Robert Burns
Gilnockie Tower, being approached by border reivers from a 19th century print. Brackenhill Pele Tower, built in 1584 by Ritchie Graham. Hughie Graham " or " Hughie Graeme " is a border ballad collected by Robert Burns.There is a printed version in the Bodleian Library under the title "The Life and Death of Sir Hugh The Grime", dated between 1672 and 1696. The Burns version was printed in 1803. The story concerns Hughie Graham a infamous border reiver . He is captured stealing the bishop's horse and sentenced to hang on the gallows. There are pleas made to ransom him which are rejected. In the last lines of the ballad he sends greetings to his father, and offers his sword to Johnnie Armstrong , and a curse to his wife who he appears to blame for betraying him with the bishop. HUGHIE GRAME (Hughie the Graeme) The Laird o' Hume he's a huntin' gone Over the hills and mountains clear, And he has ta'en Sir Hugh the Grame ...
William Tennent (1784-1848) is a forgotten figure in Scottish literary history. A teacher, scholar and linguist, who in his spare time composed poems, plays, and several works of interest. 'Anster Fair' (1812) was written in the Italian ottava rima style, and well received by critics. His second poem 'The Thane of Fife' (1822) was his second published work, written in the Italian canto form, where a long narrative poem is divided into cantos for the purpose of being sung by a minstrel. The work would be republished several times and whilst a entertaining and exciting tale of dark-age warfare and the supernatural it did not become as popular as his first work. Tennent would go on to write plays which were not well received, covering subjects such as 'John Balliol' and 'Cardinal Beaton'.
ReplyDeleteThe Thane of Fife is a poem about a battle in 9th century Fife, between Constantine, King of the Scots and the invading Vikings aided by the Picts. The story not only involves heroic characters and bloody conflicts, there are also supernatural and mythological references as Norse Gods and Celtic magic compete with early Scottish Christianity. The work is both entertaining and imaginative, and shows Tennent to have been a artist who possibly should be better remembered for his contribution to Scottish literature.
The Thane of Fife: A Poem by William Tennent (1822) https://amzn.eu/d/6Rf58W8
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