Jock Duncan sings the ancient Scottish ballad of Lang Johnnie More. Recorded at FifeSing2003 - the Fife Traditional Singing Festival held in Collessie in the heart of the ancient Kingdom of Fife in Scotland.

Lang Johnnie More

TAM'S OLD LOVE SONG (Air)/ BANKS OF KALE WATER (Reel) 1.25

On Springthyme SPRCD 1044
Tom Hughes & Friends: Traditional Fiddle Music of the Scottish Borders
www.springthyme.co.uk/1044/

Tom never had titles to these tunes which he learned when he was a boy.  The beautiful slow air Tam’s Old Love Song gained its name after many requests for Tom to play ‘that old love song’ and the reel The Banks of Kale Water is named after the area where Tom lived for many years. The slow air is given added power by Wattie’s improvised harmony line and Tom’s occasional use of a snap bow. Since the recording was released in 1981, the tune has become popular among the younger generation of Border fiddle players and is often now played in the key of G. The irregular 2/4 bars can be regularised into 3/4 – but part of the charm of the tune surely lies in the varying pulse of the music, particularly in the short second part. The second tune The Banks of Kale Water is also irregular as played.
Two fiddles: Tom Hughes and Wattie Robson.

Tom Hughes & Friends

Buy on BandCamp

Tam's Old Love Song/ Banks of Kale Water

BRAES O MAR (Strathspey) 1.30

Tom Hughes & Friends: Traditional Fiddle Music of the Scottish Borders
www.springthyme.co.uk/1044/

This favourite strathspey was old when first published in Bremner's collection in the 1750s. Tom and Wattie play Braes O Mar in the same way that Tom played the tune with his father in the 1920s – the parts first played separately, followed by the high and low alternative second parts played together as a duet. In several old collections the high, second part (B) of Braes O Mar is referred to as the ‘old’ set, and the low second part (C) (an octave below) as an alternative ‘new’ set. The tune was considered old when first published by Robert Bremner in his A Collection of Scots Reels and Country Dances (1757). The original pipe tune is said to have been played when the Earl of Mar raised the Jacobite standard and assembled the clan as at Braemar on Deeside in 1715 before the march to Sherriffmuir. 
Two fiddles: Tom Hughes and Wattie Robson.

Tom Hughes & Friends: Braes O Mar

Sitting in the Stern of a Boat (Mi 'm shuidh' an Deireadh Bata)
From the album Ossian - Ossian on Springthyme (SPRCD 1004).

This beautiful slow air was composed in the 18th century by the Rev. William McLeod and represents his thoughts as he sailed away from his native Bracadale in the Isle of Skye to take up a parish in Argyll. Taken from Captain Simon Fraser’s Knockie Collection of 1816. 

Ossian - named after the legendary 3rd century Celtic Bard and folk hero, was formed in 1976, and this was their first album of Scottish/Celtic music - released in 1997 on CD. The band went on to record a series of albums on their own 'Iona' label.

This song is from the Springthyme CD Ossian: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1004/" target="_parent">OSSIAN</a>.

Ossian: Sitting in the Stern of a Boat

Gordon Easton is from the Blackhills of Tyrie near Fraserburgh, where his family has crofted for generations. He learned many of his old songs from his mother and grandmother and is well-known for his fiddle, jew’s harp and ‘moothie’ playing, not to mention his considerable skills as a ‘diddler’. 

At the age of 84, he recorded this his first CD (www.springthyme.co.uk/ah05). In recent years he has become a fixture on the festival competition scene, sometimes entering as many as five competitions. In 2004 he was made an honorary life member of the TMSA. In 2007 he was a guest at the Whitby Folk Week.

The farm of Barnyards on the Delgaty castle estate a mile from Turriff gave rise to one of the most famous of the old bothy ballads. Greig opens his Buchan Observer article on Ploughman Songs with Barnyards (FSNE 4, GD 3: 347).

Scots Words 
The song is rich in the Buchan or Doric dialect of the Scots language. As with any language, the Scots tongue has its regional dialects. Click on the following link to discover more about Scots and get direct access to the online Scots Language dictionary: www.springthyme.co.uk/scotslanguage

The Barnyards o Delgaty

1: As I gaed doun tae Turra market,
Turra market for tae fee,
I met in wi a fairmer chiel,
Fae the barnyards o Delgaty.

Chorus:
Lilten adie touran adie, lilten adie touran ae,
O lilten lourin lourin lourin, the barnyards o Delgaty.

2: He promised me the twa best horse,
That ever gaed in iron sheen;
Fan I gaed hame tae the barnyards,
There wis naething there but skin and bane.

3: Noo the auld black horse sat on his hunkers,
The auld dun meer lay on her wime, [i.e. belly
And aa that I could up and cry,
They widna rise at yokin time.

4: Noo Lang Meg Scot she maks ma brose,
It's wi her I canna agree,
First a knot an syne a mote and then a knot, [i.e. a lump then a little
And aye the ither jilp o bree. [i.e. spill the rest

5: Noo Jean MacPherson maks ma bed,
You should see the marks upon ma shins,
Jean, the coorse illtrickit jaud, [i.e. mischievous girl
She fills ma bed wi prickly whins.

6: Fin I gang tae the kirk on Sunday,
Mony a bonnie lass I see,
Sittin by her faither's side,
An winkin o'er the pews at me.

7: Noo some can drink and nae get drunk,
Some can fecht and nae get slain,
I can coort anither chiel's lass,
An aye gang welcome tae ma ain.

8: Ma cannle nearly burnt oot, [i.e. candle
The snotter's fairly on the wane, [i.e. the wick burnt down
So fare ye weel ye barnyards,
Ye'll niver catch me here again.

