Scottish Songs and Ballads Trivia Quiz

Answer: Auld Lang Syne

This song was not, as many people believe, originally written by Robert Burns. Burns relates that he got the song "from an old man's singing." It is probable that Burns did add some lyrics of his own, however. Most people do not know that this song has many verses, not just one. Or, that as it was originally written down by Burns, it was sung to an entirely different melody! Our modern version of "Auld Land Syne," first appeared in print in 1799.

Answer: Loch Lomond

Most people will recognize this tune when they hear it; it has a lovely melody. But few understand the meaning of the song. Like many Scottish songs, it can be traced to the Jacobite rebellion of 1745-46, in which the Scots, under "Bonnie Prince Charlie," were crushed by the English. Tradition has it that this song was written by a Scottish soldier imprisoned at Carlisle, shortly before he was hanged in 1746.

When he says to his comrade, "You take the high road, and I'll take the low road," he means that his friend will return to Scotland as a living man, but himself as a spirit, travelling the "low road" of the dead.

Answer: The Bonnie Maid of Fyvie-O

This popular ballad tells the story of an Irish dragoon who falls in love with a chambermaid. He offers to marry her, but she refuses to marry a soldier, and suitor dies of a broken heart.

Answer: Eppy Morrie

If a young lady caught your fancy but spurned your advances, it was once considerd quite proper to kidnap her and force her to marry you at gunpoint. But the young man in this song soon finds he has gotten more than he bargained for. Unable to consummate the marriage, he is forced to send her back to her parents "maiden as she came." This song has been recorded many times by many singers, and the heroine's name is spelled in a number of different ways. I have been unable to find out if this song is based on an historical incident, but it has the ring of truth about it.

Answer: Annachie Gordon

If Scots women shied away from being kidnapped, neither did they seem to be willing to meekly submit to the arranged marriages their parents came up with. This very beautiful song tells of a young girl named Jeannie, whose father has arranged for her to marry Lord Saltoun, the head if the powerful Fraser clan. Jeannie will have none of it, prefering the handsome (and penniless) Annachie Gordon.

When forced to marry Lord Soultan against her will, she dies of a broken heart on her wedding day. This song is derived from Child Ballad #239, "Lord Soultan and Auchanachie." The incomparable Loreena McKennitt (voice like an angel!) sings a version of this song on her album "Parallel Dreams," which is quite lovely, although she makes some rather strange changes to the lyrics; she seems to think "Soultan" is "sultan."

Answer: Ten and Nine

Also known as "The Jute Mill Song." Life in the factories of northern England and southern Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries must have been an awful existance. Long hours, back-breaking labor, horrible working conditions and low pay combined to make the poor laboring people miserable.

The "ten and nine" refers to the weekly wage of the workers: ten shillings, nine pence, about $2.75. As the singer points out: "Oh, dear me, the warld is ill-divided/Them that works the hardest, are the least provided." Things haven't changed much in 200 years.

Answer: Annie Laurie

"And 'twas there that Annie Laurie/Gave me her promise true." Annie Laurie was a real person. This song was written to her by William Douglas in 1685. Evidently Annie's promise wasn't worth much, because she married someone else.

Answer: Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation

On January 16, 1707 the Scottish parliament did something almost unprecedented in the history of the world. By a vote of 110 to 67, it surrendered Scotland's independence to its ancient enemy, England, forming the United Kingdom. Since 1603, England and Scotland had been ruled by the same monarch, but had remained independent nations. For a number of reasons, the English decided that it would be in their interest to absorb Scotland.

Instead of trying to conquer it by force, an option which had failed repeatedly in the past, they decided to "buy" the country. Using blackmail, promises of lands and titles, and outright bribery, they managed to get a majority of the delegates to the Scottish parliament to vote their country out of existance.

