The Twa Brothers
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1977.158.7
Original Tape ID
Summary
In this ballad, two brothers, William and John, decide to have a wrestling contest on their way home from school. John is accidentally wounded by William's knife. Despite his best efforts, William is unable to save the life of his dying brother, and asks him what he should tell their family. John instructs William to tell their brother and sister that he has gone to London to study and will return a good scholar with many good books; by contrast, he says to tell their stepmother that he is dead, as she has always prayed would happen.
Ailie Munro asks Sheila Stewart if the cruel stepmother in the song had anything to do with the fight between the boys, but she does not think so.
Item Notes
9 verses of 4 lines; last line of each verse repeated.
See:
'The Sang's the Thing' (S. Douglas, 1992) pp. 142-143
'The Scottish Ballads' (R. Chambers, 1829) pp. 126-128
'Book of Scottish Ballads' (A. Whitelaw, 1845) pp. 157-158
'Jeannie Robertson' (J. Porter & H. Gower, 1995) pp. 253-255
'Ballads of Scotland' vol. 1 (W. E. Aytoun, 1858) pp. 191-193
'Till Doomsday in the Afternoon' (E. MacColl & P. Seeger, 1986) pp. 169-171
'Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads & Songs' vol. 2 (E. Lyle, 1996) pp. 125-126
'Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads' vol. 1 (B. H. Bronson & F. J. Child, 1959) pp. 384-402
Recording Location
County - Midlothian
Parish - Edinburgh
Village/Place - Edinburgh
Language
English
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good