Maureen Jelks sings:

This is a version of the ballad of Lady Maisry (Child 65) and, in this form, it was originally collected by William Motherwell in the west of Scotland and first published (words and tune) in his Minstrelsy of 1827. It does not seem to have survived in the living tradition but has been recorded by several singers in recent years.

It seems unlikely that the ballad is a record of a historic event. However, there were a number of witch burnings in Dundee, the last being that of Grissell Jaffray in November 1669. Local tradition holds that a number of women were killed for consorting with English soldiers in the years after the Siege of Dundee in 1651 when General Monk's troops sacked the city.

The name Cleland is a Lanarkshire name - and Motherwell's versions came from singers in Kilbarchan, Ayrshire and Glasgow. The name was not common in the Dundee area and is not included among the names of those burned in Dundee in the Presbytery records. A spine-chilling manuscript is in Dundee's archives available online at http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/archives/witch.jpg and http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/archive/treasurersaccounts/ This account lists the sums spent on the 1590 burning of a witch, such as two shillings (£0.10) to Esmie Goldman for four fathoms of rope, fifteen shillings (£0.75) for three baskets of coal, six shillings (£0.30) for two tar barrels and six shillings and eightpence (£0.33) for the hangman's travel expenses from St Andrews. The treasurer totals the expense as five pounds, sixteen shillings and eightpence (£5.81) — but the name of the poor woman does not merit a mention!

c p 2007 Autumn Harvest AH004
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