Chorus:
Lilten adie touran adie, lilten adie touran ae,
O lilten lourin lourin lourin, the barnyards o Delgaty.

Gordon Easton: Barnyards o Delgaty

Auchmithie is a small fishing village close to the town of Arbroath on the Scottish east coast - famous as the original place where haddock were smoked to make the Arbroath smokies. The song text is given below.

Bothy songs and Scottish country music have been a part of life at the Foundry Bar in Arbroath ever since the time when the only customers were the foundry workers from over the road (the foundry has long since gone), the fisher fowk from the town, and the fairm chiels in from the Angus countryside for the weekly fairs and markets.

In 1975 some of the Foundry Bar musicians got together, entered and won the Ceilidh Band competition at the Kinross festival – and so was born ‘The Foundry Bar Band’. This, their first album, was issued in 1981 and it has been a top selling album ever since - first as an LP, then on cassette and now remastered in CD format.

Few bands, professional or otherwise, can so well convey the essential lilt of Scottish music with such enjoyment and enthusiasm. The fame of ‘the foondry’ as a musical gathering place has spread far and wide, and on a couple of nights a week the back room is filled to capacity with musicians and enthusiasts from near and far.

• AUCHMITHIE •

There’s a wee fishing village on the shores of the North Sea,
Once famous for smoked haddock and they ca’d it Auchmithie;
I don’t know where this name came from or what it really means,
But once ye know Auchmithie ye’ll see it in your dreams.

It was there that I wis born many, many years ago,
In a wee old stone cottage overlooking the round-o,
Wi the cliffs sae high and rugged, washed by wild seas from below,
Such a place ye will ne’er see, no matter where ye go.

For I’ve been around Loch Lomond and Tobermoray Bay, 
Inverary and Loch Fyne and all along the way; 
But the bonniest spot that I’ve seen and aye will be tae me, 
Is the rocks and cliffs and green braes o ma dear home Auchmithie.

© 1981 J. Reid & N. Buick pub Springthyme Music.

This track is from the Springthyme CD <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1007/" target="_parent">The Foundry Bar Band</a>.

Foundry Bar Band: Auchmithie

The Wassail celebration involves Christmas revellers taking a Wassail bowl, usually a large wooden vessel from house to house to distribute good cheer. This version was recorded in 1972 from Lemmie Brazil - a member of a large Gypsy traveller family in Gloucester. A near complete collection of the songs and music of the family is available as a 3CD set on the Musical Traditions label: The Brazil Family: Down by the Old Riverside - although this song was not included. But here it is sung by the 82 year old Lemmie:

Wassail Song
From the singing of Lemmy Brazil, Gloucester 26 December 1972.  Collected by Peter Shepheard  (Springthyme 67.8.3). 

He said I ain’t come here not to beg or not to borrow,
I have come here just to drive away my sorrow,
A bit of your good cake an’ a drop of your strong beer,
An’ I hope you merry Chrissemas an’ a happy New Year.

Come all you lucky gentlemen that sits around the fire,
Remember us poor wassailers who walks through muddy mire,
A bit o’ your good cake and a drop o’ your strong beer,
An’ I hope you merry Chrissemas an’ a happy New Year.


Lemmie Brazil: Wassail Song

Lemmie Brazil was a member of a large Gypsy traveller family in Gloucester. Like other members of the family, brothers Hyram, Harry, Danny, she had an extensive repertoire of traditional folk songs and tunes. She also played the melodeon and here she plays a tune she called God Killed the Devil O on her single row Hohner melodeon in the key of C. She was 82 years old when she recorded this in her caravan in Gloucester at Christmas 1972 for folk enthusiast and collector Pete Shepheard. Lemmie often played the melodeon for step dancing at which all the family were experts. 

A near complete collection of the songs and music of the family is available as a 3CD set on the Musical Traditions label: The Brazil Family - Down by the Old Riverside. This tune is related to the Scottish strathspey Monymusk and is the fourth track on the first CD. 
CD: http://www.springthyme.co.uk/brazil/

Lemmie Brazil: God Killed The Devil O

Jim Reid - a man who many will consider as one of Scotland's finest folksingers - passed away on Monday 6th July 2009 after a long illness. His contribution to Scotland's singing tradition has been immense and, in 2005, he was voted Scots Singer of the Year in the Scots Trad Music Awards. His love of the poetry of Tayside and Angus and, in particular, his inspired setting to music of poems by Violet Jacob and Helen Cruickshank have given us a lasting legacy. His setting of Violet Jacob's Wild Geese (or Norland Wind) has become a classic of the folk song repertoire. 

It was at Jim's suggestion that some of the musicians from the regular sessions at Arbroath's Foundry Bar got together, entered and won the 1971 Ceilidh Band competition at the Kinross Festival - and so was born the hugely influential and highly enjoyable Foundry Bar Band who played at festivals, ceilidhs and dances for nearly another 30 years. Jim had already issued a couple of albums with the Foundry Bar Band (http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1007) but it was his solo 'Wild Geese' album (http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1015), first issued in 1984, that established him as one of Scotland's finest singers.

"Far abune the Angus straths I saw the wild geese flee;
A lang, lang skein o beatin wings wi their heids toward the sea."

Set to music by Jim, this was originally written as a poem by Violet Jacob in 1915. The song is also known under the alternative title Norland Wind.

1: "Oh tell me fit was on yer road, ye roarin Norland wind?
As ye come blawin frae the land that's never frae ma mind.
Ma feet they traivel England but I'm deein for the North."
"Ma man, I saw the siller tides rin up the Firth o Forth."
 
2: "Aye wind, I ken them weel eneuch an fine they fa and rise,
And fain I'd feel the creepin mist on yonder shore that lies.
But tell me as ye pass them by, fit saw ye on the way?"
"Ma man, I rocked the rovin gulls that sail abin the Tay."
 
