Broadside ballad entitled 'The Carse o' Gowrie' Dairy'
Broadside ballad entitled 'The Carse o' Gowrie' Dairy'
This ballad begins: 'The sky wis blue, and the wind blew high; / And the sun wis shining fairly, / When the Duke O' Argyle, he put on his Sunday tile / And cam doon tae the Carse O' Gowrie Dairy'. The Carse of Gowrie is in Perthshire. The sheet was published by the Poet's Box of Dundee.
Early ballads were dramatic or humorous narrative songs derived from folk culture that predated printing. Originally perpetuated by word of mouth, many ballads survive because they were recorded on broadsides. Musical notation was rarely printed, as tunes were usually established favourites. The term 'ballad' eventually applied more broadly to any kind of topical or popular verse.
The narrative is comic and unusual - the Duke of Argyle takes the Lass o' Ballochmyle (named, presumably, after the Burns poem of the same name) to the Carse o' Gowrie Dairy. The Lord Provost is there but they ignore him as they are enjoying sampling the cheese and scones too much. The narrator is a worker at the dairy.