Cam Ye O'er Frae France

Cam ye o'er frae France is a Scots mocking folk song from the time of the Jacobite Revolution in the 18th century.

Background

After the death of Queen Anne the British crown passed on to George, the Elector of Hanover. In his entourage George I brought with him a number of German courtiers, including his mistress Melusine von der Schulenburg, whom he later created the Duchess of Kendal, - commonly referred to as the Sow - and his half-sister Sophia von Kielmansegg - known as the Goose. George I's wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle remained in Hanover, imprisoned at Ahlden House after her affair with Philip Christoph von Königsmarck - the blade in the song. Another historic personality in the song is John Erskine, 22nd Earl of Mar, Bobbing John, who recruited in the Scottish Highlands for the Hanoverian cause. The nickname Geordie Whelps is a reference to the House of Welf, the original line of the House of Hanover.

Lyrics

Cam ye o'er frae France? Cam ye down by Lunnon?
Saw ye Geordie Whelps and his bonny woman?
Were ye at the place ca'd the Kittle Housie?
Saw ye Geordie's grace riding on a goosie?

Geordie, he's a man there is little doubt o't;
He's done a' he can, wha can do without it?
Down there came a blade linkin' like my lordie;
He wad drive a trade at the loom o' Geordie.

Though the claith were bad, blythly may we niffer;
Gin we get a wab, it makes little differ.
We hae tint our plaid, bannet, belt and swordie,
Ha's and mailins braid—but we hae a Geordie!

Jocky's gane to France and Montgomery's lady;
There they'll learn to dance: Madam, are ye ready?
They'll be back belyve belted, brisk and lordly;
Brawly may they thrive to dance a jig wi' Geordie!

Hey for Sandy Don! Hey for Cockolorum!
Hey for Bobbing John and his Highland Quorum!
Mony a sword and lance swings at Highland hurdie;
How they'll skip and dance o'er the bum o' Geordie!

(Repeat first verse)

Glossary

a, a' = adj all
bannet = n bonnet
belive = soon, immediately
belyve = quickly
blade = a person of weak, soft constitution from rapid overgrowth; Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck of Sweden
blithe = adj festive; glad; happy; joyful. n gladly, happily.
Bobbing John = John Erskine, 22nd Earl of Mar. So called because he switched sides 6 times before his death.
bonny = pretty, beautiful, attractive
bonny woman = a woman of loose character
braid = broad
braw = adj fine; handsome; splendid; admirable; well-dressed; worthy
brawly = well
ca = v call
claith = cloth
cloth = George Augustus
cockalorum = a young cock. Alexander Gordon, Marquis of Huntly
differ = n difference; dissent. v dissent.
Don = diminutive of Gordon (the last syllable).
frae = from
gane = gone
Geordie = diminutive of George. George I and/or George Augustus
Geordie's grace = His Grace King George I
gin = if, whether
goose = a goose; a prostitute
goosie = diminutive of goose; a pig; a fat and gross person; derisive nickname for the King's mistress; 'The Goose', Countess Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, later Duchess of Kendal
ha = n hall; house; mansion.
ha's and mailins = houses and farmlands
hae = v have; take; credit (believe/think)
Highland hurdie = a Highland soldier
Highland quorum = either the hunting party on August 1715 or the planning meeting on 3 September 1715
hurdie = buttock
Jocky = a Scotsman. James III
kittle = adj adept; ticklish; tricky; v arouse, enliven; tickle; perplex; tease; titillate
kittle housie = brothel; St. James's Palace
link = n skip; v walk smartly; to make love
linkin = tripping along
loom = a loom; a metaphor for female sexual organs
loom of Geordie = George I's former wife, Princess Sophia Dorothea of Celle
lordie = George I
Lunnon = London
mailing = a leased smallholding, a farm
mailings braid = broad farmlands
Montgomery = Sidney, Earl of Godolphin
Montgomery's lady = Queen Mary Beatrice of Modena, wife of James II and mother of James III
mony = adj many
niffer = haggle or exchange; to exchange, to barter with objects hidden in the fists
o'er = over; excessively; too
o't = of it
plaid = James III
Sandy = diminutive of Alexander.
Sandy Don = Major-General Alexander Gordon of Auchintoul
thrive = success
tint = lost; lost (past participle of tine = to lose)
to dance = to raise funds, to raise troops and prepare to fight. Compare the song To Auchindown, which has the lines: "We joined the dance, and kissed the lance, / And swore us foes to strangers."
to dance a jig with Geordie = To fight with George I.
trade = a business; an exchange or substitution
wab = web (or length) of cloth); a length of woven cloth from one loom
wad = n pledge, security; wager, bet; forfeit. adj wedded. v pledge; wager, bet; wed.
wha = pron who
whelp = a puppy; an ill-bred child; Guelph, a political faction (left over from the Middle Ages) to which the House of Hanover belonged. George I and/or George Augustus

