The Ball of Kirriemuir
I'm in the midst of re-working my bardic book for the first time in six years, and one of the things I am trying to do this time is reference the known origins of the songs. This is a perennial SCA favourite, though I don't exactly love it (after a couple dozen verses, it gets a bit monotonous, and I have 135), and I am trying to track down its origins. I've heard the original version was written in the 1880's, or was based on an earlier 18th century song, and that the tune comes from "Bonny Jean of Aberdeen", but as with many other bawdy songs, it has been passed down largely orally (no pun intended), until the 20th century. Anyone know anything about its origins?