The Bonny Earl of Murray
Ye Highlands and ye Lawlands,O where hae ye been?They hae slain the Earl of Murray,And hae laid him on the green.
Now wae be to thee, Huntley!And whairfore did ye sae!I bade you bring him wi’ you.But forbade you him to slay.
He was a braw gallant,And he rid at the ring;And the bonny Earl of Murray,O he might hae been a king!
He was a braw gallant,And he play’d at the ba’;And the bonny Earl of MurrayWas the flower amang them a’!
He was a braw gallant,And he play’d at the gluve;And the bonny Earl of Murray,O he was the Queen’s luve!
O lang will his LadyLook owre the Castle Downe,Ere she see the Earl of MurrayCome sounding through the town!
Words in this poem
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- braw a.
- Well-dressed; handsome; smart; brave; -- used of persons or their clothing, etc.; as, a braw lad.
- bonny a.
- Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Bonny Earl of Murray is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anonymous, The Bonny Earl of Murray, in Poems, text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-anonymous-english/the-bonny-earl-of-murray.html, id L15940.
Form and metre
The Bonny Earl of Murray is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 3 -A-A gallant · ringA · murray · kingA
- 5 -A-A gallant · gluveA · murray · luveA
- 6 -A-A lady · downeA · murray · townA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ye Highlands and ye Lawlands, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| O where hae ye been? | 5 | ····· |
| They hae slain the Earl of Murray, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And hae laid him on the green. | 7 | ······· |
| Now wae be to thee, Huntley! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And whairfore did ye sae! | 6 | ······ |
| I bade you bring him wi’ you. | 7 | ······· |
| But forbade you him to slay. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| He was a braw gallant, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And he rid at the ring; | 6 | ······ |
| And the bonny Earl of Murray, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| O he might hae been a king! | 7 | ······· |
| He was a braw gallant, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And he play’d at the ba’; | 6 | ······ |
| And the bonny Earl of Murray | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Was the flower amang them a’! | 7 | ··/···· |
| He was a braw gallant, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And he play’d at the gluve; | 6 | ······ |
| And the bonny Earl of Murray, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| O he was the Queen’s luve! | 6 | ······ |
| O lang will his Lady | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Look owre the Castle Downe, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Ere she see the Earl of Murray | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Come sounding through the town! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.