ELSIE Marley has grown so fine,
She won’t get up to feed the swine,
But lies in bed until eight or nine,
And surely she does take her time.
The protagonist of this rhyme, which was first written down in the mid eighteenth century, is believed by some to be Alice Marley, a North Country ‘alewife’ or landlady, who lived earlier in the century. An alternative, more satisfying theory is that Elsie is in fact ‘Eppie’, the heroine of a Scottish version of the rhyme:
Saw ye Eppie Marley, honey,
The woman that sells the barley, honey;
She’s lost her pocket and all her money
By following Jacobite Charlie, honey.
Eppie Marley’s turned so fine,
She’ll no gang out to herd the swine,
But lies in her bed till eight or nine
And winna come down the stairs to dine.
The hidden meaning behind the seemingly innocent verse would have been well understood by the clansmen north of the border. Jacobite Charlie, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, was none other than Charles Edward Stuart (1720-88). Depending on which side of the border you hailed from, the so-called Young Pretender was either a Scottish terrorist or – as the grandson of James II, deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 (see The Grand Old Duke of York) – the rightful king of both England and Scotland.
In 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived in Scotland to lay claim to the thrones of Scotland, Ireland and England in opposition to King George II. Already a popular and romantic figure, Charlie was soon rallying support for his claim, and several rhymes and songs from that time encourage the good folk of Scotland to fight for their prince. But there were huge dangers inherent in such support, as the Scots were to learn after their defeat at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746.
After the rout, the English under the command of the Duke of Cumberland were ordered that ‘no quarter’ be given to the Scots, which meant the wounded and captured were simply slaughtered on the battlefield to ensure they never rose against the English again. The Scottish economy was also deliberately devastated and morale was flattened for generations. Hence ‘Eppie Marley’ can be seen as a cautionary tale, warning children against any future association with the Stuarts. Like Charlie himself, who did not distinguish himself in the campaign, the supporters of the Stuarts are pictured as effeminate, seeing themselves as too fine to engage in day-to-day work like the rest of their community. (See also The Lion and the Unicorn and The Skye Boat Song for more on the effects of Jacobite Charlie.)