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The Battle of Harlaw

[ Roud 2861 ; Child 163 ; G/D 1:112 ; Ballad Index C163 ; Folkinfo 306 ; DT BATHARLW , BATHARL2 ; Mudcat 85506 ; trad.]

Norman Buchan, Peter Hall: The Scottish Folksinger Karl Dallas: The Cruel Wars Davis Herd: Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc., First Volume Alexander Keith: Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs John Ord: Bothy Songs and Ballads Peter Shepheard: Jock Duncan: The Man and His Songs Elizabeth Stewart: Up Yon Wide and Lonely Glen

Jeannie Robertson sang The Battle of Harlaw to Alan Lomax in London in 1953. This recording was included in 1998 on her Rounder CD The Queen Among the Heather. Another recording made by Hamish Henderson at the Oddfellows Hall ceilidh in Edinbirgh in 1953 was included in 2018 on the Greentrax anthology Scotland’s Voices. She also sang it live in Edinburgh in 1958. This recording, made by Hamish Henderson too, was released in 1984 on her Lismor album Up the Dee and Doon the Don. Yet another recording (BBC 22540) was included in 2005 on the Greentrax anthology The Carrying Stream (Scottish Tradition 20). The last album’s booklet noted:

The Battle of Harlaw took place in July 1411 and although a song entitled The battel of the Hayrlau is mentioned in The Complaynt of Scotland, 1549, the ballad in the form that we know it today (Child 163) dates from the nineteenth century. A total of sixteen versions, eleven of which have tunes, were collected by Gavin Greig and the Reverend James Bruce Duncan, indicating that this Aberdeenshire ballad was in common currency in the North East in the early twentieth century. Jeannie’s version appears in Bronson’s collection as no. 14 of the twenty variants he presents.

Lucy Stewart sang The Battle of Harlaw to Peter Kennedy and Hamish Henderson in Fetterangus, Aberdeenshire, in 1955. This recording was included in the anthology The Child Ballads 2 (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 5; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1968). The 2000 Rounder Records reissues of this album has both Jeannie Robertson’s and Lucy Stewart’s versions combined in one track. Lucy Stewart also sang The Battle of Harlaw in a recording made by Kenneth S. Goldstein on her 1961 Folkways album Traditional Singer From Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Vol. 1 - Child Ballads. Goldstein noted:

This ballad describes (rather inaccurately) the battle of Barlaw, fought on 24 July 1411. Donald of the Isles, who justly claimed the Earldom of Ross, invaded the Scottish lowlands with 10,000 islanders and men of Ross in hope of subjugating the people of the country as far as the Tay River. He vas met at Harlaw, north of Aberdeen, by the Lowland forces under the command of the Earl of Mar, and was forced to retire for losing 900 of his men; the Lowlanders lost 500. As would be expected, the Lowlanders made a ballad about the battle and, in The Complaynt of Scotland (1549), mention is made of a ballad The battel of the Hayrlau, but this ballad has apparently been lost.

Child believed the traditional ballad, which he knew in only two texts, to have been of relatively recent tradition, chiefly because of the prominence given to the Forbeses, whom history does not report as even being in the battle, and from the omission of the real leaders such as the Earl of Mar.

The ballad is likewise inaccurate in reporting the size of the Highland armies, and in telling of the killing of MacDonald. The names of Sir James the Rose and Sir John Graeme are out of place in this ballad and have probably been borrowed from the ballad of Sir James the Rose (Child #213). The ballad is still very popular in Aberdeenshire, though rarely is it reported in as full a text as that sung here by Lucy Stewart.

For additional information and texts, see: Child, Vol. III, p. 316ff; Greig & Keith, pp. 101-106; Ord, p. 473.

Ewan MacColl sang The Battle of Harlaw in 1956 on his and A.L. Lloyd’s Riverside anthology The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Volume III. This song and 28 other from this series were reissued in 2009 on his Topic double CD set Ballads: Murder·Intrigue·Love·Discord. He also sang it in 1961 on his Folkways album The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol. 1. Kenneth S. Goldstein noted on the first album:

This ballad describes (though rather inaccurately) the battle of Harlaw, fought on 24 July 1411. Donald of the Isles, Who justly claimed the Earldom of Ross, invaded the Scottish lowlands with 10,000 islanders and men of Ross in hope of subjugating the people of the country as far as the Tay River. He was met at Harlaw, north of Aberdeen, by the Lowland forces under the command of the Earl of Mar, and was forced to retire after losing 900 of his men; the Lowlanders lost 500. As would be expected, the Lowlanders made a ballad about the battle and, in The Complaynt of Scotland (1549), mention is made of a ballad The Battel of the Hayrlau, but this ballad has apparently been lost.

