This is one of the most famous of all the old bothy ballads.

The young ploughman at the Barnyards of Delgaty had gone to the town of Turriff (Turra) to fee - to get employment on a farm for three or six months. The farmer promised two fine working horses, but he lied. The snotter is the burnt wick of a candle. The Delgaty estate is a mile north east of Turriff, in North East Scotland.

The song makes gentle fun of the farm and the farm workers.

Famed bothy ballad singer and former farm worker Jock Duncan considers that 'there's no way that any place, Barnyards o Delgaty or anywhere else, would hae a deen pair o horses. The Barnyards had aye the best pair o horses - a great ferm toun that. I jist wonder what the present owner that cam back fae Canada thinks o the song.'

The Barnyards of Delgaty was probably written early last century and is related to the Rhynie bothy ballad. The tune and a fraction of the chorus come from an old Lowland love song called ‘Linton Lowrie’; tune by Alexander MacKenzie and words by James Ballantine (Scots Gems: The Dunedin Collection, Wood and Drysdale, 1908)

There is an East Linton and a West Linton in the Lothians. West Linton is much closer to the Loganlea, which is now part of the village of Addiewell, West Lothian. But there are other Loganleas in Scotland.

The Barnyards Of Delgaty, performed by Ewan McVicar From Traditional Scottish Songs and Music, Gallus recordings.

Sing along to this instrumental version of The Barnyards of Delgaty.