The Marquis of Douglas, a young man, after being engaged for marriage
with the daughter of one Widow Jack, a taverner at Perth, was wedded at Aba
House to Lady Barbara Erskine, daughter of the Earl of Mar.
This
was an unfortunate marriage for the lady. The marquis, a man of profligate
conduct, was subsequently led by his factor, Lowrie of Blackwood (said to
have been a rejected suitor of the lady), to suspect his marchioness of
infidelity, and they were consequently separated, after she had born him one
child. The sorrows of the Marchioness of Douglas were described in a popular
ballad of the day, some verses of which constitute the favourite song of
Waly, waly!
Waly Waly is known by many alternative titles (e.g. Jamie
Douglas, When Cockleshells Turn Silver Bells, Water Is Wide) with many
alternative lyrics and melodies.
‘O wherefore should I busk my head, Or wherefore
should I kaim my hair, Since my true love has me forsook, And says
he‘ll never love me mair. Now Arthur’s Seat shall be my bed, The
sheets shall ne’er be pressed by me, St Anton’s Well shall be my drink,
Since my true love’s forsaken me. O Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blaw,
And shake the green leaf aff the tree? O gentle death, when wilt thou
come, And take a life that wearies me?’
Her father took her home and she never remarried.
The prose reality of all this was, that the marchioness by and by
obtained a decree of the Privy Council, allowing her a provision out of
her husband’s estate. The marquis, by a subsequent marriage, was the
father of the semi-mad Duke of Douglas and of the celebrated Lady Jane
Douglas
See also: •
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gHTw9XjKMc
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