Annotation:There's three good fellows down in yon glen
X:1 T:There’s three good fellows ayont yon Glen M:9/8 L:1/8 R:Air Q:"Brisk" S:McGibbon – Scots Tunes, book II, pp. 50-51 (c. 1746) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Amin c | A3 EAB c2d | G3 EGB d2e | cBA EAB cec | dc(B B)e^G A2 :| |: e | a2A c2e (c'ba) | b2d B2d gbg | (c'ba) gfe dcB | cBA ^GeE A2 :| |: e | c2A E2A c2A | B2D G2d g2b | e2E cde (abc') | bc'a e(a^g) A2 :| |: a | (c'ba) (eac') (eac') | (bag) dgb dgb | (c'ba) eag fed | cBA E(a^g) a2 :| |: c | AcA E2A cBA | GBG D2G BAG | AcA E(AB) (cd)e | (dcB) e2E A2 :| |: a | (c'/b/a/b/c') (e/d/c/d/e) A2a | b/(a/g/a/b) (d/c/B/c/d) G2B | (e/d/c/d/)e (c'/b/a/b/c') (e/d/c/d/e) | (c/d/c/B/)A Ea^g a2 :: c/d/ | (e/d/c/B/A) (e/d/c/B/A) Tc2 B/c/ | (d/c/B/A/G) (d/c/B/A/G) (B>A^G/^F/) | E(A/^G/A) E(c/B/c) A>cB/A/ | B2f e2^G A2 :: e | Ace a2A c2e | GBd g2B d2g | ceg c'2e d2b | c2a B2^g a2 :: E | (A/B/c/d/e) (A/B/c/d/e) cBA | (G/A/B/c/d) (G/A/B/c/d) BAG | Ac(e e)c(a a)e(c' | c')ba ea^g A2 :: e | (a/b/c')a e2a (c'ba) | (g/a/b)g d2g bag | (a/b/c')a (ea)e (ce)c | dc(B B)eE A2 :| |: c/d/ | (e/d/c/B/A) EAc EAc | (d/c/B/A/G) DGB DGB | cBA a2g f2e | dc(B B)eE A2 :| |: a | c'b(a a)ea c'ba | ba(g g)dg bag | c'ba eae dbd | cac Ea^g a2 :|]
THREE GOOD FELLOWS DOWN IN YON GLEN. AKA - "There's Three Guid Fellows ayont yon Glen," "Three brave loyal fellows," "Three true good fellows ayont yon glen (The)." AKA and see “Three Gude Men.” Scottish, Brisk or Slow Air (9/8 time). B Minor (Aird), G Minor (Gow, Mulhollan): G Dorian (Johnson, Young): A Dorian (Kerr, McGibbon): A Mixolydian (Gunn, Martin). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Aird): AAB (Carlin, Gunn): AABBCC (Kerr): AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK (Young): AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLL (Johnson, McGibbon, Mulhollan). A note in Gow (1809) asserts this tune was a particular favorite of famous Perthshire fiddler-composer Niel Gow (1727-1807). Seattle thinks this may be the same tune as "Three Brave Fellows." Johnson's version was set by William McGibbon and is closely based on Disblair's version (in the c. 1741 MacFarlane Manuscript., vol. ii, No. 42, p. 84). The tune follows a truncated form of the passamezzo antico chord progression, remarks David Johnson, although nothing is known about the origin of the melody.
Robert Burns found the chorus of an old song--all that remained--and it is believed he fashioned the verses for it, printed in James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum in 1796. Burns, in a May, 1789, letter to Alexander Cunningham, thought to honor Cunningham and two other good friends, Robert Cleghorn and William Dunbar, whom he met in Edinburgh a few years prior, when he was in the city promoting his book Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1787). All three, it is thought, were members of The Crochallan Fencibles, a convivial gentleman's club that convened at Dawnie Douglas's Tavern in Anchor Close. Burns's book of bawdy songs was collected for their enjoyment: Merry Muses of Caledonia: A Collection of Favourite Scots Songs, Ancient and Modern, Selected for Use of the Crochallan Fencibles (1799)
James Hogg printed the Museum words in his Jacobite Relics (1819):
There’s three true good fellows,
Three brave loyal fellows,
There’s three true good fellows,
Down ayont yon glen.
It's now the day is daw'ing,
But ere night is a-fa'ing,
Whose cock's best at crawing,
Willie, thou shalt ken.
Chorus:
There's three true loyal fellows,
There's three true good fellows,
There's three true loyal fellows,
Down ayont yon glen.
There's three good fellows,
Three brave, loyal fellows,
There's three good fellows,
Down ayont yon glen.
There's Graham, Graham and Gordon.
Brave Lindsay is coming.
Ken ye wha is running,
Wi' his Highlandmen?
'Tis he that's ay the foremost
When the battle is warmest,
The bravest and the kindest
Of all Highlandmen.
There's Skye's noble chieftain,
Hector[7], and bold Evan
Reoch, Bane [7], Macrabrach,
And the true Maclean.
There's now no retreating,
For the clans are waiting,
And every heart is beating,
For honour, and for fame!
The title "Three true good fellows ayont yon glen (The)" appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he published c. 1800. As "Three Brave Fellows" it is probably one of the "missing tunes" from William Vickers' 1770 Northumbrian dance music manuscript.
