Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project

Verses in Vogue with the Vulgar

Will the weaver, and The blue bells of Scotland

“Will the Weaver” is a narrative of illicit sport, a gossipy neighbor, discovery, and consequences. Here the henpecked husband is cuckolded, finds the culprit—Will the Weaver—hiding up the chimney, and sends him packing. Norman Cazden suggests that the “true focus of the tale is . . . on the character of the wayward wife. Her plea for the sparing of Willie’s life does not always signify that she has become contrite. For in some versions, she reasserts the right to do as she pleases” (Cazden, Haufrecht, and Studer, Folk Songs 516). While the song has been collected from a number of British and American singers, it does not appear to be much older than the beginning of the nineteenth century (Mackenzie 328).

The second text on this broadside, “The Blue Bells of Scotland,” is described in Female Drummer.

Additional Metadata

Date

1810-1814

Place of Publication

Boston.

Publisher

Coverly, Nathaniel, 1775?-1824, printer.

Subjects

Cuckolds
Love
Marriage
Scotland
Soldiers

First Line

O dear mother now I'm marry'd.
Oh! where? and oh, where is your highland laddie gone?

Identifiers

BIB ID: 290136
OCLC Control No.: (OCoLC)ocm77928299
OCLC Control No.: (OCoLC)ocn191471750
Ford, W.C. Thomas ballads, 289
AAS General Catalog URL: http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=290136
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Physical Dimensions

30 x 21 cm.

Transcriptions

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Citation

“Will the weaver, and The blue bells of Scotland,” Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project, accessed October 22, 2026, https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/thomasballads/items/show/252.