From the Burns song There grows a bonie brier-bush, he mentions going dancing in “Carlyle’s Ha’”
Is that an actual location? Does it still exist? It would be nice to go dancing there if so. Please tell me so I can book the flight.
The poem/song also mentions “We’ll awa to Athole’s green”, and “I will awa to Edinburgh, and win a pennie fee”.
Is it the same castle in the Border Country mentioned by Walter Scott in “It was an English ladye bright”?
“The sun shines fair on Carlisle wall”
Loreena McKennitt sang it as “The English Ladye and the Knight”
Carlisle Castle is in the far northwest of England in Cumbria. The Border Country, when England and Scotland were two separate kingdoms, was an unstable and debatable area for centuries, so there are tons of songs about it, mostly to do with fighting and killing.
I would have thought it was referring to a hall owned by someone named Carlyle. But I’m open to correction.
I also think it’s more likely to be a surname than the town. It might be a fictitious person / building.