There’s no denying the influence Sir Walter Scott has had on Scottish literature and tradition. His works have been reproduced and interpreted into varied mediums internationally. However do you know concerning the wonderful sequence of dolls that do precisely that?!
Created by artist Anne Carrick to rejoice the two hundredth anniversary of Scott’s beginning in 1971, the dolls are a part of the HES collections and are on show at Smailholm Tower. That is the place Scott was first impressed to put in writing his literary debut, the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. It’s full of the tales that most of the Smailholm dolls are impressed by.
What’s the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border?
Throughout his childhood Scott spent a few years along with his grandparents and aunt Jenny at Sandyknowe Farmhouse overlooking Smailholm Tower. Whereas right here, his household entertained younger Scott with supernatural folklore and tales of the lawless Border reivers who plundered the land in centuries previous.
Scott and his Aunt Jenny by Anne Carrick. Scott makes use of a strolling stick right here as he contracted polio as an toddler
Although Scott grew as much as turn out to be an Advocate and later Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire, his love of tales stayed with him. He started compiling present ballads and tales of the previous, including in his personal verses and tales alongside the best way.
In 1802, he revealed the primary quantity of his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, an anthology of historic and romantic ballads regarding the Border lands. It grew to become a finest vendor of its time, translated into German, Danish, and Swedish. Tales of combating, folklore and the infamous reivers quickly grew to become widespread all over the world.
Earlier than the likes of Scott wrote them down, many Border tales solely existed in oral custom. This scene reveals Scott, his secretary Willie Laidlaw and poet James Hogg listening to a ballad from Hogg’s mom.
Who had been the Border reivers?
‘Reiver’ is the Scots phrase for raider, somebody who plundered and stole from others. Over the Thirteenth-Seventeenth centuries, households rode on horseback to raid different households, stealing livestock and different items. Though the reivers had been thought of lawless thieves on both aspect of the Scottish-English Border, with no loyalty to both nation, it’s necessary to keep in mind that they stole as a method to supply for their very own households.
This was at a time when the Border lands had been usually diminished to little greater than a wasteland for the warring Scottish-English armies. Crops had been burned and the folks of the Borders had little selection however to seek out different methods to maintain their households. Reiving grew to become a lifestyle, a method of survival – albeit a reasonably brutish one!
Scott romanticises the reivers in his works, displaying us the human price of this lifestyle. In The Lament of the Border Widow, for instance, a lady grieves the lack of her reiver husband, who is claimed to have been executed on the orders of King James V of Scotland.
A grieving widow carrying her husband’s physique on her again in a scene from ‘The Lament of the Border Widow’
Johnnie Armstrong
Earlier than Scott’s Minstrelsy, the historical past of the Border reivers primarily existed in oral custom. By writing these tales down, Scott saved the reivers alive in latest reminiscence. Some tales from the Minstrelsy, like Jamie Telfer of the Truthful Dodhead, haven’t any actual historic standing. Others, nonetheless, inform the true tales of actual reivers and their lives. Among the finest-known is Johnnie Armstrong.
Johnnie Armstrong of Gilnockie was one of many main sixteenth century reivers. He was one among many inflicting issues for King James V of Scotland, who wanted to discover a strategy to pacify the unruly Border lands. In The Ballad of Johnnie Armstrong, the king tips Johnnie into assembly him at Carlenrig, the place he’s then hung alongside along with his fellow reivers. Johnnie begs for mercy however the king manufacturers him a traitor and refuses to spare his life.
Johnnie Armstrong begs for his life on the ft of King James V
Kinmont Willie
Sticking with the Armstrong clan, subsequent up we’ve William Armstrong of Kinmont, or Kinmont Willie. One other notorious sixteenth century reiver, he led raids throughout the Scottish-English border, commanding over 300 males on some events. This made him particularly unpopular south of the border, with the English armies eager to seize him and put an finish to his raiding.
They lastly did this on 17 March 1596 and took Willie as a prisoner at Carlisle Fort. This occurred unlawfully, on a day of truce between the combating English and Scottish armies. A crafty plan was devised to rescue poor Willie.
Kinmont Willie escapes with the assistance of his fellow reivers
The Ballad of Kinmont Willie focuses on this occasion. With Willie imprisoned at Carlisle Fort, his reiving buddies got down to assist him escape. ‘Daring Buccleuch’ (Scott of Buccleuch, a Scottish warden and shut pal of Willie) led a gaggle of males to Carlisle beneath dusk, the place they helped Willie escape from his jail.
From combating to fairies…
It wasn’t simply tales of reiving that Scott wrote about in his Minstrelsy. Alongside these historic ballads Scott blended romantic and supernatural tales from Borders folklore. These tales are set in actual locations across the Scottish Borders, bringing fairies and different supernatural beings into our realm.
Thomas the Rhymer meets the fairy queen
Typically the supernatural Border ballads embrace actual folks! The primary protagonist in Thomas the Rhymer is Sir Thomas of Erceldoune (modern-day Earlston). He was a Thirteenth century laird who was often known as ‘True Thomas’ attributable to his lack of ability to inform a lie. Thomas meets the fairy queen close to the ‘Eildon tree’, a spot close to the Eildon Hills in Melrose.
The fairy queen takes him away to Elfland, the place he lives for the subsequent seven years. Whereas there, Thomas is forbidden from talking, being instructed that if he does, he won’t ever be capable of return to his homeland. As soon as seven years passes, Thomas returns to the Borders and now has the ability of prophecy.
A seven yr sample
The Queen of Fairies is a key character in ‘The Younger Tamlane’.
The fairy queen options in one other of the supernatural Border ballads, The Younger Tamlane. When a nine-year-old Tamlane (or Tam Lin in some accounts) went searching along with his uncle, the fairy queen captured him, taking him as her prisoner for the subsequent seven years. Sound acquainted?
The fairy queen presents somebody as a teind (tribute) to the satan each seven years on the night time of Halloween, and poor Tamlane believes he’s going to be the subsequent sacrifice.
He meets and falls in love with a younger mortal lady, Janet, at Carterhaugh close to Selkirk. Janet falls pregnant along with his baby after their first assembly. She vows to assist Tamlane escape the fairy queen and forestall him from being sacrificed to the satan.
Tamlane is rescued from the fairies by his real love Janet
Janet intercepts the march of the fairies, pulling Tamlane from his white horse and shielding him from the fairies along with her inexperienced cloak. The fairies attempt to flip him into all kinds of creatures, however Janet retains Tamlane secure in her arms. Naturally the fairy queen wasn’t too joyful about dropping him!
Get nearer to the Border Ballads
Smailholm Tower is open day by day from April to September. In addition to seeing Anne Carrick’s Border ballads dolls in individual, you possibly can take within the completeness of a Fifteenth-century laird’s residence and admire the unbelievable views from the battlements.
You’ll be able to see extra of the dolls on our collections spotlight web page, or discover out extra about their creation on our “Conjuring up the Fairy Queen’ weblog:
For much more #TalesOfScotland, take part with our celebration of Scotland’s Yr of Tales 2022.
