Black Morrow: Difference between revisions
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==Written sources== |
==Written sources== |
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The story as a [[ballad]], appears as "An Old Song Called Outlaw Murray" in the [[Robert Riddell|Glenriddel Manuscripts]] (XI, 61) published in 1791. It also appears in ''[[The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border]]'', a collection of ballads compiled by [[Walter Scott]] (1803). [[William Edmondstoune Aytoun|Aytoun]]'s ''Ballads of Scotland'' (1859) in a note appended to the ballad mentions an earlier manuscript: "written between the years 1689 and 1702" which contains the original song. While the latter manuscript is lost, "it is clear that the ballad was known before 1700; how much earlier it is to be put we can nether ascertain nor safely conjecture".<ref>Child, F. J. (2003). "The Outlaw Murray". In: ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'' (Vol. 5). Dover Publications. p. 185.</ref> According however to Scott, the ballad or dancing song "appears to have been composed about the reign of [[James V]]", while the story itself takes place during the late 15th century.<ref>"It is true that the ''dramatis personae'' introduced seem to refer to the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century." (Child, 2003: 187)</ref> |
The story as a [[ballad]], appears as "An Old Song Called Outlaw Murray" in the [[Robert Riddell|Glenriddel Manuscripts]] (XI, 61) published in 1791. It also appears in ''[[The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border]]'', a collection of ballads compiled by [[Walter Scott]] (1803). [[William Edmondstoune Aytoun|Aytoun]]'s ''Ballads of Scotland'' (1859) in a note appended to the ballad mentions an earlier manuscript: "written between the years 1689 and 1702" which contains the original song. While the latter manuscript is lost, "it is clear that the ballad was known before 1700; how much earlier it is to be put we can nether ascertain nor safely conjecture".<ref>Child, F. J. (2003). "The Outlaw Murray". In: ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'' (Vol. 5). Dover Publications. p. 185.</ref> According however to Scott, the ballad or dancing song "appears to have been composed about the reign of [[James V]]", while the story itself takes place during the late 15th century.<ref>"It is true that the ''dramatis personae'' introduced seem to refer to the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century." (Child, 2003: 187)</ref> None of the ballad sources describe the bandit as a Saracen, or Gypsy, nor even as "Black Murray" or "Black Murrow", only as the "outlaw Murray". |
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A separate tradition of the story is found in [[George Crawfurd|Crawford's]] ''The Peerage of Scotland'' (1716). It |
A separate tradition of the story is found in [[George Crawfurd|Crawford's]] ''The Peerage of Scotland'' (1716). It describes the bandit as a Saracen or Gypsy, and his name "Black Murray" which he was called because of his dark color of skin. None of this however is mentioned or implied in the ballad. |
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==Story== |
==Story== |
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Revision as of 19:46, 16 January 2016
Black Morrow, also known as Black Murray, is the name given to a late 15th century bandit whom according to a ballad was killed by a MacLellan clansman near Kirkcudbright in Galloway, Scotland (in a forest of the same name, just outside the present burgh boundary).
The slain bandit in a seperate tradition is described as a Gypsy or a Saracen, deriving his name "Black" from his dark skin complexion.[1]
Written sources
The story as a ballad, appears as "An Old Song Called Outlaw Murray" in the Glenriddel Manuscripts (XI, 61) published in 1791. It also appears in The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, a collection of ballads compiled by Walter Scott (1803). Aytoun's Ballads of Scotland (1859) in a note appended to the ballad mentions an earlier manuscript: "written between the years 1689 and 1702" which contains the original song. While the latter manuscript is lost, "it is clear that the ballad was known before 1700; how much earlier it is to be put we can nether ascertain nor safely conjecture".[2] According however to Scott, the ballad or dancing song "appears to have been composed about the reign of James V", while the story itself takes place during the late 15th century.[3] None of the ballad sources describe the bandit as a Saracen, or Gypsy, nor even as "Black Murray" or "Black Murrow", only as the "outlaw Murray".
A separate tradition of the story is found in Crawford's The Peerage of Scotland (1716). It describes the bandit as a Saracen or Gypsy, and his name "Black Murray" which he was called because of his dark color of skin. None of this however is mentioned or implied in the ballad.
Story
According to one tradition he and his followers occupied Clan MacLellan lands. He was killed by Sir William Mclellan when discovered in a drunken sleep, allowing the MacLellans to regain control of their land. Another version states that a £50 reward was offered for his capture or death and that MacLellan bought the land with the reward.[4] In an elaborate version of the story MacLellan deliberately replaced spring-water in a well with spirits in order to get Black Morrow drunk. The location of the spring in woodland is now known as Black Morrow Wood.[5][6] Another version of the story states that King James offered the barony of Bomby as a reward for the "capture or death of the fierce rover, Black Morrow, who came from Ireland and is terrorising the lands of Kirkcudbright". MacLellan is said to have gathered his followers and murdered Black Morrow and carried his head to the King. The King had forgotten his promise, and MacLellan bade him "Think On", which is now the motto of the Clan MacLellan.[citation needed]
Racial identity
The name "Black Morrow" is assumed to derive from the term "Blackamoor" referring to the Moors of North Africa and Spain.[4] As the date of the incident is not specified in the earliest surviving accounts it is not possible to know whether this implies that Black Morrow was an actual Moor or whether the name was intended to refer to his swarthy skin or barbarous reputation, perhaps analogous to "Black Douglas".[7] Some accounts refer to him as "Irish" and others as a "gypsy".
Some writers in the 19th century attempted to use the story as evidence of native racial diversity in Britain. David MacRitchie argued that Black Morrow was probably a gypsy, but claimed that the gypsies were not immigrants but ancient Britons from a primeval dark-skinned race.[4][8]
The bandit as a dark skinned Gypsy could explain the Moor's head that appears on the crest of the Arms of Lord Kirkcudbright, and in consequence the modern crest badge used by Clan MacLellan.[9] The blazon for which is "a naked arm supporting on the point of a sword, a Moor's head".[10]
See also
References
- ^ "Sir George M'Kenzie, who died in 1691, has recorded a tradition that between 1452 and 1460 a company of Saracens or Gypsies from Ireland infested the country of Galloway, in Scotland, and the King promised the barony of Bombie to whomsoever should disperse them and bring in their captain dead or alive. The laird of Bombie's son, a Maclellan, killed the captain, and took his head on a sword to the king. Thereafter Maclellan took for his crest a Moor's head, and for a motto 'Think on'." - Crofton, H. T. (1888). "Early Annals of the Gypsies in England". Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. 1(1): 5-24. [1]
- ^ Child, F. J. (2003). "The Outlaw Murray". In: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Vol. 5). Dover Publications. p. 185.
- ^ "It is true that the dramatis personae introduced seem to refer to the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century." (Child, 2003: 187)
- ^ a b c David Macritchie, Scottish Gypsies Under the Stewarts, Kessinger Publishing, 2003 reprint, p.24
- ^ Kirkudbright
- ^ The Death of Black Morrow inTales of Galloway by Alan Temperley, London 1979
- ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Courier Dover Publications, 1898,2003 reprint, p. 189
- ^ David MacRitchie, Ancient and Modern Britons: Volume One, Preston, 1893 (1993 reprint), p.81
- ^ "MacLellan". MyClan (www.myclan.com). Archived from the original on 2007-03-19. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
- ^ "Mac Lellan". (www.celticstudio.com). Retrieved 22 August 2008.