3: "Bit saw ye naethin leein wind afore ye come tae Fife?
For there's muckle lyin 'yont the Tay that's mair tae me nor life."
"Ma man, I swept the Angus braes that ye hivna trod for years."
"Oh wind, forgie a hameless loon that canna see for tears."
 
4: "And far abin the Angus straths I saw the wild geese flee,
A lang, lang skein o beatin wings wi their heids toward the sea,
And aye their cryin voices trailed ahint them on the air."
"Oh wind, hae mercy, haud your wheesht for I daurna listen mair."

Scots Words:
The poem is written in the Angus dialect of Scots. fit - what, frae - from, deein - dying, traivel - travel, eneuch - enough, muckle - much, mair - more. "Haud yer wheesht" in the last line is an expression you would use to a friend or child, telling them to be quiet/stop talking.

Translation: Scots words anglicised - but please sing the Scots! 

1: "Oh tell me what was on your road, you roaring Norland wind?
As you come blowing from the land that's never from my mind.
My feet they travel England but I'm dying for the North."
"My man, I saw the silver tides run up the Firth o Forth."
 
2: "Oh wind, I ken them well enough and fine they fall and rise,
And fain I'd feel the creeping mist on yonder shore that lies.
But tell me as ye pass them by, what saw ye on the way?"
"My man, I rocked the roving gulls that sail above the Tay."
 
3: "But saw ye nothing, lying wind, before ye came to Fife?
For there's much lying beyond the Tay that's more to me than life."
"My man, I swept the Angus braes that you havn't trod for years."
"Oh wind, forgive a homeless lad that cannot see for tears."
 
4: "And far above the Angus straths I saw the wild geese flee,
A long, long skein of beating wings with their heads toward the sea,
And aye their crying voices trailed behind them on the air."
"Oh wind, have mercy, hold your tongue for I dare not listen more."

The Angus straths are farmland between the Grampian mountains of highland Perthshire and the Firth of Tay. Fife lies between the Tay to the north and the Firth of Forth to the south.

Jim Reid - I Saw The Wild Geese Flee

The Wild Geese / Norland Wind

Jim Reid: The Wild Geese/ Norland Wind

Tattie Jock is a song dating from the 1820s and tells of the transportation to Botany Bay of several men from the farm of Craigie in Fife, Scotland. The farmer had caught the farmworkers - horse ploughmen - stealing potatoes. He called in the police and this resulted in a fight between the police and the men. The men were taken to court and transported for 14 years to the hardships of slavery in Australia.
  
Recorded by Peter Shepheard from the singing of Archie Webster, Strathkinness. Recorded 17 June 1968 (68.2.34) & 14 Sep 1971 at Peat Inn (71.3). Transcribed and adapted Peter Shepheard. © Springthyme Music 1968. Published in the Scottish Folksinger. Collins (1973). Also recorded from Eck Harley of Cupar 16 May 1968 (68.2.29). 

The Sound Cloud track here starts with a recording of Pete Shepheard leading the song with chorus made at the FifeSing Traditional Singing Festival in May 2011. This is followed by the archive recordings of Eck Harley and Archie Webster edited together.

1: Ye aa hae heard o Tattie Jock,
Likewise o Mutton Peggie,
They had a fairm in the North o Fife,
An the name o it wis Craigie.

Chorus:
	Singin ah riddle aye, roo rum di do,
	Ah riddle aye, roo rum day.

2: There were ten pair upon that place,
Likewise ten able men;
It’s five they gaed tae kinnle the fire,
An the ither five oot tae scran.

3: Three month we saired wi Tattie Jock
An weel did we agree,
Till we fund oot that the tattie shed,
Could be opened wi the bothy key.

4: We aa gaed in tae the tattie shed,
Oor bags were hardly full,
When Tattie Jock in ahint the door,
Cries, “Aye, ma lads, stand still!”

5: The first he got wis Jimmy Marr,
The next wis Willie Doo;
There wis Jimmy Grey an Wull Moncur,
An Jimmy Pethrie flew.

6: Next day some o us were drivin dung,
An some were at the mill;
But better we’d been at the ploo,
Upon Pitlootie Hill.

7: They sent for ten big policemen,
But nine there only cam;
It dinged them for tae tak’s that nicht,
Us bein ten able men.

8: Johnny Grey wis the hemaist lad,
The best lad o us aa;
He jined a man o war ship at Leith,
So’s he need na stand the law.

9: When we were gettin oor sentences,
We aa stood roond and roond;
But when we heard o the fourteen years,
Oor tears cam rollin doon.

10: When Tattie Jock he heard o this,
He cried an grat fu sore;
A thousand guineas he wad pay,
If that wad clear oor score.

11: A bag o gold he did produce,
Tae pay it there an then;
But the lawyer only told him, 
Money wouldna clear his men.

12: As we were bein mairched up through Perth,
We heard the news boys say,
“It’s hard tae see sic able men,
Rade aff tae Botany Bay.”

13: When we arrive in Botany Bay,
Some letters we will send,
Tae tell oor friends the hardships,
We endure in a foreign land.
	Singin ah riddle aye, roo rum di do,
	Ah riddle aye, roo rum day.

Archie Webster: This is a story which happened quite a number of years ago when the Clydesdales used to draw the ploughs - the swing plough, steered by the skill o the ploomen o Fife. On Craigie fairm there were ten pair of these animals, the ploughman’s pride. These ten men worked these horses with skill but they were subject tae the failings of all flesh and, as wages wasnae very big, they used tae help their selves a bit fae the fairm produce. One day they were caught. Theft was a terrible crime at that time – a man could be hanged for stealing a sheep. Well, the ploomen o Craigie were caught stealing tatties be the fairmer, a man who boasted the nickname Tattie Jock. This is the ballad of Craigie.