Child believed the traditional ballad, which he knew in only two texts, to have been of relatively recent tradition, chiefly because of the prominence given to the Forbeses, whom history does not report as even being in the battle, and from the omission of the real leaders such as the Earl of Mar.

The ballad is likewise inaccurate in reporting the size of the Highland armies, and in telling of the killing of MacDonald. The names of Sir James the Rose and Sir John Graeme are out of place in this ballad and have probably been borrowed from the ballad of Sir James the Rose (Child 213).

The version MacColl sings was learned from Jeannie Robertson of Aberdeen.

The Exiles sang The Battle of Harlaw in 1967 on their Topic album The Hale and the Hanged. A.L. Lloyd and Gordon McCulloch noted:

The battle of Harlaw, a few miles north-west of Aberdeen, was fought on 24 July 1411, ostensibly between highlanders and lowlanders, though in fact it was but an episode in a larger conflict between the centralised Stuart monarchy and the Scottish barons. The highland forces of Donald of the Isles lost the day. But if the battle is old, the ballad is relatively new, and in the form it is sung here, it has probably been circulating for little longer than a century, or 150 years at most. It appeared in print several times during the nineteenth century, which helped to stabilise it somewhat. Within the last few years it has been recorded from several singers including the celebrated Jeannie Robertson.

Ian & Lorna Campbell sang The Battle of Harlaw on 1968 on their Transatlantic album The Cock Doth Craw. Ian Campbell noted:

The battle of Harlaw, eighteen miles from Aberdeen, was fought in 1411 between 10,000 highlanders under Donald of the Isles and a lowland army led by the Earl of Mar and the sheriff of Angus. The highlanders lost 900 men and the lowlanders 500, including most of the gentry of Buchan, before the highlanders made an orderly withdrawal. McDonell was not killed in the engagement, and there is no evidence that any member of the prominent Aberdeen family of Forbes played a part of any importance.

The Clutha sang Harlaw in 1971 on their Argo album Scotia!. Don Martin noted:

The Battle of Harlaw took place in the year 1411 between an army led by Donald, Lord of the Isles, and the forces of the Earl of Mar. This ballad is generally believed to be considerably more modern, but so little is known of the origin of such productions that the possibility of a continuous oral tradition dating back to the Fifteenth Century cannot be entirely ruled out. The tune used by The Clutha was obtained by Gavin Greig from William Forbes of Ellon, Aberdeenshire.

Battlefield Band sang The Battle of Harlaw in 1978 on their Topic album At the Front.

Andy Hunter sang The Battle of Harlaw in 1984 on his Lismor album King Fareweel.

The Gaugers sang The Battle of Harlaw in 1990 on their City of Aberdeen Libraries / Springthyme album The Fighting Scot.

Old Blind Dogs sang The Battle of Harlaw on their 1997 album Five. This track was one of Iona Fyfe’s “desert island choices” in Living Tradition 127 (2019).

Isla St Clair sang The Battle of Harlaw in 2000 on her Highland Classics album Murder & Mayhem. He noted:

The battle of Harlaw took place near Aberdeen on 24 July 1411. The bloody conflict arose over a dispute between Donald, Lord of the Isles and Robert, the Duke of Albany, who was supported by the Earl of Mar, concerning the succession to the Earldom of Ross.

Jim Reid sang Harlaw in 2005 on his Greentrax album Yont the Tay. He noted:

A great historical battle. But for folk singing I would know nothing about it and a number of other momentous lowland battles.