Some of the traitors received bribes of several thousand pounds, but most received only a few hundred. One, Lord Banff, sold his vote for 11 pounds, two shillings - about $55. The Act of Union was highly unpopular with the people of Scotland, but the English were prepared to use any means to enforce it.

This song, which may have been written by Robert Burns, but which he probably rewrote based on an older song, is a stirring condemnation of those who were "bought and sold for English gold."

Answer: Mormond Braes

The lively tune tells the story of a girl who has lost her sweetheart. But she is undaunted. As she puts it: "There's many a horse has tripped and fell/And risen again fu' early/Many's the lass has lost her lad/And gotten another right early."

Answer: Comin' Through the Rye

Almost everyone knows this song, again supposedly written by Robert Burns. As often is the case, however, Burns actually rewrote an older song, one that in this instance could not be posted on a family website. Let's just say that in the older folk version of this song, they weren't talking about "kissing" out there in the rye!

Answer: Sir Patrick Spens

The word "skeely" means "skillful." This song, Child ballad #58, is a good example of how history often gets mangled in the retelling. In the song, a ship carrying a Scottish princess sinks, drowning her and its crew. In 1286, King Alexander III of Scotland died when he rode his horse off a cliff. His children had all predeceased him, and his only heir was his graddaughter, Margaret, who was also the daughter of Eric II of Norway, hence she was called the "Maid of Norway." After years of negotiations, the Norwegians finally allowed her to return to Scotland to rule as its queen. In September, 1290, she died on the voyage back to Scotland. Scotland was left without a ruler, and the country was plunged into civil war, making it an easy target for Edward I of England. He first installed a puppet ruler of his own choosing, and then invaded the country (see "Braveheart").

There is no historic record of a Sir Patrick Spens, nor did the ship bringing Margaret to Scotland sink. This song was probably written in the 17th century, four hundred years after the events it tells about. According to WIlliam Harmon, editor of "The 500 Best Poems," it is the second most anthologised poem in the English language (after William Blake's "The Tyger").

Answer: The Banks O' Sicily

Hamish Henderson (1919 - 2002) was one of modern Scotland's most talented songwriters. He served with the 51st Highland Regiment in WWII, and this song is about leaving Sicily, just prior to invasion of Italy. Many of his songs are written in a broad dialect that is nearly incomprehensible to non-Scots.

Answer: The Parting Glass

There is a wealth of misinformation to be found on the Internet. Almost every website that lists this song calls it an "Irish" song, presumably because it has been recorded by so many Irish groups and singers. Be that as it may, this song definitely originated in Scotland, not Ireland. It appears in "Playford's Original Scots Tunes" published in 1700.

Answer: The Flowers of the Forest

"But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning/The Flowers of the Forest are a' weed away." In 1513, King Henry VIII of England invaded France. True to the "Auld Alliance" with the French, the Scottish King James IV invaded England in support his ally. On September 9, 1513 the Scottish and English armies met, and Scotland suffered the greatest defeat in her long history of wars with the English.

It is estimated that 5,000 to 10,000 Scots were slain, including 10 earls and dozens of lesser nobility.

But the greatest loss was the death of King James himself, the best the Stuart line had produced. In 1755, Jane Elliot published "The Flowers of the Forest," a lament for the dead of Flodden Field, and it was soon set to an old tune for singing.

It remains popular in Scotland to this day.

Answer: The Work of the Weavers

The weaving of woolen cloth has long been an important industry in many areas of Scotland. This song was written by a Forfarshire weaver, David Shaw, in 1856. Like many people, he took a great deal of pride in his trade and workmanship. This song gave its name to one of the first groups of the 1950's "folk revival," The Weavers, whose members included Pete Seeger.

Answer: Rothsay-O

"And spend the nicht in Rothsay-O." I have always been fond of songs about drinking and carousing, probably because I am also fond of drinking and carousing. I have recently developed a heart condition, so on the advice of my physician I have had to cut back to one bottle of wine, six beers and two packs of cigarettes per day; furthermore, with old age creeping up on me, I find it hard to stay up past 2 A.M.