Research at the Scottish Records Office reveals that the farms of Craigie and Pusk beside Leuchars were farmed by two brothers in the 1820s. They grew and dealt in potatoes - hence the byname of Tattie Jock. The potatoes were carted to Tayport for distribution to Edinburgh and Dundee by sea. They also rented a shed at St Andrews harbour.

Links:
Springthyme Records: www.springthyme.co.uk
FifeSing Traditional Singing Festival: www.springthyme.co.uk/fifesing/

Tattie Jock

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		LOCHABER GATHERING/ TAM BAIN'S LUM
		This track: Lochaber Gathering/ Tam Bain's Lum is the opening track on the album and is played by the Beggar's Mantle Ceilidh Band. The first tune, Lochaber Gathering, is a four part march by George Stewart MacLennan. It is unclear when the Lochaber Gathering piping competition originated, but its beginnings go back to the dawn of competion among pipers. It is known however, that as far back as 1816, the event was recorded in the annals of the Highland Society of London. The composer GS MacLennan (or McLennan) was born in Edinburgh in 1883 to a leading and long-standing piping family and died in his prime at age 46 in 1929 with his only book of music just off the press. Those who heard him say his fingers were miraculous. His astonishing technical prowess contributed to an important evolution in Highland pipe technique in the early part of the twentieth century. As a composer, the quality and lasting appeal of his tunes are unequalled. 
		The second tune, Tam Bain's Lum, is a four part pipe hornpipe by Donald Shaw Ramsay. Though it seems tame today, in the days before the modern, finger-twisting, bent-note pipe tunes, this DS Ramsay composition pushed the envelope. The tune was reportedly written about a chimney ('lum') in Laurieston, near Falkirk, in the shape of Abraham Lincoln's hat. It was part of a row of tenement houses and owned by a fellow named Tam Bain. Ramsay was apparently quite taken by the sight and named this tune after it. The tune was probably written in the early 1950s.
		John Watt &amp; Davey Stewart put together the Beggar's Mantle Ceilidh Band to accompany the songs on their album <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1002/">Shores of the Forth</a> and provide some lively ceilidh music: Jock Ritchie from Inverkeithing on fiddle, Jock Mullen from Kelty on accordion, Robin McKidd from Glenrothes on guitar and bass and Brian Miller from Penicuik on guitar and mandolin. 
		Fife’s Got Everything according to the song by John and Davey. A slightly exaggerated claim perhaps, but the two Fifers from Dunfermline and St Andrews respectively go a long way to prove it. Comedy songs, serious songs and recitations paint both a contemporary and past picture of this beautiful part of Scotland from two of the finest entertainers to come out of the ancient ‘Kingdom of Fife’. King James VI of Scotland described Fife as a ‘beggar’s mantle fringed with gold’ and this inspired the name of the band. The title song Shores of the Forth is one of the few songs on the album that was not written by John. Some of John's songs such as Kelty Clippie and Pittenweem Jo have become classics and have been recorded by several other singers since John and Davey first recorded them in 1976.
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Lochaber Gathering : Tam Bain's Lum

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		THE KELTY CLIPPIE
		Written by John Watt of Dunfermline, the song of the Kelty Clippie became a hit as soon as it was recorded - released first on a vinyl LP in 1976 on the album Shores of the Forth - sung by John Watt and Davey Stewart with the Beggars Mantle Ceilidh Band. 
		The song celebrates the passing of way of life - the bus conductress known in Fife as the clippie. 

1: I have traivelled ower this country,
	Frae shore tae shining shore;
Frae the swamps o Auchterderran,
	Tae the jungles o Lochore.
But in aa these far flung places,
	There’s nane that can compare;
Wi the Lily o Lumphinnans,
	She’s ma bonnie Maggie Blair.

2: Frae the pyramids up in Kelty,
	Tae the mansions in Glencraig ;
We’ve trod the bings together,
	In mony’s the blyth stravaig.
Watched the moonlight over Crosshill,
	Trod Buckhaven’s golden sand;
And mony’s the happy oor we’ve spent,
	In Lochgelly’s Happy Land.

Chorus:
Oh she’s just a Kelty Clippie,
	She’ll no tak nae advice;
It’s, “Ach drap deid, awa bile yer heid,
	Or Ah’ll punch yer ticket twice!”
Her faither’s just a waster,
	Her mither’s on the game;
She’s just a Kelty Clippie,
	But I love her just the same.

3: Well I met her on the ‘eight fifteen’,
	That nicht o romantic bliss;
Ah says “Hey Mag, pit doon yer bag,
	And gie’s a wee bit kiss.”
But she didnae tak that kindly,
	No she didnae like ma chaff;
And bein a contrary kind o lass,
	She says, “Come oan get aff.”

4: Noo she hasnae got nae culture,
	Oh she drives me roond the bend;
Oh she sits every nicht in an old arm chair,
	Readin the People’s Friend.
Her lapels is fu o badges,
	Frae Butlins doon at Ayr;
And she gangs tae the Bingo every nicht,
 	Wi the curlers still in her hair.

5: But things is a wee bit better noo,
 	Ah’ve gone and got the ring;
Ah won it frae John at the pitch and toss,
	Last night at the Lindsay bing.
Wi her wee black hat and her ticket machine,
	She did ma hert ensnare;
She’s the Lily o Lumphinnans,
	She’s ma bonnie Maggie Blair.

