"The Bonnie Earl O' Moray" is a popular Scottish ballad, probably written as far back as the 17th century, and has been catalogued under the name "Bonny Earl O'Murray" as Child Ballad No. 181. [1] [2]. Irish-American singer Robbie O'Connell has a version on his album Close to the Bone.
The ballad touches on a true story stemming from the rivalry of James Stewart, Earl of Moray (pronounced Murray), and the Earl of Huntly, in 1592. The exact circumstances that led to Moray's murder by Huntly are not known for certain, but in his notes on the ballad Francis James Child relates how Huntly, eager to prove that Moray was plotting with the Earl of Bothwell against King James VI, received a commission to bring Moray to trial. In the attempt to apprehend Moray, a sheriff was killed and Moray's castle was set on fire. He fled, but was hunted down and killed at Donibristle in Fife. Moray's last words, according to the (probably apocryphal) story, deserve special mention. Huntly slashed him across the face with his sword, and as he lay dying Moray said "Ye hae spoilt a better face than yer ain" (You have spoiled a better face than your own). The killing was very widely condemned, a painting was made of Moray's dead body, showing his multiple wounds, with the words "God avenge my cause".
The king's reaction in the ballad does not condone Huntly's action:
Nevertheless, the king did not punish Huntly, and some believe the king was complicit in the murder. The ballad, which praises Moray as "a braw gallant", was most likely composed by his supporters. It is possible that the clear inclusion of the king's condemnation of Huntly's acts (whether they were expressed by the king or not) was an effort to keep the ballad from being seen as treasonous. However, we can discount the ballad's claims that Moray was the Queen's lover, or that he might have become king.
It is from the first verse of "The Bonnie Earl O' Moray" that the term mondegreen, meaning misheard lyric, came into popular use.
The final two lines had been heard as "they have slain the Earl O' Moray, and Lady Mondegreen." The American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term "mondegreen" in an essay "The Death of Lady Mondegreen," which was published in Harper's Magazine in November 1954.[3] In the essay, Wright described how, as a young girl, she misheard the final line from the ballad.