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The Beggar King

Date 17 December 1959
Track ID 59338
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1960.139.A3

Original Tape ID

SA1960.139

Summary

In this song, a beggarman seeks lodgings at a house, insisting that he sleep next to the fireplace. When the daughter goes to bar the door at night, she encounters the beggar naked in the kitchen, and is seduced by him. He then blows his horn, whereupon he is joined by a group of noblemen. Taking off his tattered outer garments, he is revealed to be the finest gentleman amongst them.

Item Notes

7 verses and choruses of 4 lines.

See:
'Tocher' 15 (1974) pp. 278-280
'Scottish Studies' 14 (1970) pp. 53-54
'Scottish Studies' 16 (1972) pp. 152-153
Greig-Duncan vol. 2, pp. 296-302, no. 274
'Scotland Sings' (E. MacColl, 1953) pp. 56-57
'Vagabond Songs & Ballads' vol. 1 (R. Ford, 1899) pp. 9-11
'Folksongs of Britain & Ireland' (P. Kennedy, 1975) p. 419
'Scottish Songs Ancient & Modern' (J. Gilchrist, 1865) pp. 4-6
'Ancient & Modern Scottish Songs' vol. 2 (D. Herd, 1869, 1973) pp. 26-28
'The Scots Musical Museum' vol. 3 (J. Johnson & R. Burns, 1853) pp. 274-275, no. 266
'Folk-Song of the North-East' (G. Greig, K. Goldstein & A. Argo, 1963 reprint) art. XXX
'Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads' vol. 4 (B. H. Bronson & F. J. Child, 1959) p. 223
'Jeannie Robertson: Emergent Singer, Transformative Voice' (J. Porter & H. Gower, 1995) pp. 147-149

Recording Location

County - Aberdeenshire

Parish - Old Deer

Village/Place - Fetterangus

Language

Scots

Genre

Song

Collection

SoSS

Classification

R118 GD274 C279

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good