Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
The Brothers / Bold Archer / Bold Dickie and Bold Archie / Archie o Cawfield (Child No. 188) - Sung by Duncan Williamson, a Traveller of Furnace, Argyllshire, Scotland, later settled in Fife. He learned it from his grandmother Bett MacColl in Tarbert, Loch Fyne, Kintyre. Recorded by the John D. Niles folklore research team for the "Scottish Voices" project in August 1986 in the sitting room of a rented house in Auchtermuchty, Fife.
The original recording can be heard here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AKOCYWF2K47N7L8X
A biography of Duncan Williamson can be read here:
tobarandualchais.co.uk/person/4292?l=en
Linda Williamson's thesis on Scottish Traveller singing can be read here, it's well worth your time if you're interested in Duncan Williamson's song repertoire: era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/8223
Song transcription:
So it tells a story about three brothers. And one of the brothers was a member of the Border Reivers. And he was thrown in jail in Dumfries, ye know. And the oldest brother was very big and very strong. And the youngest brother – ah, let's have the story. So: they wanted to go to Dumfries because their brother was to be hung in the morning. Now some people calls it by many other names. Ye know? They call it "Archie of Cawfield"; they call it by many names. But we have it as "The Brothers," among the Travelling community. And it tells a wonderful story.
Now the music is not very wonderful, but the story is good.
I looked out of my father's window
Betwixt the garden and the wall,
And there I heard two brothers talking,
Oh, but they talked so softly.
He said, "Our brother Tom, now, he lies in jail,
The morn's the day that he's going tae dee,
But if I had twa men like myself
Afore the cock crowed, oh, he'd be free."
Then up and spoke the youngest brother,
Oh, but he spoke sae boastfully,
Saying, "Tak me wi ye, oh brother John,
We'll gang and get our brother free."
"Oh, haud your tongue, noo," says brother John,
"It's only a laddie that ye be.
I need twa strong men like myself
Oh, for to get your brother free."
Then up and spoke the youngest brother,
Oh, he, oh, spoke boastfully,
"We stay noo here, brother John,
And we let our brother dee."
Then up and spoke, oh, brother John,
Oh but he spoke softly,
Gang get your horse, then, brother dear
And we will get our brother free."
So it's on their horses and awa they rode,
Oh, but they rode swiftly,
And when they came to the smithy door
They turned their horses' shoes back forwardly.
Then on their horses and awa they rode,
Oh but they rode so swiftly,
But when they came to the Annan Water
It was flowing like any sea.
Then up and spoke the youngest brother,
Oh, but he spoke sae frightedly,
"My horse is young and I cannae swim
Oh, brother John, what will I dae?"
"Jump up behind me," says brother John,
"But dinnae let this bridle free."
So on their horses and awa they swam,
Oh, but they swam so swiftly.
But when they came to Dumfries jail
It was barely at the break of day.
Oh the first door that John come tae
I'm sure he made it gang in three.
The next door that John come tae
He opened it noo without a key.
He said, "Stand up, stand up, oh brother Tom,
For that you I've come to see,
Stand up, stand up, oh brother Tom,
For I have come for to set you free."
"Oh, hold your tongue, noo," says brother Tom,
"Oh dae you see what I can see?
There's fifty pound of Swedish iron
Betwixt my ankle and my knee.
There's fifty pound of Swedish iron
Betwixt my ankle and my knee."
So he picked him up into his arms,
And he carried him like a butterflee,
Wi fifty pound of Swedish iron
Betwixt his ankle and his knee.
So on their horses and awa they swam,
Oh, but they swam so swiftly.
Then up and spoke the youngest brother;
He says, "Brother...
(The tape ran out. Duncan restarts from the previous verse)
...his ankle and his knee.
So on their horses and awa they swam.
Oh, but they swam so swiftly.
Then up and spoke the youngest brother,
He says, "Brother John, dae you see what I do see?
Thonder comes the sheriff bold
And twenty of his company."
When the sheriff reached the Annan water
Oh, an angry man was he!
"Oh, cast me back my wee bit iron,
For noo you've got your brother free."
Then up and spoke, oh, brother John
Oh but he spoke boastfully,
"Oh, never a bit of iron you'll get,
Oh never a bit you will get fae me."
So on their horses and awa they swam,
Oh, but they swam swiftly.
And when they came to their village hall
Oh, there a dance step they did hae.
But the finest dancer among them all
Was the prisoner who was set free.
That's an old traditional ballad, ye know? It tells a story about how the brothers went to Dumfries and brought back their brother from jail, ye know. Big John's a powerful man, and he broke the doors down, ye know? And he carried his brother — It shows you what kind of a person he really was, in the story. It's a very old ballad; nobody sings it anymore. I'm the only one that sings it anymore, ye know?