Jock Duncan sang The Battle of Harlaw on his 1996 Springthyme album Ye Shine Whar Ye Stan!. and on the 1997 Springthyme anthology North East Tradition I. Jock Duncan also sang this ballad at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival, Collessie, Fife, in May 2009. This recording was included a year later on the Festival CD There’s Bound to Be a Row (Old Songs & Bothy Ballads Vol. 6), and in 2024 on Duncan’s Springthyme anthology Aikey Brae to Ythanside that accompanied Peter Shepheard’s biography Jock Duncan: The Man and His Songs. The Old Songs liner notes commented:

The grim battle, fought in 1411 at Harlaw in Aberdeenshire, takes us back to a time when Lowlander and Highlander had to settle which of the two was to have political supremacy in Scotland. According to the ballad (Child 163), the battle was a disaster:

Oot o fifty thoosand Hielanders,
Bit fifty three gaed hame;
And oot o aa the Lawland men,
Scarce twenty marched wi Grahame.

There is reference to a song The Battle of the Hayrlau in The Complaynt of Scotland (1549) but the text of this is lost and it is probable that the present form of the ballad is more recent (FSNE 11; GD 112). The ballad was a favourite of Jock’s uncle Charlie Duncan and as Jock says: “He had the aul words boy, oh aye. An he pit in the ‘Dirrum a doo a daddie O’. It wis from him that I got the style o that song.”

Beth Malcolm sang Harlaw on her 2023 album Kissed and Cried and as part of the Osmosis song medley on her 2024 album Folkmosis.

Lyrics

Jeannie Robertson sings The Battle of Harlaw

As I cam’ by the Garioch land,
An’ doun by Netherha’,
There were fifty thoosan’ Hielan’men,
A-marchin’ tae Harlaw.

Chorus (after each verse):
Singing didde-i-o,
Sing fa-la-do,
Sing diddle-i-o-i-ay.

“It’s did ye come fae the Hielan’s, men,
An’ did ye come a’ the way?
An’ did ye see MacDonal’ an’ his men
As they marched fae Skye?”

“It’s I cam’ fae the Hielan’s, men,
An’ I cam a’ the way;
An’ I saw MacDonal’ an’ his men
As they marched fae Skye.”

“It’s wis ye near or near enough,
Did ye their number see?
Come tell tae me, John Hielan’ man,
What might their number be?”

“For I wis near or near enough,
An’ I their number sa’;
There were fifty thoosand Hielan’men
A-marching tae Harlaw.”

For they went on an’ furder on,
An’ doun in by Balquhain;
It’s there they met Sir James the Rose,
Wi’ him Sir John the Grame.

“If that be true,” said Sir James the Rose,
“We’ll no’ come muckle speed;
We will caal upon wir merry men,
An’ we’ll turn wir horses’ heid.”

“O nay, O nay,” said John the Grame,
“Sic things we mauna dee;
For the gallant Grames were never bate,
And we’ll try fit they can dee.”

They went on an’ furder on,
An’ doun in by Harlaw;
They fell full close on ilka side,
Sic strikes ye never sa’.

They fell full close on ilka side,
Sic strikes ye never sa’;
For ilka sword gaed clash for clash
At the Battle o’ Harlaw.

The Hielan’men wi’ their lang swords,
They laid on us full sair;
The’ drove back wir merry men,
Three acres breadth an’ mair.

Lord Forbes to his brother did say,
“O brither dinna ye see?
The’ beat us back on every side,
An’ we’ll be forced to flee.”

“O nay, O nay, my brother dear,
O nay, that mauna be;
For you’ll tak’ your guid sword in your hand,
An’ ye’ll gang in wi’ me.”

For the’ two brithers brave,
Went in amangst the thrang;
They swope doun the Hielan’men,
Wi swords baith sharp an’ lang.

The first stike Lord Forbes gied,
The brave Lord Donal’ reeles;
The second strike Lord Forbes gied,
The brave MacDonal’ fell.

What a cry amongst the Hielan’men,
When they see’d their leader fa’;
They lifted him an’ buried him
A lang mile fae Harlaw.

Lucy Stewart sings The Battle of Harlaw

As I cam‘ doon the Geerich lan‘
An‘ doon by Netherha‘,
There were fifty-thousan‘ hielan‘men
A-mrchin‘ tee Harlaw.

Chorus (after each verse):
Wi‘ my durumdoo, my fal the day,
my duddy an‘ my day.

