Auld Robin Gray: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|1772 ballad}} |
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'''Auld Robin Gray''' is the title of a [[ballad]] by [[Lady Anne Lindsay]], from the name of its hero, a good old man who married a young girl whose lover is thought to be dead, but who turns up to claim her a month after. |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} |
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[[File:The book of British ballads (1842) (14596282229).jpg|thumb|''Auld Robin Gray'' from ''The Book of British Ballads'' (1842)]] |
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'''Auld Robin Gray''' is the title of a [[Scots language|Scots]] [[ballad]] written by the [[Scotland|Scottish]] poet [[Lady Anne Lindsay]] in 1772.<ref>{{cite book|author=Thomas Edward Brown|title=Fo'c's'le Yarns: An Uncensored Edition of Four Manx Narratives in Verse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u-Pd0X8JJOkC&pg=PA260|year=1998|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-7618-1215-9|pages=260}}</ref> According to the Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, Lindsay's song began as a song sung by [[Sophia Johnston]] of Hilton .<ref>{{cite book |
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|author=Elizabeth Ewan |author2=Sue Innes |author3=Siân Reynolds |author4=Rose Pipes |chapter=Barnard, Lady Anne, n. Lindsay |
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|title=The biographical dictionary of Scottish women |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |year=2006|isbn=978-0-7486-1713-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIRnAAAAMAAJ |page=29}}</ref> |
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Robin Gray is a good old man who marries a young woman already in love with a man named Jamie. Jamie goes away to sea in order to earn money so that the couple can marry. The woman, who narrates the ballad, tells the story of being compelled by her parents' misfortune to marry Robin Gray while her lover is away. Robin promises to maintain her and her parents in return for her hand. Jamie returns a few weeks after the marriage, looking like a ghost. They have a sad reunion, kiss and tear themselves away from each other. The woman resolves to do her best to be a good wife to Robin, though she is extremely sad at the loss of her true love. |
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The original tune was composed by the Rev. [[William Leeves]]. George Thomson commissioned [[Joseph Haydn]] to arrange the ballad for piano and soprano, as well as for piano, violin, cello, and soprano. Twentieth century American composer [[Marjorie Rusche]], among others, has also arranged “Auld Robin Gray.”<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boenke |first=H. Alais |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aOjEEAAAQBAJ&dq=marjorie+rusche+composer&pg=PA182 |title=Flute Music by Women Composers: An Annotated Catalog |date=19 October 1988 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-36831-8 |pages=105 |language=en}}</ref> |
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== Popular use == |
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The poem is sung by the "lovely maniac" (88) in [[Mary Wollstonecraft]]'s novel ''[[Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman|Maria]]'' (1798). There are echoes of the theme of abandoned women throughout the novel. |
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The short story "Young Robin Gray" (1894) by [[Bret Harte]] alludes to this song but revises the relationships between characters so that the Scottish heroine's virtue is redeemed. In Harte's story, the woman remains faithful to her betrothed, also named Jamie, until he breaks their engagement. She marries for love, not money. An explicit reference to the song occurs in chapter two, during a discussion of nicknames. Wealthy American Robert Gray observes that he would be called Robin Gray in Scotland, and in the brief exchange that follows, another character insists that Robin Gray in the song is "''Auld'' Robin Gray" (381). |
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==External links== |
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{{Wikisource|Auld Robin Gray}} |
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* Online at [http://www.bartleby.com/101/477.html Bartleby] |
* Online at [http://www.bartleby.com/101/477.html Bartleby] |
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* [http://dmr.bsu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/ShtMus&CISOPTR=819&REC=7 Sheet Music for ''Auld Robin Gray''] |
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== References == |
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{{Reflist}} |
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*Harte, Bret. "Young Robin Gray". ''Thankful Blossom and Other Eastern Tales and Sketches''. The Writings of Bret Harte Standard Library Edition, Vol. 11. Boston: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1907. 364–391. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BkfTAAAAMAAJ&dq=young+robin+gray+harte&pg=PA381 Google Books]. |
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*Wollstonecraft, Mary. ''Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman''. Ed. Gary Kelly. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1976. |
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{{authority control}} |
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[[Category:1772 songs]] |
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[[Category:Ballads]] |
[[Category:Ballads]] |
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[[Category:Scots-language works]] |
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[[Category:Scots-language literature]] |
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[[Category:18th-century songs]] |
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[[Category:1772 in Scotland]] |
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{{Scotland-stub}} |
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Latest revision as of 16:17, 21 September 2024
_(14596282229).jpg)
Auld Robin Gray is the title of a Scots ballad written by the Scottish poet Lady Anne Lindsay in 1772.[1] According to the Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, Lindsay's song began as a song sung by Sophia Johnston of Hilton .[2]
Robin Gray is a good old man who marries a young woman already in love with a man named Jamie. Jamie goes away to sea in order to earn money so that the couple can marry. The woman, who narrates the ballad, tells the story of being compelled by her parents' misfortune to marry Robin Gray while her lover is away. Robin promises to maintain her and her parents in return for her hand. Jamie returns a few weeks after the marriage, looking like a ghost. They have a sad reunion, kiss and tear themselves away from each other. The woman resolves to do her best to be a good wife to Robin, though she is extremely sad at the loss of her true love.
The original tune was composed by the Rev. William Leeves. George Thomson commissioned Joseph Haydn to arrange the ballad for piano and soprano, as well as for piano, violin, cello, and soprano. Twentieth century American composer Marjorie Rusche, among others, has also arranged “Auld Robin Gray.”[3]
Popular use
[edit]The poem is sung by the "lovely maniac" (88) in Mary Wollstonecraft's novel Maria (1798). There are echoes of the theme of abandoned women throughout the novel.
The short story "Young Robin Gray" (1894) by Bret Harte alludes to this song but revises the relationships between characters so that the Scottish heroine's virtue is redeemed. In Harte's story, the woman remains faithful to her betrothed, also named Jamie, until he breaks their engagement. She marries for love, not money. An explicit reference to the song occurs in chapter two, during a discussion of nicknames. Wealthy American Robert Gray observes that he would be called Robin Gray in Scotland, and in the brief exchange that follows, another character insists that Robin Gray in the song is "Auld Robin Gray" (381).
External links
[edit]
- Online at Bartleby
- Sheet Music for Auld Robin Gray
References
[edit]- ^ Thomas Edward Brown (1998). Fo'c's'le Yarns: An Uncensored Edition of Four Manx Narratives in Verse. University Press of America. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-7618-1215-9.
- ^ Elizabeth Ewan; Sue Innes; Siân Reynolds; Rose Pipes (2006). "Barnard, Lady Anne, n. Lindsay". The biographical dictionary of Scottish women. Edinburgh University Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-7486-1713-5.
- ^ Boenke, H. Alais (19 October 1988). Flute Music by Women Composers: An Annotated Catalog. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-313-36831-8.
- Harte, Bret. "Young Robin Gray". Thankful Blossom and Other Eastern Tales and Sketches. The Writings of Bret Harte Standard Library Edition, Vol. 11. Boston: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1907. 364–391. Google Books.
- Wollstonecraft, Mary. Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman. Ed. Gary Kelly. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1976.
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