Leesome Brand
1: Lachlan Brand

Versions from the Singing Tradition
1: Lachlan Brand
As recited by Archie Webster, Strathkinness, Fife
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From recitation of Archie Webster, Strathkinness. Recorded by Peter Shepheard.

Archie recognised the ballad when shown the page in Last Leaves with Bell Robertson's text of Lishen Brand. Archie then recited the following:

My boy went to an unco land,
Where the cock never crawed
And the day never dawed,
Ochone for my son Lachlan Brand.

Archie then repeated this as:

My boy was scarcely ten year old,
When he went to an unco land.

This gives the full first verse as:

My boy was scarcely ten year old,
When he went to an unco land,
Where the cock never crawed and the day never dawed,
Ochone for my son Lachlan Brand.

This verse does not appear in Last leaves but I later found it almost exactly as here in Peter Buchan under the title “Leesome Brand”:

My boy was scarcely ten years auld,
Whan he went to an unco land,
Where wind never blew, nor cocks ever crew
Ohon! for my son, Leesome Brand.

Archie remembered hearing the song from a farm worker by the name of Smith who he said worked at that time at Perth Mart. Although Archie had tunes for almost all his songs and ballads, he had no tune for this although he had heard it sung.

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