As I cam‘ doon an‘ farther doon,
An‘ doon by Balaquhain,
It was there I saw Sir James the Rose
An‘ wi‘ him Sir John the Graeme.

“O come ye frae the Hielands, man,
Or come ye a‘ the wye?
Saw ye Macdonal‘ an‘ a‘ his men
As they come frae the Skye”

“O I come frae the Hielands, man,
An I come a‘ the wye,
I saw Macdonal‘ an‘ a‘ his men
As they come frae the Skye.”

“O wis ye near Macdonal‘s men,
Their numbers did ye see?
Come tell to me, John Hielandman,
What might their numbers be?”

“O I wis near an‘ near enough,
Their number I did saw,
There wis fifty-thoosand Hielandmen
A-marchin‘ tae Harlaw.”

“If that be the case,” said John the Graeme,
“We‘ll nae come muckle speed,
We‘ll cry upon our merry men
An‘ turn our horses hied.”

“O na, o na, Sir John the Graeme,
Sich things that canna be,
The gallant Graemes were never beat,
We‘ll try fit we can dee.”

As we come on an‘ farther on,
An‘ doon aneath Harlaw,
There fell fu‘ close on ilky side,
Sich stracks ye never saw.

The hielan‘man wi‘ their long swords,
They laid on wondrous sair,
They drove back oor merry men
Three acres braith an‘ mair.

They fell fu‘ close on ilky side,
Sich stracks ye niver saw,
For ilky sword gied clash for clash
At the battle o‘ Harlaw.

Brave Forbes til his brother did say,
“O brother dinna ye see,
They beat us back on ilky side
An‘ we‘ll be forced tae flee.”

“O na, o na, o brother dear,
Sich things they canna be,
Ye‘ll tak‘ your guid sword in yer hand
An‘ gyang along wi‘ me.”

When back tae back the brothers brave
Geed in among the thrang,
They sweeped doon the Hieland men
Wi‘ swords both sharp an‘ lang.

The first stroke Lord Forbes struck
He garred Macdonald reel;
The niest stroke Lord Forbes struck
The brave Macdonald he fell.

An‘ sichen a paleerachie
The likes I never saw
Was in among the hielandmen
When they saw Macdonald fa‘.

When they saw that he was dead,
They turn‘t an‘ run awa‘,
They buried him at Laggat‘s Den
A long mile fae Harlaw.

O some they rode an‘ some they run,
An‘ some they did accord,
But Forbes an‘ his merry men
They slew them a‘ the road.

On Monday mornin‘,
The battle had begun,
On Saturday at gloamin‘
Ye‘d scarce ken fa had won.

An sichen a weary buryin‘,
The like I never saw,
Wis‘ in the Sunday after
In the moors beneath Harlaw.

If anybody askit ye
For them ye took awa‘,
Ye can tell them this an‘ tell them plain
They‘re sleepin‘ at Harlaw.

Old Blind Dogs sing The Battle of Harlaw

As I cam’ in by Dunideer
And doon by Nether Ha’
There were fifty thoosan’ heilan’ men
A-marchin tae Harlaw.

Chorus (after each verse):
Wi’ a diddy aye o’ an’ a fal an’ a doe
and a diddy aye o’ aye ay.

As I gaed on an’ farther on
And doon an’ by Balquhain,
It’s there I saw Sir James the Rose
And wi’ him John the Graeme.

“O’ cam’ ye fae the Heilan’s man
And cam’ ye a’ the wey?
Saw ye MacDonald and his men
As they cam’ in fae Skye?”

“It’s I was near and near eneuch
And I their numbers saw,
There was fifty thoosan’ heilan’ men
A-marchin’ tae Harlaw.”

“Gin that be true,” says James the Rose,
“We’ll no cam’ muckle speed,
We’ll cry upon wir merry men
And tum wir horse’s heid.”

“O’ na o’ na,” says John the Graeme,
“That thing will nivver be,
The gallant Graemes wis nivver beat
We’ll try fit we can dae.”

As I gaed on an’ further on
An’ doon an’ by Harlaw
There fell fu’ close on ilka side
Sic straiks ye nivver saw.

