Little Jock Elliot
Little Jock Elliot is Border ballad of indeterminate age. It is sometimes referred to as the "lost ballad" since the only certain remaining of it is the famous verse "Wha daur meddle wi me ?". A version of it was written by James Smail (1828–1905) under the pseudonym of Matthew Gotterson in The Scotsman, in 1872. He gave it a second part in 1892.[1][2]
Synopsis
The ballad asserts Elliot's prowess in battle and contains the famous refrain "My name is Little Jock Elliot, and wha daur meddle wi' me!," which has traditionally been offered as
The ballad ends by referencing Little Jock Elliot's wounding of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell in the summer of 1566 when the latter attempted to arrest Elliot, apparently for crimes committed as a reiver.
Another ballad called "Bothwell",
History
The events occurred in fact, evidently with both Elliot and Bothwell at least wounding each other. The various accounts agree that Bothwell wounded Elliot first, who notwithstanding his wounds, managed to wound Bothwell in return to such a degree that he was near death and unable to continue the fight. This wounding of Bothwell apparently also led to Mary, Queen of Scots life being endangered. On her way to see Bothwell, she almost perished in a mire, and subsequent to her strenuous ride (fifty miles in a single day), she became extremely ill, apparently with pneumonia.
See also
- Clan Elliot
References
External links
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