Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
The Knicht o Archerdale / Proud Lady Margaret (Child No. 47) - Sung by Lizzie Higgins (Elizabeth Ann Youlden, 1929-1993) of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Daughter of settled Travellers, the famous Scottish traditional singer Jeannie Robertson and Donald "Donty" Higgins, an accomplished piper. Lizzie learned the song from her father, who in turn had it from his mother, Christine Stewart. Filmed and recorded by David Kotyk as part of the John D. Niles folklore research team for the "Scottish Voices" project in the sitting room of Lizzie's home in Aberdeen in August 1986.
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:24 Sings Proud Lady Margaret
00:04:48 Ends
The original movie can be watched here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A2I6FIZ4UUWLNS8S
I used my knowledge on video editing to share the films on Youtube in the highest possible quality, I used manual video upscaling (no AI was used!) for this, to further document variants of traditional ballads and songs which has been my hobby for many years. I claim no ownership of the video.
Note by Kevin W.:
I was delighted to discover these videos of Scotland's great tradition bearers in the John D. Niles Collection. The often poorly treated Scottish Travellers honor the memories of their ancestors through songs, music and storytelling. They are proud of their culture and kept old traditions alive for hundreds of years. Many of our most gifted traditional singers and storytellers are Travellers.
Scottish Travellers are an indigenous ethnic minority in Scotland who live or traditionally lived a nomadic lifestyle and for centuries were unfairly shunned by the settled population. For that reason the singing culture of the Travelling people had not been well documented before the 20th century when non-Travellers with an interest in folklore visited and befriended Travellers and started recording their songs, music and stories.
Lizzie's slow style of singing which she based on her father's and her uncle Isaac "Seely" Higgins' bagpipe playing is beautiful and highly demanding with lots of ornamentation. Interestingly Lizzie used the pipe style decorations for her father's songs but sang closer to her mother's style for Jeannie's songs.
Can this really be a ballad that survived in Traveller tradition? Lizzie was adamant that she'd learned it from her father. The last time it was collected was twice in fragmentary form in Aberdeenshire around the turn of the 20th century by Gavin Greig from the prolific Mrs. Bell Robertson of New Pitsligo who knew hundreds of ballads but did not sing tunes and from a Mrs. Gordon of New Deer.
Lizzie's text resembles one published by Peter Buchan in "Ballads of the North of Scotland" in 1828 but also has verses not found in that text.
Buchan's text can be seen here:
http://71.174.62.16/Demo/LongerHarvest?Text=Child_d04702
Song transcription:
It was on a night, and an evening bright
When the dew begun tae fa,
Lady Margaret was walking up and doon,
Looking ower the castle wa.
She looked west, she looked east,
Tae see what she could spy,
When a gallant knight came in her sight
Unto her gates drew nigh.
"God mak ye safe an free, fair maid,
God mak ye safe an free."
"What is yer will wi me, Sir Knight,
Oh what's yer will wi me?"
"My will wi you is nae sma, lady,
My will wi you nae sma,
An syne there is nane your bower within,
You'll hae ma secrets aa."
"It's I am come tae this castle
Aa for the love of thee.
If you do not grant me love
All for your sake a'll dee."
"If you should dee for me, Sir Knight,
It is few for you will mean.
There's many a better has died for me
Wha's graves are growin green.
"What is the flooer, the ae first flooer
That grows on muir and dell?
What is the bird, the bonniest bird
That sings next the nightingale?
What is the colour, the bonniest colour
(Sadly the video ends here. It is incomplete)
That king or queen can wale?
Oh what is the flooer, the ae first flooer
That grows on muir and dell?"
"The primrose is the ae first flooer
Tae grow on muir and dell.
The mavis is the next bird
Sings next the nightingale.
Yellow is the bonniest colour
That king or queen can wale.
The primrose is the ae first flooer
That grows on muir and dell.
"Ye hiv ower ill washen feet, Margaret,
An ye have ower ill washen hands.
Ye've too coarse o robes on your body,
An wi me ye winnae gang.
The worms are my bedfellows
The cauld clay is my sheet.
An the louder that the wind does howl
The sounder dae I sleep.
"My body is buried in Dunfermline
Sae far ayond the sea.
Nae peace or rest ony day I get
Aa for the pride of thee.
Lay up yer pride, Margaret," he said,
"Use it nae ony mair.
If you hae been far I hae been
Ye will repent it sair.
"Tae sit in Pirie's chair, Margaret,
It is the lowest seat o Hell.
If you do not amend your ways,
It's there that ye maun dwell."
Wi that he vanished frae her sicht
In the twinklin o her ee,
An naething mair the lady saw
But the gloomy clouds in the sky.
