"Common in stalls," says Motherwell, "under this title ['Glasgow Peggie'], or that of the 'Earl of Hume,' or 'The Banks of Omey:'" Minstrelsy, p. xciii, note 133. In his Manuscript, p. 90, the stall-copy is said to be better than the imperfect C a.
A young Highlander comes to Glasgow and is smitten with bonnie Peggie. Her father says the Highlander may steal cow or ewe, but not Peggie; and her mother asks in disgust whether her daughter, so long the object of her care, would end with going off in such company. For all that, Peggie goes. The Earl of Argyle, or the Earl of Hume, or the young Earl of Hume, takes this much to heart. The pair ride to a low glen in the north country, and lie down on the grass. The Lowland lass has some compunctions, stimulated by the lack of the good beds at home. The captivating Highlander reassures her. He has the same comforts which she misses; they are his, and will soon be hers. He points out a fine castle which is his too, and he himself is Donald, Earl of Skye, and she will be a lady. B and E, to make the contrast of her two homes the greater, maintain that, despite her regrets for the comforts of her father's mansion, all that Peggie left was a wee cot-house and a wee kail-yairdie.
In the fragment F, Maclean replaces Macdonald.
This page most recently updated on 20-Apr-2011, 16:09:08. Return to main index
