Betsy Bell & Mary Gray: nursery rhyme from the Black Plague

Betsy Bell & Mary Gray is a traditional song dating from the 1645 plague outbreak in Scotland. The melody is structurally similar to "Lavena" from the Playford Dancing Master of 1651, and I jam a little bit on "The Black Nag" (also from Playford).
The story goes that these two lasses lived near Perth, and took refuge in a house some distance from the town, to avoid the plague. But a young man, who was fond of one (or both) of the ladies, brought the contagion with him when he visited with supplies.
Betsy Bell and Mary Gray
They were bonny lasses
They built them a bower on yon burnside
They theeked it all o'er wi' rushes
They theeked it all o'er wi' rushes green
They theeked it all o'er wi' heather
The plague come from the borough town
And slew them both together
They would not have their shoes of red
Nor would they have them yellow
But they would have their shoes of green
To ride through the streets of Yarrow
They thought to lie all in the churchyard
Among their noble kin
But they were laid in Stronach Hall
All out beneath the sun.
In later years, this song took on a life as a nursery rhyme. Unlike "ring around the rosies," this song actually has a connection to the Black Plague.
Child # 201; Roud # 237; Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes #39

[@shaneharrison6770]

Wonderful stuff as always. Glad to see you here again.

[@ShoutingAllAboutLove]

Very cool, Stefan!

[@kitosdigiovanni5926]

Enchanting....