Chorus:
Oh she’s just a Kelty Clippie,
	She’ll no tak nae advice;
It’s, “Ach drap deid, awa bile yer heid,
	Or Ah’ll punch yer ticket twice!”
Her faither’s just a waster,
	Her mither’s on the game;
She’s just a Kelty Clippie,
	But I love her just the same.		

‘Clippie’ – Bus Conductress; ‘Pyramids’ – the Pit Bings (slag heaps); ‘Happyland’ – Miners’ Rows in Lochgelly in Fife, now demolished; ‘Pitch and Toss’ – Game of chance favoured in mining areas where bets are made on the toss of a coin. The tune is an adaptation of the well known Scots song Maggie Cockabendie.
		Fife’s Got Everything according to one of the songs by John and Davey on the album. A slightly exaggerated claim perhaps, but these two Fifers from Dunfermline and St Andrews respectively go a long way to prove it. Comedy songs, serious songs and recitations paint both a contemporary and past picture of this beautiful part of Scotland from two of the finest entertainers to come out of the ancient ‘Kingdom of Fife’. King James VI of Scotland described Fife as a ‘beggar’s mantle fringed with gold’ and this inspired the name of the band who provide the instrumentals and the backings - Jock Ritchie from Inverkeithing on fiddle, Jock Mullen from Kelty on accordion, Robin McKidd from Glenrothes on guitar and bass and Brian Miller from Penicuik on guitar and mandolin.

Buy the CD from the Springthyme webpage for <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1002/">John Watt & Davey Stewart: Shores of the Forth</a> where there are links to iTunes to download the Kelty Clippie and other songs on the album. 
		
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Kelty Clippie

OH DEAR ME/ THE JUTE MILL SONG

Of all the poems and songs that are associated with Mary Brooksbank, the Jute Mill Song or Oh Dear Me is probably the best known. Based on a single traditional verse which she adapted as the chorus, she managed to capture a lot more about life than just the hardships of the jute mill lassies. As Jim says, 'two lines of Mary's song say more than many a politician can say in a lifetime - but I'll leave you to guess which two I mean!' Mary Brooksbank worked all her working life in the jute mills of Dundee and the song tells of the hard life. Mary was a member of the communist party and a social activist. She self-published a book of her poems and an autobiography.

Shiftins, piecing and spinning were three of the jobs on the flett - the floor on which the spinning machinery stood. The shifter was the person who removed full bobbins from the spinning frames and replaced them with empty ones. Ten and nine was the weekly wage of the mill lassies at the turn of the century - ten shillings (paid as a gold half sovereign) and nine pence.

1: Oh dear me the mills gaein fast,
And the pair wee shifters canna get nae rest;
Shiftin bobbins, coorse and fine, 
They fairly mak ye wark for your ten and nine.

2: Oh dear me I wish the day wis done,
Rinnin up an doun the pass is nae fun;
Shiftin, piecin, spinnin - warp, weft and twine,
Tae feed an claith ma bairnies affen ten and nine.

Chorus: 
Oh dear me the mills gaein fast,
And the pair wee shifters canna get nae rest;
Shiftin bobbins coorse and fine,
 They fairly mak ye wark for your ten and nine.

3: O dear me, the warld's ill divided,
Them that works the hardest are the least provided;
But I maun bide contented, dark days or fine,
There's no much pleisure livin affen ten and nine.

Chorus: 
Oh dear me the mills gaein fast,
And the pair wee shifters canna get nae rest;
Shiftin bobbins coorse and fine,
They fairly mak ye wark for your ten and nine.

From the album Jim Reid & John Huband: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1030/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Freewheeling Now</a>.

Here's a link to a site about <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Brooksbank/49120541063/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mary Brooksbank</a> and another: <a href="http://www.dundeewomenstrail.org.uk/stories.php?id=18 " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dundee Womens Trail</a>.

The origins of the song are made clear in an interview held in the archives of the Scool of Scottish Studies. An Interview with Mary Brooksbank by Hamish Henderson - SA 1968.317. School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh.

Mary Brooksbank: And then inside work (in the mills), they used to sing the Jute Mill song you know and when I grew up I put the verses to it. They used to go aroond (singing): 'the mill's gaen fest, the puir wee shifters canna get a rest .

Hamish Henderson: And how much of that was what they were singing in the mill and how much did you add to it?

Mary Brooksbank: Only the ditty, 'Oh dear me, the mill's gaen fest, the puir wee shifters…' . The verses are all mine. And that verse, 'to feed and cled my bairnie' was brought to me by a lassie who was worried. It wis hard lines if ye hid an illigitimate child and you had to pay for it aff that meagre wage, you know what I mean, and she used to say, oh I wish the day was done. And eh, tell me her troubles, her trachles, what she hid tae dae for her bairn and that, nae help that sort o' thing, and that brought that tae mind. And then I used to think on my own aboot how ill divided the world wis. My mother put me into service for a period; tried to make me genteel you know. She gave me a lovely outfit but it didna suit me, it was the worst thing she could have did because I saw right away the contrast between their homes and ours, you know, thons o the gentry and ours.

Oh Dear Me/ Jute Mill Song

THE CONUNDRUM/ BALLOCHYLE

THE UNIQUE and unmistakable sound of the Foundry Bar Band has been an important part of the Scottish Music scene for several decades and Rolling Home is their third album.

Jim Reid vocals, guitar & mouthorgan; Jim Brown, Harry Scott and Jim Thomson accordions; Geordie Anderson fiddle and vocals; Christine Stewart guitar and vocals and Sandy Beattie double bass  .

The Foundry Bar in the old fishing town of Arbroath had long been a home to local fiddlers and accordionists when, in 1976, Jim Reid gathered together a few of the regular musicians and headed for the Kinross Festival where they entered and won the Ceilidh Band competition. So was born the Foundry Bar Band. Since then the band has played at concerts and ceilidhs, clubs and festivals, village hall dances and weddings throughout the country, and of course they never miss their favourite traditional music festivals at Keith and Auchtermuchty. Here the band come rolling home – home to a quiet ceilidh in one of their regular haunts in the Angus countryside.