The Brothers / Bold Archer / Bold Dickie and Bold Archie / Archie o Cawfield (Child No. 188) - Sung by Duncan Williamson, a Traveller of Furnace, Argyllshire, Scotland, later settled in Fife. He learned it from his grandmother Bett MacColl in Tarbert, Loch Fyne, Kintyre. Recorded by the John D. Niles folklore research team for the "Scottish Voices" project in August 1986 in the sitting room of a rented house in Auchtermuchty, Fife.
The original recording can be heard here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AKOCYWF2K47N7L8X
A biography of Duncan Williamson can be read here:
tobarandualchais.co.uk/person/4292?l=en
Linda Williamson's thesis on Scottish Traveller singing can be read here, it's well worth your time if you're interested in Duncan Williamson's song repertoire: era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/8223
Song transcription:
So it tells a story about three brothers. And one of the brothers was a member of the Border Reivers. And he was thrown in jail in Dumfries, ye know. And the oldest brother was very big and very strong. And the youngest brother – ah, let's have the story. So: they wanted to go to Dumfries because their brother was to be hung in the morning. Now some people calls it by many other names. Ye know? They call it "Archie of Cawfield"; they call it by many names. But we have it as "The Brothers," among the Travelling community. And it tells a wonderful story.
Now the music is not very wonderful, but the story is good.
I looked out of my father's window
Betwixt the garden and the wall,
And there I heard two brothers talking,
Oh, but they talked so softly.
He said, "Our brother Tom, now, he lies in jail,
The morn's the day that he's going tae dee,
But if I had twa men like myself
Afore the cock crowed, oh, he'd be free."
Then up and spoke the youngest brother,
Oh, but he spoke sae boastfully,
Saying, "Tak me wi ye, oh brother John,
We'll gang and get our brother free."
"Oh, haud your tongue, noo," says brother John,
"It's only a laddie that ye be.
I need twa strong men like myself
Oh, for to get your brother free."
Then up and spoke the youngest brother,
Oh, he, oh, spoke boastfully,
"We stay noo here, brother John,
And we let our brother dee."
Then up and spoke, oh, brother John,
Oh but he spoke softly,
Gang get your horse, then, brother dear
And we will get our brother free."
So it's on their horses and awa they rode,
Oh, but they rode swiftly,
And when they came to the smithy door
They turned their horses' shoes back forwardly.
Then on their horses and awa they rode,
Oh but they rode so swiftly,
But when they came to the Annan Water
It was flowing like any sea.
Then up and spoke the youngest brother,
Oh, but he spoke sae frightedly,
"My horse is young and I cannae swim
Oh, brother John, what will I dae?"
"Jump up behind me," says brother John,
"But dinnae let this bridle free."
So on their horses and awa they swam,
Oh, but they swam so swiftly.
But when they came to Dumfries jail
It was barely at the break of day.
Oh the first door that John come tae
I'm sure he made it gang in three.
The next door that John come tae
He opened it noo without a key.
He said, "Stand up, stand up, oh brother Tom,
For that you I've come to see,
Stand up, stand up, oh brother Tom,
For I have come for to set you free."
"Oh, hold your tongue, noo," says brother Tom,
"Oh dae you see what I can see?
There's fifty pound of Swedish iron
Betwixt my ankle and my knee.
There's fifty pound of Swedish iron
Betwixt my ankle and my knee."
So he picked him up into his arms,
And he carried him like a butterflee,
Wi fifty pound of Swedish iron
Betwixt his ankle and his knee.
So on their horses and awa they swam,
Oh, but they swam so swiftly.
Then up and spoke the youngest brother;
He says, "Brother...
(The tape ran out. Duncan restarts from the previous verse)
...his ankle and his knee.
So on their horses and awa they swam.
Oh, but they swam so swiftly.
Then up and spoke the youngest brother,
He says, "Brother John, dae you see what I do see?
Thonder comes the sheriff bold
And twenty of his company."
When the sheriff reached the Annan water
Oh, an angry man was he!
"Oh, cast me back my wee bit iron,
For noo you've got your brother free."
Then up and spoke, oh, brother John
Oh but he spoke boastfully,
"Oh, never a bit of iron you'll get,
Oh never a bit you will get fae me."
So on their horses and awa they swam,
Oh, but they swam swiftly.
And when they came to their village hall
Oh, there a dance step they did hae.
But the finest dancer among them all
Was the prisoner who was set free.
That's an old traditional ballad, ye know? It tells a story about how the brothers went to Dumfries and brought back their brother from jail, ye know. Big John's a powerful man, and he broke the doors down, ye know? And he carried his brother — It shows you what kind of a person he really was, in the story. It's a very old ballad; nobody sings it anymore. I'm the only one that sings it anymore, ye know?
