The Laird O Logie orThe Laird Of Logie (Roud 81,Child 182) is a traditional English-language folk ballad.[1]
Young Logie (or Ochiltrie) is imprisoned to hang. Mary Margaret comes to court to plead for his life. She cannot win a pardon but steals some token or a forged pardon (sometimes a weapon), sometimes with the queen's aid. With these, she frees Young Logie—the man she loves or the father of her baby, depending on the variant.
The ballad is based on historical events in Scotland in 1592. The king of the ballad isJames VI of Scotland, the queen isAnne of Denmark, and Young Logie isJohn Wemyss, theLaird ofLogie in NorthFife. The offence for which he was imprisoned, unlike the stolen kiss claimed in some variants, was involvement withFrancis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, in an attempt to kidnap the king.Margaret Vinstarr was one of the servants of Anne of Denmark, a Danish maid of honour, and succeeded in rescuing Logie from a prison inDalkeith Palace. They later married.[2]