This is the opening track on their album The Foundry Bar Band: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1026/" rel="nofollow" target="_parent">Rolling Home</a>.

The Conundrum/ Ballochyle

ROLLING HOME

Jim Reid vocals, guitar & mouthorgan; Jim Brown, Harry Scott and Jim Thomson accordions; Geordie Anderson fiddle and vocals; Christine Stewart guitar and vocals and Sandy Beattie double bass  .

A Scottish version of a shanty song that is widely known across the seven seas. In America the sailors are sometimes rolling home to California or to Boston, and in Europe the song is sometimes related to Hamburg.

1: Call all hands to man the capstan,
See the cable running clear,
Heave around and with the wheel boys,
For our homeland we will steer.

Chorus:
Rolling home, rolling home,
Rolling home across the sea,
Rolling home to Caledonia,
Rolling home dear land to thee.

2: Fare ye well ye Spanish ladies,
We must bid you all adieu,
Happy times we've had together,
Happy times we spent with you.

3: Round the horn one frosty morning,
And our sails are filled with snow,
You could hear the shellbacks calling,
Heave around and let her go.

4: Now the wake we leave behind us,
Seems to know the way we go,
There's a hearty welcome waiting,
In the land that we all know.

Chorus:
Rolling home, rolling home,
Rolling home across the sea,
Rolling home to Caledonia,
Rolling home dear land to thee.

Words adapted and music arranged by Jim Reid
Springthyme Music © 1988.

This is the title track on their album The Foundry Bar Band: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1026/" rel="nofollow" target="_parent">Rolling Home</a>.

Rolling Home

BONNIE SHIP THE DIAMOND

On Springthyme SPRCD 1042
Shepheard, Spiers & Watson - They Smiled as We Cam In

Tom Spiers: This version of the well known whaling song was learnt from the singing of Peter Hall who may have taken it from the Greig-Duncan manuscripts where there are eight texts with tunes although none is quite the same as this. 

The Diamond was built in Québec in 1801 and brought into the Aberdeen fleet in 1812. The Aberdeen Journal of 18 March 1812 reports: “The fine new Ship Diamond, Gibbon (that is, with Captain Gibbon in command) sailed on Thursday last, for the Davis’ Straits Whale Fishery.” When she arrived back in August she had a catch of eleven fish (that is, whales). The ship went on a yearly voyage until 1819 when she was caught in the early autumn ice and lost while staying too late in the season. Fortunately the crew were all saved. (GD 1:11; Roud 2172)

Tom (vocal) with Pete (melodeon and vocal) and Arthur (whistle and vocal)

1: The Diamond it’s a ship ma lads, for Davis Straits she’s bound,
The quay it is aa garnished wi bonnie lassies roon;
Captain Gibbon gives command, tae sail the ocean wide,
Far the sun it niver sets ma lads, nor darkness dim the sky. [far=where

Chorus:
Sae be cheerful ma lads and let yer herts niver fail,
For the bonnie ship the Diamond goes a-fishin for the whale.

2: Alang the quay at Aiberdeen the lassies stan aroon,
Their shawls aa pued aboot them, their saut tears rinnin doun;
“Dinna greet ma bonnie lassie, though ye’ve been left behind,
The rose’ll grow on Greenland’s ice afore I change ma mind.”

3: Best wishes tae the Greenland fleet and aa the whalin trade,
And likewise tae the sailor lads fa earn their daily breid; [fa=who
They wear the trousers o the white and the jackets o the blue,
Fan they get back tae Aiberdeen they’ll find sweetherts a-new. [fan=when

4: Sae jovial it will be the day, fan the Greenland men come hame,
Wi ships that’s full o oil ma lads, and money tae their names;
They’ll mak the cradle for tae rock and the blankets for tae teer,
And ilka lass in Aiberdeen cry, “Hish-a-ba ma dear.”

5: Here’s a health untae the Hercules and anither tae the Jane,
A health untae the Bon-accord and the Diamond ship o fame;
A health to Captain Gibbon, and aa the Diamond’s crew,
A health tae every bonnie lass that’s got a hert that’s true.

6: Here’s a health untae the Hercules and anither tae the Jane,
A health untae the Bon-accord and the Diamond ship o fame;
A health to Captain Gibbon, and aa the Diamond’s crew,
A health tae every bonnie lass that’s got a hert that’s true.

Chorus:
Sae be cheerful ma lads and let yer herts niver fail,
For the bonnie ship the Diamond goes a-fishin for the whale.

This is a track on their album Shepheard, Spiers & Watson: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1042/" target="_self">They Smiled As We Cam In</a>.

c p 2006 Springthyme Records • Springthyme Music

They Smiled as We Cam In

Bonnie Ship The Diamond

The Leda Trio: Airs For The Seasons
David Foulis - Sonata III in E Major

Foulis' Sonata III in E Major is in the shape of a Neapolitan Sinfonia with an opening Allegro, a central Largo in the tonic minor and final Allegro non troppo. The Allegro is cast in a miniature sonata form, with a bold first subject and brief development in the dominant. The Largo is a particularly good example of Foulis' natural melodic gifts. The use of expressive double stops adds intensity to the gently flowing pastoral character of the movement, which is a siciliano. The Allogro non troppo has much of the elegance of a minuet, and the sonata as a whole is bright and tuneful.

