Aiken Drum

Audio file
Date recorded: April 2, 1951
Contributor(s): Performer: Henderson, Hamish; Recordist: Lomax, Alan
Subject(s):
Genre: Jacobite song, topical song
Culture: Lowland Scotland, Scottish
Instruments: voice
Setting: 4 Downshire Hill
Location: London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
Physical form: Reel to Reel
Tape number: T3274
Track Number: 5
Archive ID: T3274R05
Note: Words are by poet and novelist James Hogg, the "Ettrick Shepherd" (1770 -1835). The term "Whig" was a disparaging term for the Covenanters (Presbyterians) who opposed the succession of King James VII and was later applied to those who opposed the Jacobites and later still to liberal parliamentarians who opposed the royalist conservatives. The tune is from the "Wonderous Love" – "Captain Kidd" family associated with so many great songs.
Belongs to: Hamish Henderson 4/51
About the session: Lomax' notes: "Hamish says most of these songs have still some amount of oral currency—however all have a certain amount of literary influence—all have been pivotal in various forms in some of these books, [e.g.] Hogg's Jacobite Relics."
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