See also

For a more in depth explanation of the background of this song, please see

The Players

Royalty

House of Tudor (Extreme Background)

House of Tudor English Monarchs' Family Tree

m. 1536 Jane Seymour c.1508 – 1537

m. 1501 m. 1509 – 1533 Catherine of Aragon 1485 – 1536

Henry VIII 1491 – 1547 r. 1509 – 1547

m. 1533 Anne Boleyn 1501/1507 – 1536

m. 1514 – 1527 Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus c.1489 – 1557

Margaret Tudor 1489 – 1541

m. 1503 James IV of Scotland 1473 – 1513

Others

Edward VI 1537 – 1553 r. 1547 – 1553

m. 1554 Philip II of Spain 1527 – 1598

Mary I 1516 – 1558 r. 1553 – 1558

Elizabeth I 1533 – 1603 r. 1558 – 1603

m. 1544 Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox 1516 – 1571

Margaret Douglas 1515 – 1578

m. 1537 Madeleine of Valois 1520 – 1537

James V of Scotland 1512 – 1542

m. 1538 Mary of Guise 1515 – 1560

Others

m. 1565 Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley 1545 – 1567

Mary, Queen of Scots 1542 – 1587

m. 1558 Francis II of France 1544 – 1560

m. 1567 James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell c.1534 – 15781

Scottish House of Stuart British Monarchs' Family Tree

House of Stuart

Scottish House of Stuart British Monarchs' Family Tree

James VI & I 1566–1625 r. 1567–1625 (Sc) r. 1603–1625 (En)

m. 1589 Anne of Denmark 1574–1619

Elizabeth, Electress Palatine 1596–1662

m. 1613 Frederick V, Elector Palatine 1596–1632

Charles I 1600–1649 r. 1625 – 1649

m. 1625 Henrietta Maria of France 1609–1669

Others

Sophia, Electress of Brunswick 1630–1714

m. 1658 Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick 1629–1698

Charles II 1630–1685 r. 1649–1651 (Sc) r. 1660–1685

m. 1663 Catherine of Braganza 1638–1705

m. 1641 William II, Prince of Orange 1626–1650

Mary, Princess Royal 1631–1660

m1. 1659 Anne Hyde 1637–1671

James II & VII 1633–1701 r. 1685–1688

m2. 1673 Mary of Modena "Montgomery's lady" 1658–1718

Others

House of Hanover British Monarchs' Family Tree

m. 1677 William III & II 1650–1702 r. 1688–1702

Mary II 1662–1694 r. 1688–1694

Anne 1665–1714 r. 1702–1714

James III Prince of Wales; "The Old Pretender" "Our Plaid" "Jocky" 1688–1766

m. 1719 Clementina Sobieski 1702–1735

House of Hanover

House of Hanover British Monarchs' Family Tree

Melusine von der Schulenburg "his Bonny Woman" "the Goose (Goosie)" 1667–1743

George I "Geordie Whelps" 1660–1727 r. 1714–1727

m. 1682–1694 Sophia Dorothea of Celle "the Loom of Geordie" 1666–1726

Philip Christoph von Königsmarck 1665–1694 "the Blade"

Others

George II "Geordie" "George Augustus" 1683–1760 r. 1727–1760

m. 1705 Caroline of Ansbach 1683–1737

Scotland

• Major-General Alexander Gordon of Auchintool or "Sandy Don "
• Cockalorum a.k.a, Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon
• Bobbing John

England

• Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, KG, PC (15 June 1645 – 15 September 1712) "Mr. Montgomery" was the pseudonym of Godolphin, who had been until 1688 the devoted Chamberlain of Mary of Modena.