There fell fu’ close on ilka side
Sic straiks ye nivver saw,
An’ ilka sword gaed clash for clash
At the Battle of Harlaw.

The Heilan’ men wi’ their lang swords
They laid on us fu’ sair
And they drave back wir merry men
Three acres breadth and mair.

An’ Forbes tae his blither did say,
“Noo brither can’t ye see,
They’ve beaten us back on ilka side
And we’ll be forced tae flee.”

“O’ na na, my brither bold,
That thing will nivver be,
Ye’ll tak yer guid sword in yer haun’
And ye’ll gang in wi’ me.”

It’s back tae back the brithers bold
Gaed in amang the thrang,
And they drave back the Heilan’ men
Wi’ swords baith sharp and lang.

The firstan stroke that Forbes struck
He gart MacDonald reel,
The neistan straik the Forbes struck
The brave MacDonald fell.

An siccan a pilairchie
The like ye nivver saw
As wis amang the Heilan’ men
Fan they saw MacDonald fa’.

Some rade, some ran and some did gang ,
They were o’ sma’ record.
For Forbes and his merry men
Slew them on the road.

O’ fifty thoosan’ Heilan’ men
But fifty three gaed hame,
And oot o’ a’ the Lawlan’ men
But fifty marched wi’ Graeme.

Gin onybody spier at ye
For them we marched awa’,
Ye can tell them plain and very plain
They’re bidin’ at Harlaw.

Jock Duncan sings The Battle of Harlaw

As I cam in by Dunideer,
An doun by Netherha,
I saw fifty thoosan Hielanmen,
Aa marchin tae Harlaw.

Chorus (after each verse):
O a dirrum a doo a daddie O,
A dirrum a doo a day.

An fen I cam on an farrer on,
An doun an by Balquhain,
’Twas there I saw Sir James the Rose,
An him Sir John the Grahame.

“O did ye come fae MacDonald’s, men,
An did ye their number see?
An were ye near and near eneuch,
Fit mith their number be?”

“Aye, I wis near an near eneuch,
An I their number saw;
There’s fifty thoosan Hielanders,
Aa marchin tae Harlaw.”

“If that be so,” said James the Rose,
“Och, we’ll nae come muckle speed;
I’ll hae tae tell ma gallant men,
Na tae turn their horses’ heid.”

“O na, O na,” said John the Grahame,
“O na, that winna dee;
The gallant Grahames hiv niver been beat,
Och, we’ll see fit we can dee.”

O they fell sae thick on ilkie side,
O sic straiks ye niver saw,
For ilkie sword gaed clash for clash
At the Battle o Harlaw.

Noo the Hielanders wi their claymores,
They laid on us fu sair,
Weel, they knockit us back on ilkie side,
Sax acre breadth or mair.

Sir Forbes tae his brither did say,
“Here brither dinna ye see?
They’ve beat us back on ilkie side
Mebbe we’ll be forced tae flee.”

“O na, O na ma brither dear,
O na that winna dee,
Ye’ll tak your gweed sword in your han,
An ye’ll gyang in wi me.”

Noo back tae back the brithers brave,
They gaed in amang the thrang,
An they cut doun the Hielanders,
Wi swords baith sharp an lang.

The first ae straik Sir Forbes struck,
It gar’d Lord Donald reel,
The neist ae straik that Forbes struck,
Wi the brave MacDonald fell.

O siccan a pilacherie,
The like ye niver saw,
There wis amang the Hielanders,
Fin they saw Lord Donald fa.

And fin they saw that he wis deid,
Noo, they aa did gyang awa,
Fin they beeried Lord Donald in Legget’s Den
It’s a mile abeen Harlaw.

It was on a Monday mornin,
That the battle it hid begun,
’Twas noo Setterday gloamin,
Bit ye’d scarce ken fa had won.

Of aa the Hielanmen,
’Twas fifty two gaed hame,
And oot o aa the Lowland men,
Scarce twenty marched wi Grahame.

Noo, siccan a weary beeryin,
The like ye niver saw,
It wis on a Sunday mornin
In the moss aneth Harlaw.

Noo, if ony Hielan lassie spiers at ye,
For them that gaed awa,
Weel, they’re sleepin soun an in their sheen,
In the howe aneth Harlaw.