"Babylon", also called "The Bonnie Banks o' Fordie" or "The Banks o' Airdrie" (Child 14, Roud 27) is an English-language folk song.
Synopsis An outlaw comes upon three sisters in the woods. He threatens each one in turn to make her marry him. The first two refuse and are killed. The third threatens him with her brother or brothers. He asks after them and discovers that he is the brother. He commits suicide.
Parallels Forms of this ballad are known throughout all of Scandinavia ("Töres döttrar i Wänge").
Recordings
Traditional recordings Betsy Miller of Scotland sang a traditional version of the song, presumably learnt from her Scottish family or community, with her famous son Ewan MacColl on the 1960 album A Garland Of Scots Folksong; only three other Scottish recordings were made. Helen Hartness Fladers recorded several traditional versions in the New England region of the United States, and Kenneth Peacock recorded two Canadian versions (1951 and 1960).
Popular recordings Following are some of the notable recordings of the ballad, including the artists, titles, albums, and years:
Artist Title Album Year Dick Gaughan "The Bonnie Banks o Fordie" No More Forever 1972 Malinky "The Bonnie Banks o Fordie: Pennknivsmördaren" The Unseen Hours 2005 Nic Jones "The Bonnie Banks of Fordie" Landmarks (compilation) 2006 John Jacob Niles "Bonnie Farday" (aka "Babylon") My Precarious Life in the Public Domain 2006 Old Blind Dogs "The Bonnie Banks o' Fordie" New Tricks 1997 Alastair Roberts "Babylon" What News 2018
In Art
The artist Charles Hodge Mackie contributed the woodblock illustration By the Bonnie Banks o' Fordie to The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal, The Book of Winter, published by Patrick Geddes and Colleagues in 1896.Geddes, Patrick (1896), The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal, The Book of Winter, Patrick Geddes and Colleagues, Edinburgh. p. 97 He had painted an oil on board sketch of this subject while in France in the summer of 1894. The woodblock composition was subsequently worked up as an oil painting which was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1897.Clark, Pat (2016), People, Places & Piazzas: The Life & Art of Charles H. Mackie, Sansom & Company, Bristol, p. 41, pl. 9 & 16,
See also List of the Child Ballads The King's Dochter Lady Jean The Bonny Hind
References
External links
Bonny Farday, an American variant The Bonnie Banks o Fordie with music and commentary