This is a track from the album The Leda Trio: Airs For The Seasons: Rare, interesting and beautiful music from 18th century Scotland - music that would have been an important part of social life in Edinburgh at that time. David Foulis (1710-1773), an Edinburgh physician who died in obscure poverty, composed six sonatas over a number of years, published in a very scarce edition. James Oswald (1710-1769), in contrast, became an established professional musician and composer to George III, ending his life a wealthy man with many published compositions to his credit.

The album includes three of the Foulis Sonatas - Sonata II in F major, Sonata III in E Major and Sonata V in A Major and a number of pieces from Oswald's Airs for the Seasons - The Lilac, The Nightshade, The Sneezewort and The Narcissus.

DAVID FOULIS (1710-1773) was born into a distinguished family. He became a physician, commencing his studies in 1729 in Edinburgh (where Armstrong was a fellow student) at what was the first Faculty of Medicine in the British Isles, and continuing at Leyden and Rheims. He returned to Edinburgh, passed his examinations to become a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1737, and in 1741 was appointed Physician to George Heriot's Hospital, a charity school. He appears to have lost favour with his family after his marriage, ending his life in impecunious circumstances, depending upon the charity of his fellow professionals and failing to inherit anything of the family's substantial property.

Foulis' six sonatas seem to have been written over a long period and in a different order from that published. They appeared anonymously as Six Solos for the Violin 'Composed by a Gentleman', but more than one copy of the very scarce publication has a contemporary ascription of them to him. The date of publication is thought to be around 1770 and the sonatas are dedicated to Francis Charteris of Amisfield, probably an old family friend, and certainly a fellow member of the Edinburgh Musical Society from 1741 onwards. Although the cover of the publication describes the works as 'Solos', they are individually titled 'Sonata', the Italian rather than English term.
 
Foulis must have studied music to reach the proficiency that he did as a composer, though all that is known of his music is this publication and a Minuet and March. His writing for violin is excellent and we may guess that he understood and could play the instrument to a high standard. As a member of the Edinburgh Musical Society in the 1740s he was expected to be a performer, and he would have played alongside William McGibbon a fellow member who was probably the most accomplished British violinist of his day.

JAMES OSWALD (1710-1769) started his career as a dancing master in Dunfermline in the early 1730s. He was also a cellist, violinist, music teacher, publisher and composer, active in Edinburgh from 1736, and moving to London in 1741 where he rose to the height of his profession, becoming Chamber Composer to King George III in 1761, and ending his life a wealthy man in his own right as well as spending his last days in the splendid Knebworth House which his second wife had inherited. An early notebook from 1734 shows that he studied and imitated the Italian style of composition, as well as cultivating his own native music.
 
His works included two satirical Cantatas, Masonic vocal trios published in Edinburgh in 1740, pieces for guitar solo and duet. Besides these, there are Six Pastoral Solos, Twelve Serenatas, Fifty-five Marches, a Sonata on Scots Tunes, and The Caledonian Pocket Companion - a fifteen volume collection of Scots songs and tunes made by Oswald, some of them traditional and others composed by himself and his Airs for the Seasons in two volumes.
 
Oswald's Airs for the Seasons commenced publication in 1755 in parts as Airs for the Spring - and so on for Summer, Autumn and Winter, and they were so successful that he put together a second set intended to follow on from the first, as the page numbers indicate. As each season has twelve 'Airs', bearing the title of a flower, shrub, or tree, this makes the remarkable total of twice forty-eight pieces, representing ninety-six different plants. However, the second set survives in only a single copy (in the Wighton Collection in Dundee City Library).

David Foulis: Sonata III in E major

The Michael Philip Ceilidh Band
Canadian Barn Dance: Captain Carswell/ The Conundrum

Live recordings from the famous Riverside Club in Glasgow – centre of the 90’s ceilidh dance revival. The Michael Philip Ceilidh Band are: Michael Philip from Cardenden on accordion, Robert Ross from Kincardine on accordion, Suzanne Gray from Alloa on string bass, Paul Clancy from Dundee on keyboards and Gordon Robertson from Larbert on drums.

This is a track from the album Michael Philip Ceilidh Band: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1035/" target="_self">At the Riverside</a>.

Canadian Barn Dance: Captain Carswell/ The Conundrum

Iain McLachlan: An Island Heritage

Iain McLachlan's music comes as fresh as the sea breezes wafting over the Uist machair - Highland and Gaelic as his island heritage. I recall two wonderful music sessions with Iain at a ceilidh and dance in Daliburgh in South Uist back in 1976 and again at one of the famous Kinross Festivals where he played about a dozen pipe marches off the cuff with the unbroken link up that comes of playing at a thousand dances.

Iain, from Benbecula, is best known as an accordionist, but on this recording he also plays fiddle and melodeon, and is joined by Calum Iain MacCorquodale of Bayhead, North Uist on accordion and fiddle and by Calum Campbell of Balivanich on goose and jaws harp. His Highland Harry using the trill grace note which was a favourite ornament with the old Highland fiddlers, and the two pipe reels of Drummond and The Sheepwife on accordion with Calum on the goose, are truly inspiring.
[from sleeve notes by Aonghas Grant, Lochaber].

Here he plays a set of reels on the single row melodeon: MRS MacLEOD OF RAASAY
and HIGH ROAD TO LINTON. The set was recorded at the Kinross Festival in September 1976.

This is a track from the album Iain McLachlan: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1022/" target="_self">An Island Heritage</a>.

Mrs MacLeod Of Raasay/ High Road To Linton

MARGARET'S WALTZ/ LAIRD O DRUMBLAIR/ DEIL AMONG THE TAILORS

Aly Bain's brilliant fiddle playing has won him wide acclaim and brought new audiences to traditional music. Here he leads a tour of Scotland with Scotland's Young Champions. Aly Bain on fiddle with the Young Champions and Violet Tulloch on piano play a finale set: Margaret's Waltz/ Laird O Drumblair/ Deil Among The Tailors - recorded in Ballachulish Community Hall.

