Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
The Flooer o' Northumberland / The Fair Flower of Northumberland (Child No. 9) - 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 young students in Edinburgh. 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 Sings The Fair Flower of Northumberland
00:06:27 Where Lizzie Learned the Song
00:07:05 Ends
The original movie can be watched here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AXVU4AZOS4EQH484
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.
For more information on Lizzie Higgins the booklet notes to "In Memory of Lizzie Higgins 1929-1993" (2006) Musical Traditions MTCD337-8 are essential reading (and the album is well worth getting): mustrad.org.uk/articles/higgins.htm
Both Lizzie and Stanley Robertson (Jeannie Robertson's nephew) have been recorded singing this beautiful ballad.
Stanley's version can be heard here:
youtu.be/lN0JmkvxdQQ
Song transcription:
The provost's ae dochter was walking alane,
Oh but her love it was easily won,
When she saw a Scots pris'ner a-makin' his mean (moan); [There's a gap in the video]
And she was the Flooer o Northumberland."
(The video continues here)
"Oh, gin a lassie wid marry me,
Oh gin her love it was easily won,
I wid mak her a lady o' high degree,
If she'd loose me oot o this prison sae strong."
She went intae her father's bedstock,
Oh but her love it was easily won,
She's stolen the keys o'er many a great lock,
And she's loosed him oot o the prison sae strong.
She went intae her father's stable,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
She's stolen a steed that was baith fleet and able,
Tae leads them on tae bonny Scotland.
As they were ridin' across the Scotch moor,
Oh but her love it was easily won,
Get doon frae my horse, you're a brazen faced whore, [*]
And she be the flooer o Northumberland.
For I hae a wife in my ain countree,
Oh but your love it was easily won,
An' I canna dee naething wi' a lassie like thee,
You'll need tae gang home to Northumberland."
"A cook in your kitchen I swear will be,
Although my love it was easily won,
For I can wait on him in my ain countree,
For I canna gang back to Northumberland."
"It's cook in my kitchen ye can ne'er be,
Oh but your love it was easily won,
For my lady she wouldna hae servants like thee,
So ye'll need to gang hame tae Northumberland."
When she cam hame, her father frowned and did say,
"Oh but your love it was easily won, [There's a gap in the video]
Ye've gang with a Scotsman, and you're barely sixteen,
And ye were the flower o' Northumberland."
(The video continues here)
When she cam hame her mother smiled and did say,
Oh but your love it was easily won,
And you're nae the first that the Scots hae beguiled."
And ye're welcome back to Northumberland.
"Ye widnae wint bried (bread) and ye widnae wint wine,
Although' your love it was easily won,
And ye widna wint silver to buy a man wi',
And you're aye the Flooer o' Northumberland.
* Interestingly, in a bit of self censorship Lizzie changed this line to "I can have you no more" in a recording made for her 1985 Topic Records album "What a Voice". Here she sings the original line as the song usually has it.
The Flooer o' Northumberland / The Fair Flower of Northumberland (Child No. 9) - 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 young students in Edinburgh. 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 Sings The Fair Flower of Northumberland
00:06:27 Where Lizzie Learned the Song
00:07:05 Ends
The original movie can be watched here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AXVU4AZOS4EQH484
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.
For more information on Lizzie Higgins the booklet notes to "In Memory of Lizzie Higgins 1929-1993" (2006) Musical Traditions MTCD337-8 are essential reading (and the album is well worth getting): mustrad.org.uk/articles/higgins.htm
Both Lizzie and Stanley Robertson (Jeannie Robertson's nephew) have been recorded singing this beautiful ballad.
Stanley's version can be heard here:
youtu.be/lN0JmkvxdQQ
Song transcription:
The provost's ae dochter was walking alane,
Oh but her love it was easily won,
When she saw a Scots pris'ner a-makin' his mean (moan); [There's a gap in the video]
And she was the Flooer o Northumberland."
(The video continues here)
"Oh, gin a lassie wid marry me,
Oh gin her love it was easily won,
I wid mak her a lady o' high degree,
If she'd loose me oot o this prison sae strong."
She went intae her father's bedstock,
Oh but her love it was easily won,
She's stolen the keys o'er many a great lock,
And she's loosed him oot o the prison sae strong.
She went intae her father's stable,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
She's stolen a steed that was baith fleet and able,
Tae leads them on tae bonny Scotland.
As they were ridin' across the Scotch moor,
Oh but her love it was easily won,
Get doon frae my horse, you're a brazen faced whore, [*]
And she be the flooer o Northumberland.
For I hae a wife in my ain countree,
Oh but your love it was easily won,
An' I canna dee naething wi' a lassie like thee,
You'll need tae gang home to Northumberland."
"A cook in your kitchen I swear will be,
Although my love it was easily won,
For I can wait on him in my ain countree,
For I canna gang back to Northumberland."
"It's cook in my kitchen ye can ne'er be,
Oh but your love it was easily won,
For my lady she wouldna hae servants like thee,
So ye'll need to gang hame tae Northumberland."
When she cam hame, her father frowned and did say,
"Oh but your love it was easily won, [There's a gap in the video]
Ye've gang with a Scotsman, and you're barely sixteen,
And ye were the flower o' Northumberland."
(The video continues here)
When she cam hame her mother smiled and did say,
Oh but your love it was easily won,
And you're nae the first that the Scots hae beguiled."
And ye're welcome back to Northumberland.
"Ye widnae wint bried (bread) and ye widnae wint wine,
Although' your love it was easily won,
And ye widna wint silver to buy a man wi',
And you're aye the Flooer o' Northumberland.
* Interestingly, in a bit of self censorship Lizzie changed this line to "I can have you no more" in a recording made for her 1985 Topic Records album "What a Voice". Here she sings the original line as the song usually has it.