The Knicht o Archerdale / Proud Lady Margaret (Child No. 47) - Sung by Lizzie Higgins (Elizabeth Ann Youlden, 1929-1993) of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Daughter of settled Travellers, the famous Scottish traditional singer Jeannie Robertson and Donald "Donty" Higgins, an accomplished piper. Lizzie learned the song from her father, who in turn had it from his mother, Christine Stewart. Filmed and recorded by David Kotyk as part of the John D. Niles folklore research team for the "Scottish Voices" project in the sitting room of Lizzie's home in Aberdeen in August 1986.
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:24 Sings Proud Lady Margaret
00:04:48 Ends
The original movie can be watched here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A2I6FIZ4UUWLNS8S
I used my knowledge on video editing to share the films on Youtube in the highest possible quality, I used manual video upscaling (no AI was used!) for this, to further document variants of traditional ballads and songs which has been my hobby for many years. I claim no ownership of the video.
Note by Kevin W.:
I was delighted to discover these videos of Scotland's great tradition bearers in the John D. Niles Collection. The often poorly treated Scottish Travellers honor the memories of their ancestors through songs, music and storytelling. They are proud of their culture and kept old traditions alive for hundreds of years. Many of our most gifted traditional singers and storytellers are Travellers.
Scottish Travellers are an indigenous ethnic minority in Scotland who live or traditionally lived a nomadic lifestyle and for centuries were unfairly shunned by the settled population. For that reason the singing culture of the Travelling people had not been well documented before the 20th century when non-Travellers with an interest in folklore visited and befriended Travellers and started recording their songs, music and stories.
Lizzie's slow style of singing which she based on her father's and her uncle Isaac "Seely" Higgins' bagpipe playing is beautiful and highly demanding with lots of ornamentation. Interestingly Lizzie used the pipe style decorations for her father's songs but sang closer to her mother's style for Jeannie's songs.
Can this really be a ballad that survived in Traveller tradition? Lizzie was adamant that she'd learned it from her father. The last time it was collected was twice in fragmentary form in Aberdeenshire around the turn of the 20th century by Gavin Greig from the prolific Mrs. Bell Robertson of New Pitsligo who knew hundreds of ballads but did not sing tunes and from a Mrs. Gordon of New Deer.
Lizzie's text resembles one published by Peter Buchan in "Ballads of the North of Scotland" in 1828 but also has verses not found in that text.
Buchan's text can be seen here:
http://71.174.62.16/Demo/LongerHarvest?Text=Child_d04702
Song transcription:
It was on a night, and an evening bright
When the dew begun tae fa,
Lady Margaret was walking up and doon,
Looking ower the castle wa.
She looked west, she looked east,
Tae see what she could spy,
When a gallant knight came in her sight
Unto her gates drew nigh.
"God mak ye safe an free, fair maid,
God mak ye safe an free."
"What is yer will wi me, Sir Knight,
Oh what's yer will wi me?"
"My will wi you is nae sma, lady,
My will wi you nae sma,
An syne there is nane your bower within,
You'll hae ma secrets aa."
"It's I am come tae this castle
Aa for the love of thee.
If you do not grant me love
All for your sake a'll dee."
"If you should dee for me, Sir Knight,
It is few for you will mean.
There's many a better has died for me
Wha's graves are growin green.
"What is the flooer, the ae first flooer
That grows on muir and dell?
What is the bird, the bonniest bird
That sings next the nightingale?
What is the colour, the bonniest colour
(Sadly the video ends here. It is incomplete)
That king or queen can wale?
Oh what is the flooer, the ae first flooer
That grows on muir and dell?"
"The primrose is the ae first flooer
Tae grow on muir and dell.
The mavis is the next bird
Sings next the nightingale.
Yellow is the bonniest colour
That king or queen can wale.
The primrose is the ae first flooer
That grows on muir and dell.
"Ye hiv ower ill washen feet, Margaret,
An ye have ower ill washen hands.
Ye've too coarse o robes on your body,
An wi me ye winnae gang.
The worms are my bedfellows
The cauld clay is my sheet.
An the louder that the wind does howl
The sounder dae I sleep.
"My body is buried in Dunfermline
Sae far ayond the sea.
Nae peace or rest ony day I get
Aa for the pride of thee.
Lay up yer pride, Margaret," he said,
"Use it nae ony mair.
If you hae been far I hae been
Ye will repent it sair.
"Tae sit in Pirie's chair, Margaret,
It is the lowest seat o Hell.
If you do not amend your ways,
It's there that ye maun dwell."
Wi that he vanished frae her sicht
In the twinklin o her ee,
An naething mair the lady saw
But the gloomy clouds in the sky.
