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THE BATTLE OF HARLAW
    As I cam in by Dunidier
    And doon by Netherha',
    There were fifty thoosand Hieland men
    Cam mairchin' tae Harlaw.
       Wi' a dree dree dradie drumtie dree
       A dree dree drumtie dra.

    As I cam on and further on
    And doon and by Harlaw,
    They fell fu' close on ilka side;
    Sic fun ye never saw.

    They fell fu' close on ilka side;
    Sic fun ye never saw,
    For Hieland swords gied clash for clash
    At the battle o' Harlaw.

    Brave Forbes tae his brither did say,
    "Noo brither, dinna ye see?
    They beat us back on ilka side,
    And we'll be forced tae flee."

    "O no, o no, my brither dear,
    That thing maun never be;
    Tak ye your gude sword in your hand
    And come your wa's wi' me."

    Then back tae back the brithers twa
    Gaed in amang the thrang,
    And they hewed doon the Hieland men
    Wi' swords baith sharp and lang.

    MacDonal, he was young and stout,
    Had on his coat o' mail,
    And he has gane oot through them a'
    Tae try his hand himsel'.

    The first ae strake that Forbes strack,
    He gart MacDonal reel;
    The niest ae strake that Forbes strack,
    The great MacDonal fell.

    On Monaday, at mornin',
    The battle it began;
    On Saturday, at gloamin',
    Ye'd scarce ken wha had wan.

    Gin onybody spier at ye
    For them ye took awa',
    Ye may tell their wives and bairnies
    They're sleepin' at Harlaw.

    -----------------------------------------------------------

    Child #163

    This version, based on the text used by Max Dunbar on the
    record "Songs and Ballads of the Scottish Wars," is less than
    half the length of Child's "A" text; it contains roughly the
    equivalent of Child's stanzas 1, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17-19, 23, 25.
    This leaves out much of the background of the battle (though in
    fact the background given in the song was largely inaccurate).

    The battle of "Red" Harlaw was fought on July 24, 1411. Donald
    MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, raised a Highland army to gain
    control of the Earldom of Ross (to which he had a solid claim).
    The lowlanders, not wanting a Gaelic chieftain to rule so much
    of their territory, opposed his claim. MacDonald, with an army
    estimated at ten thousand men, set out to ravage Aberdeen and
    take over his earldom. The lowland forces, led by the Earl of
    Mar and the Sheriff of Angus, raised troops to stop him. The
    resulting battle was not technically decisive; both armies
    survived. But MacDonald, having suffered somewhat more
    casualties, gave up his attack on Aberdeen.

    There is no record of a Forbes being involved in the battle.

    Walter Scott published a poem about Harlaw; it bears little
    resemblance to the piece given here. We have record of a
    piece called "The Battel of Hayrlau" from 1549, but that may
    not be the same as this ballad. RW

    Glossary:
    a': all
    ae: one (here used as an interjection)
    amang: among
    awa': away
    bairnies: children
    baith: both
    brither: brother
    cam: came
    dinna: don't
    doon: down
    fu': full
    gaed: went
    gane: gone
    gied: gave
    gin: if
    gloamin': twilight
    gude: good
    Hieland: Highland
    ilka: every
    ken: know
    mairchin': marching
    niest: next
    noo: now
    onybody: anybody
    oot: out
    sic: such
    spoer at: ask of
    strake: stroke
    strack: struck
    tae: to
    tak: take
    thoosand: thousand
    thrang: throng
    twa: two
    wa's: ways
    wan: won
    wha: who
    wi': with

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