More Background

England

• Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658)
• Church of England
  • The low church British Whig Party
  • The high church Anglican Tories
• Parliament of England
  • Royalists (Cavaliers), supporters of Charles I
  • English Parliamentarians (Roundheads)
• The Catholic Church in England and Wales

Scotland

• The Church of Scotland
• The Parliament of Scotland
  • The Cavaliers, or Royalists, supporters of Charles I
    • Lead by James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose "the Great Montrose" (25 October 1612 – 21 May 1650)
    • The Jacobites
  • The Presbyterian Covenanters in Scotland, who had controlled Scotland since 1639 and allied with the English Parliament
• Highland Clearances

Ireland

• Parliament of Ireland (1297 – 1800)
• Patriot Parliament (7 May 1689 – 20 July 1689)

The Stakes

• The political rights of the Parliament of England
  • Episcopalian rule of the church by the monarch
• Freedom of religion, History of Freedom of religion in the United Kingdom
• The Wars of Religion
• The English Reformation (1533)
• Royal prerogative
• The Gunpowder Plot (1605), aka the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason
• The Thirty Years' War(1618–1648)
• Petition of Right (1628)
• The The Divine Right of Kings, and the Personal rule of Charles I, 1629–1640
• Wars of the Three Kingdoms Scotland, England and Ireland (1639 – 1651)
  • The Scottish Bishops' Wars (1639, 1640)
    • Civil War in Scotland
    • National Covenant (1581; 1590; 1596)
    • First Bishops' War (1639)
    • Treaty of Berwick (18 June 1639)
    • Second Bishops' War (1640)
    • Solemn League and Covenant (1643)
    • Montrose's defeat and death (21 May 1650)
  • The English Civil War (1642–1651)
    • The Short Parliament (13 April – 5 May 1640)
    • First Civil War (1642 – 1645)
    • The Long Parliament (3 November 1640 – 16 March 1660)
  • The Siege of Oxford in 1646
    • Second Civil War (1648 – 1649)
    • Pride's Purge of December 1648
    • Commonwealth of England, or the English Interregnum (1649 – 1653)
      • "Rump Parliament" (1649 – 1653)
    • Third Civil War (1649 – 1651)
    • The Protectorate (1653 – 1659)
    • Poor Relief Act 1662 aka Settlement Act or, more honestly, the Settlement and Removal Act
  • The Irish Confederate Wars (1641 – 1653)
    • The Plot (October 1641)
    • Irish Rebellion of 1641 (1641 – 1642)
    • The Confederates' War or Eleven Years' War (1642 – 1648)
  • The execution of the Three Kingdoms' monarch, Charles I, by the English parliament (30 January 1649)
    • The Cromwellian War (1649 – April 1653)
    • Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652
    • Guerrilla War (1653 – 1659)
    • Act of Settlement 1662
• The restoration of the English monarchy (1660)
• The Test Acts
  • Corporation Act (1661)
  • 1673 Act
  • Popish Plot (1678 – 1681)
  • 1678 Act
• Exclusion Crisis (1678 – 1681)
  • The Exclusion Bill (15 May 1679 – 1681)
• The English Bill of Rights 1689
• The Act of Settlement 1701, which states that the monarch was forbidden to be Catholic or to marry a Catholic (extant)
• The War of the Grand Alliance on mainland Europe
• The Revolution of 1688
• Convention Parliament of England (1689)
• The Williamite War in Ireland aka Jacobite War in Ireland, the Williamite–Jacobite War in Ireland and in Irish Cogadh an Dá Rí, "the War of the Two Kings" (12 March 1689 – 3 October 1691)
  • Legislation by the Patriot Parliament
    • Declaratory Act
    • Act of Recognition
    • Liberty of Conscience
    • Bill of attainder
    • Repeal of the 1652 Cromwellian land settlement
    • Repeal of the Act of Settlement 1662
    • Battle of the Boyne (July 1690)
• The Dundee's rising in Scotland
• Nine Years' War (1688 – 1697) aka (1688–97) – often called the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg