The Laird of Muirhead

Lauchope House, Chapelhall
Image Courtesy of Paul Wilkinson

Following on from my last post about Lauchope House and Tower in Chapelhall, this ballad tells the story of the death of one of the previous occupants.  

Slain on the battlefield at Flodden,  John Muirhead of Lauchop was Bodyguard to King James IV who was also fatally injured that day.

Lauchope House, Chapelhall
Image Courtesy of Paul Wilkinson

The Ballad is a fragment from Mr. Herd's MS., communicated to him by J. Grossett Muirhead, Esq. of Bredisholm, near Glasgow; who stated that he extracted it, as relating to his own family, from the complete song, in which twenty or thirty gentlemen were mentioned, contained in a large collection, belonging to Mr. Alexander Monro, merchant in Lisbon, but supposed now to be lost. 

Lauchope House, Chapelhall
Image Courtesy of Paul Wilkinson

This ballad is on display at The Provand's Lordship of Glasgow, which is Glasgow's oldest House,  built in 1471 by Bishop Andrew Muirhead, and is also published in Walter Scott’s “Minstrelry of the Scottish Borders”

Lauchope House, Chapelhall
Image Courtesy of Paul Wilkinson

The Laird Of Muirhead

Afore the King in order stude,

The stout laird of Muirhead,

Wi' that same twa-hand muckle sword 

That Bartram fell'd stark dead. 

 He sware he wadna lose his right 

To fight in ilka field; 

Nor budge him from his liege's sight, 

Till his last gasp should yield.

Twa hunder mair of his ain name, 

Frae Torwood and the Clyde, 

Sware they would never gang to hame, 

But a' die by his syde.

And wondrous weel they kept their troth;

This sturdy royal band

Rush'd down the brae wi' sic a pith, 

That nane could them withstand. 

Mony a bloody blow they dealt,

The like was never seen;

And, hadna that braw leader fall'n, 

They ne'er had slain the king.

Lauchope House, Chapelhall, Image Courtesy of Paul Wilkinson

For more information on Lauchope House please contact the author or check "Lost Houses of the Clyde Valley" on Facebook, which includes information on many of Lanarkshire's Historical Sites.