This is a true story aboot a lad fa’s somefiles caed The Scottish Robin Hood. His name wis James MacPherson an he wis the son o a heilan laird an a bonnie gypsie lassie. They wirna mairrit, so he wis brocht up by his mither an her fowk. He grew up a big strang lad, but wis a bitty wild, and got intae fechtin and stealin. He wis weel likit be the ordinary fowk, cos he jist stole fae rich fowk, an he wis a gweed fiddler. But he made an enemy o the Laird o Braco – a mannie caed Lord Duff – fa hid him arrested in Keith. He nearly got awa, but a wifie threw a thick blunkit ower him an he couldna get ees sord oot fast enough. He wis hinged at the Cross o Banff in 1700 an broke his fiddle sae naebudy else could play it fan he wis deid.
Note
The story o James MacPherson is weel kent in the North East o Scotland. He wis born in 1675 an hinged on the 16th November 1700 at the Cross o Banff. This sang is nae ane o the Child Ballads, as it wis rewritten by Robert Burns fae an aulder version, but it’s a rare story and weel worth including in oor puckle sangs.
