid on Yarrow
XI
And so she’s washed his face
an’ she’s kaimed his hair
As aft she’d done afore O
And she’s wrapped it ‘roond her middle sae sma’
And she’s carried him hame tae Yarrow
XII
“Oh haud yer tongue, my daughter dear
What need for a’ this sorrow?
I’ll wed ye tae a far better man
Than the one who’s slain on Yarrow”
XIII
“Oh faither, ye hae seven sons
And ye may wed them a’ the morrow
But the fairest floo’er amang them a’
Was the plooboy lad fae Yarrow”
XIV
“Oh mother, mother mak my bed
And mak it saft and narrow
For my love died for me this day
And I’ll die for him tomorrow”

I
It’s three drew and three he slew,
And three lay deadly wounded,
When her brother John stepped doon between,
And stuck his knife right through him.
II
As she went up yon high high hill,
And down through yonder valley,
Her brother John came down the glen,
Returning home from Yarrow.
III
Oh brother dear I dreamt last night
I’m afraid it will bring sorrow,
I dreamt that you were spilling blood,
On the dewy dens of Yarrow.
IV
Oh sister dear I read your dream,
I’m afraid it will bring sorrow,
For your true love John lies dead and gone
On the heathery hills of Yarrow.
V
This fair maid’s hair being three quarters long,
And the colour it was yellow,
She tied it round his middle waist,
And she carried him home from Yarrow.
VI
Oh father dear you’ve got seven sons,
You can wed them all tomorrow,
But a flower like my true love John,
Will never bloom in Yarrow.
VII
This fair maid she being tall and slim,
The fairest maid in Yarrow,
She laid her head on her father’s arm,
And she died through grief and sorrow.

Late at e’en and drinking the wine,
And ere we made the lawing,
We set a pact o’ the two between (1),
Tae fecht it in the dawing.

“O stay hame, stay hame my bonny bairn
Bide wi’ me the morrow
For my cruel brothers will ye betray
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow”

O as he gaed doon by Tenny’s field (2)
I wa’t he gaed wi’ sorrow
For there in a den, were nine armed men(3)
Tae fecht wi’ him on Yarrow.

“Well have ye cam’ tae part yer land ?
Or cam’ ye here tae borrow?
Or did ye cam’ tae wield yer brand
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow ?”

“I hav’na’ cam’ tae part my land
Not yet tae beg or borrow
But I cam’ here tae wield my brand
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow.

If I see ye all, yer nine tae wan
And that’s an unfair marrow
But I will fecht while lasts my brand
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow.”

Well five did he hack, and four did he slay
On the bloody braes o’ Yarrow
Till that fause knight (4) cam’ in a hint
And ran his body through-o.

“Gae hame , gae hame, guid brother John
Find yer sister Sarah
Her lief lord lies cruely slain
On the bloody braes o’ Yarrow.”

As she gaed doon yon high high hill
I wa’t she gaed wi’ sorrow
For there in a den, there were ten slain men
On the bloody braes o’ Yarrow.

NOTE

1. This version is the one classified as that of the “noble gentleman”, two gentlemen are in a tavern drinking wine and compete in a duel.
2. Tennies Bank is a reference to Tinnis Burn near Newcastleton in the Scottish borders (Greig Duncan 215, Child 214, Ord 426).
3. however, the young man is betrayed
4. here are all the prerequisites for a family feud, an old land issue, a payment not honored