A version of the ballad by Robert Surtees appears in Hogg's Jacobite Relics, II and one by Allan Cunningham appears in Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song (1810). This ballad is Child Ballad #208 (Lord Derwentwater). James Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater 1689-1716 is the subject of this ballad. Derwentwater was the son of one of Charles II's illegitimate children. He was brought up at the Palace of St. Germains as a companion to the Prince of Wales (James Francis Edward Stuart, the 'Old Pretender'). In 1715 he joined the Earl of Mar in the Jacobite Uprising. He was extremely popular and at the Battle of Preston argued for fighting the way out rather than surrender. However, Foster surrendered and Derwentwater was among those taken prisoner on November 14, 1715. Parliament found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to death. He was 27 when he was executed. His estate went first to the crown, which later granted it to Greenwich Hospital. It is said that Derwentwater's wife was staying at their home on Derwentwater Lake when she heard the news. Rather than allow her possessions to be confiscated, she threw her jewels in the lake. Legend has it that the stream that flows past his home at Dilston Hall ran red every year on the date of his execution. The Northern Lights were so brilliant on the day of his death that they were called Lord Derwentwater's Lights in the North for many years. It is also said they first appeared the day of Derwentwater's death. My playing is based on Peter Bellamy's use of the tune for his setting of Rudyard Kipling's poem "Danny Deever". I usually play this as a dulcimer medley with "The False Bride".