But I can still remember what it was like to go on a real spree! By the way, Hogmanay is the Scottish celebration of the New Year.

It is a major holiday in Scotland, more important than Christmas. If you don't think the Scots know how to party, go to there on December 31!

Answer: Glenlogie

"And Bonnie Glenlogie/Was the pride that was there." There must be dozens and dozens of variations of this ballad, which is also known as "Bonnie Jeannie of Bethelnie," (something I didn't know before I did research for this quiz). The version I learned as a child started "There were nine and nine nobles/All in the King's hall/And Bonnie Glenlogie/Was the flower 'mangst them all." This ballad appears to date back to the 16th century and have some basis in fact; Jeannie was the daughter of Lord Meldrum.

She supposedly fell in love with a young nobleman of the Gordon family, but he refused her because her dowry was too small. Her father used his influence with King to get the young man to change his mind, and the couple were eventually married.

In most versions of the song, however, Jeannie takes to her deathbed, pining for Glenlogie, and it is this that causes his change of heart.

Answer: Farewell To Tarwathie

The person who wrote this song obviously knew very little about women. It was, in fact, written by a man named George Scroggie in the 1850's and NOT by Judy Collins. At the time this song was written, the whaling industry was already in decline. But the advent of steam-powered ships meant that it was possible to break through the pack ice and hunt whales in the arctic regions.

Many Scottish farmers supplemented their incomes by sailing off "in search of the whale." Conditions must have been miserable for the poor sailors. Tarwathie appears to have been the name of a farm near Strichen in Aberdeenshire.

Answer: Will You Go, Lassie,Go?

This is a very lovely song, frequently recorded by many different artists. It is also usually said to be a "traditional" song, which it isn't. I do a bit of writing myself, so I am determined that authors get their just credit. This song is based on a poem called "The Braes of Balquhidder," by Robert Tannahill (1774 - 1810). He had the misfortune to be a contemporary of Robert Burns, not an enviable situation for a Scottish lyric poet.

He eventually went insane, partly because he could find no one willing to publish his works. So the next time you hear this song, think of poor Robert Tannahill.

Answer: Will Ye No Come Back Again

"Should he no come back again." One of many songs about the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 - 46. After his defeat at Culloden, Prince Charles Stuart escaped to Europe. He never returned to Scotland. Which is just as well, because he would have made a pretty sorry specimen of a king. Nonetheless, many Scots remembered "Bonnie Prince Charlie" fondly, as this this song suggests. Again, this is not a traditional ballad; it was written by Lady Carolina Nairne (1766 - 1845), many years after the rebellion had ended.

Answer: Scotland the Brave

The tune of this stirring song is a traditional bagpipe melody; the lyrics were written by Cliff Hanley (1923 - 99). For many years it served as a sort of unofficial Scottish national anthem, although many people now favor another song, "The Flower of Scotland." For my money, "Scotland the Brave" is a much better song.

Answer: Peggy Gordon

This actually IS a traditional song, and a very lovely one, Sinead O'Connor's rendition of it notwithstanding.

Answer: The Barnyards O' Delgaty

"Frae the barnyards o' Delgaty." It was once the custom of young men looking for work to attend a "hiring fair," where they would arrange to serve as hired hands (fee) for the wealthy landowners for a specified period of time. The landowners often made promises to their laborers that they failed to keep, which is the story of this song.

It has a rousing chorus which makes it a good song to sing when one has had a couple too many. Delgaty is a real place, in Aberdeenshire.

Answer: The Queen of All Argyle

No quiz about Scottish music would be complete without one song by Andy M. Stewart, one Scotland's best known contemporary singers and songwriters.

Answer: The Banks O' Doon

We end where we began, with a song by Robert Burns - one of his best, and one that seems to be entirely original. There is a "traditional" version of this song, but it appears to have been taken from Burns' work, not the other way around.