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Encyclopaedia of the North East

B - Bothy ballad to Brig o Balgownie

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A large manuscript lower case letter B with musical instruments, a hat, a plaster cast of a skull and iron branks.
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bothy ballad 19c-20c n 
A folk-song dealing with country matters, usu bawdy.

Where Ugie winds through Buchan braes 
A treeless land, where beeves are good, 
And men have quaint old-fashioned ways, 
And every burn has ballad lore,
And every fermtoun has its song. 
W C Smith (mid 19th cent) 

Jean McPherson maks my bed, 
She sleeps between me an the wa. 
An when I climb in ower at nicht, 
She says Buchan Geordie, ca awa. 
'Turra Mart' traditional ballad

Smoking cap. A black cap with purple and green embroidered foliage and yellow and pink tassels.

Smoking cap of the North-east song collector Gavin Greig (c 1900).

ABDUA:36816

Flute. Dark brown wooden flute with brass fittings.

William Thom's flute, the handloom weaver and sentimental poet/songwriter, Inverurie, (mid 19th cent).

ABDUA:18680

Jew's harp. A small teardrop shaped loop of grey metal with a thin strip of metal extending from the widest part of the loop to where its ends meet.

Jews harp, a frequently used tuneless 'instrument' for accompanying the ballads, Aberdeenshire (early 20th cent).

ABDUA:18676

Bothy ballads. A booklet titled Kerr's "Buchan" Bothy Ballads by G. S. Morris. The open page shows the score and lyrics for "The Muckin' o' Geordie's Byre".

Score - the ballads have become 'fossilised' and 'cleaned up' under the influence of polite folkiness, Aberdeen (1990).

LEMUR:1000020

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branks la 16c-, brankis 16c-17c n 
1 A kind of bridle or halter, orig with wooden side pieces 16c-, 
2 An instrument of public punishment la 16c-, now hist. 

Scottish instrument of ecclesiastical punishment, chiefly employed for the coercion of female scolds, and those adjudged guilty of defamation and slander. It may be described as a skeleton iron helmet, having a gag of the same metal, which entered the mouth and effectually brankit that unruly member -  the tongue. 
Daniel Wilson 1851 Archaeology and the Prehistoric Annals of Scotland

Branks. Made of iron, a mask that covers the lower part of the face and has a triangle of metal projecting where the mouth would be. It has a heart shape and dots punched out of it, and loops which go over the top and sides of the head.

Branks, formerly used at the Parish Church of Dunnottar. Presented in 1817 by Professor Stuart.

ABDUA:18700

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Brig o Balgownie n 
A bridge over the River Don in Aberdeen built in the 14th cent with money from Robert the Bruce. Formerly the only crossing downstream of Inverurie.

An at the glint o smilin meen, 
When ripples spark wi silvry sheen, 
An lang-gane spirits tread the green 
Wi loup an jig; 
Oh! May my spirit hae the pooer 
Tae dwell for ae sweet, fleein oor, 
In fondest memory's raptured lure 
Wi thee, aul brig. 
George P. Dunbar 1922 Address to the Aul Brig o Balgownie.

Skull. A plaster cast of a human skull on a square base.

Cast of the skull of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots 1306-29 (1819).

ABDUA:36867

B - Bothy ballad to Brig o Balgownie