The ballad tells the story of a girl abducted and taken to the Scottish Highlands.
A girl named Barbara, Barbra, Annie, or Baby Livingstone is kidnapped by Glenlion (or Glenlyon, Linlyon, or Glendinning).
In one variant, they stop to meet his brother, John, and stay at Auchingour.
She gets a letter to her love at Dundee, by hiring a young boy.
In another variant, Jemmie arrives to Glendinning Castle to find Annie Livingstone dead.