The Water is Wide

For works with similar titles, see Jamie Douglas.

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The Water is Wide

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The story of the end of the marriage between James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas (c.1646 – 25 February 1700) and Lady Barbara Erskine is immortalized in the popular ballad Waly Waly, which is known by many alternative titles (e.g. Jamie Douglas, When Cockleshells Turn Silver Bells, The Water Is Wide) with many alternative lyrics and melodies. If the lyrics are to be believed, in 1681 a rumor apparently was put to Douglas by Lowrie of Blackwood that Erskine had been sleeping with another man, and Douglas promptly dropped her. Her father took her home and she never remarried.

Tune for The Water is Wide (help | file info or download)

415313The Water is Wide

Versions of The Water is Wide include:

Versions of "Jamie Douglas" in The English and Scottish Popular Ballads ed. by Francis James Child (1882-1898):
Versions of O Waly, Waly in One Hundred English Folksongs ed. by Cecil James Sharp (1916):
- 5 versions
Versions of "The Water is Wide" from Alan Sim's Traditional Lyrics and Midi Files:
- The Water is Wide (version 1)
- The Water is Wide (version 2)
- The Water is Wide (version 3)
"Waly waly up the bank" in Lewie Gordon (n.d.)
"Waly, Waly" in The Book of Scottish Song ed. by Alexander Whitelaw (1843).