The album was recorded live during a week long tour by Aly with some of the finest of Scotland's younger generation of musicians and singers, travelling from Arbroath to Glasgow, Strathdon to Thurso and down the west coast to Ballachulish and Oban -- to packed houses all the way. Some of the best times were those spent by the Young Champions playing tunes together and with Aly on the coach on the long road north. A new tune was even composed for Hamish the driver!

Tracks include an opening set composed by Aly Bain's fellow Shetlander Ronnie Cooper - Dr. Donaldson and The Anvil; several Scottish folk songs The Pear Tree and A Wee Burr Stuck tae Ma Apron; a Gaelic song An Ataireachd Ard from Vicki Ferguson with clarsach accompaniment. Instrumental sets include Scott Williams on tin whistle, Russell Kostulin on fiddle, Bruce Lidsay on accordion, a set of tunes from Martyn Bennett on cauldwind pipes and finishing with Margaret's Waltz made famous by Aly in earlier recordings.

This is a track from the album: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1032/" target="_parent">Aly Bain & Young Champions</a>.

Aly Bain: Margaret's Waltz/ Laird O Drumblair/ Deil Among The Tailors

RHYNIE

On Springthyme SPRCD 1039
Jock Duncan - Ye Shine Whar Ye Stan!

Jock Duncan learned this Aberdeenshire masterpiece from the singing of the great John Strachan (farmer at the farm of Crichie the other side of Fyvie from Jock's parents family farm) - who sang it accompanying himself on concertina. The song was included in Norman Buchan's influential 101 Scottish Songs published in 1962 and is in the Greig-Duncan Folk-Song Collection (GD 343) under the title Jock o Rhynie. An old man, William Forsyth, told Greig thet he 'remembered as a boy his mother sing Jock o Rhynie and this would take the song back to say 1830.' The farmer at Mains o Rhynie (in the high glens of Auchindoir in Strathbogie about 8 miles south of Huntly) from 1830 until his death in 1851 was John Gordon and he was known as 'Jock o Rhynie' but there may have been earlier Jocks at Rhynie and the song could well be earlier. He is said to have denied his work was 'ill to work' although he admitted that Rhynie's work was 'very hard.'

1: At Rhynie I sheared my first hairst,
Doun by the fit o Benachie,
Ma maister there was ill tae fit, [hard to please
But laith wis I tae loss my fee.
 Linten ourin ourin addie,
 Linten ourin ourin ee.

2: Rhynie's wark is ill tae work,
An Rhynie's wauges is bit sma,
Rhynie's laws are double strick, [i.e. very strict
And that's fit grieves me warst of aa.
 Linten ourin ourin addie,
 Linten ourin ourin ee.

3: Rhynie is a cauld clay hole,
It's nane een like ma father's toun,
Rhynie is a hungry place,
And it disnae suit a Lawland loon.
 Linten ourin ourin addie,
 Linten ourin ourin ee.

4: Sair I've focht and sair I've vrocht, [i.e. worked
Until I won my penny fee,
And I'll ging back tae the gate I cam, [i.e. the way I came
And a better bairnie I will be.
 Linten ourin ourin addie,
 Linten ourin ourin ee.

Jock: John Strachan was never bettered at this song about the hand shearin days before the reaper made short work of it. This young man's first shearin wis an unhappy experience, wages were sma and it wis a hungry place and the farmer's laws were double strict. Folk think o Rhynie as being 'My God, thats a wild place, there canna be much growin up there.' It's hilly and there's a lot a sheepie grun, but it's (also) some o the finest corn growin country that ever wis.

Jock never worked on Rhynie, but not long ago he and his wife Frances climbed the nearby hill Tap o Noth to look down over the lands of Rhynie.

Jock: Whit drew me to Tap o Noth wis the fine walk through the whin and up through the breem. You're gaun back 4, 5000 year because ye'd the vitrified fort on the top. And here's me standin on the top o the vitrified fort singin Rhynie, lookin doun, a beautiful sunny day, on the hairst parks o Rhynie away in the distance. And I wis thinkin o Jock –

This song is from the Springthyme CD Jock Duncan: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1039/" target="_self">Ye Shine Whar Ye Stan!</a>.

Jock Duncan: Rhynie

A set of cheery Scottish jigs from Sprangeen. 

With their unique and imaginative combination of fiddles, metal and gut strung Celtic harps, concertinas, flute, whistle and double bass, SPRANGEEN brought a new dimension to the spectrum of Scottish music when they issued this their first and only album as an LP in 1984. The band (of seven women) derived their style and repertoire from a wide range of traditional roots, from Gaelic waulking songs to Border fiddle tunes, and from Highland pipe music to traditional Scottish songs. All have gone on to contribute to the richness of the current Scottish music revival, Patsy Seddon and Mary MacMaster were both founder members of The Poozies and they play together as a duet in Sileas.

Buy this!

SPRANGEEN: Sally Hunter/ Off She Goes/ Lads Of Dunse

Savourna Stevenson on clarsach with Aly Bain on fiddle in a lilting arrangement of this great traditional Irish tune learned from the repertoire of the famous Irish Uillean piper Willie Clancy of Miltown Malbay, County Clare. This version is a newly compiled and extended version included as an additional track on the 2012 reissue of the album. 

Savourna Stevenson has been playing the Scottish small harp or clarsach since she was a child and has long been regarded as one of its leading exponents. This track is from her Tickled Pink album where she plays traditional tunes from Ireland, England, Scotland and Shetland and also includes several of her own compositions including the title track. Savourna plays clarsach on all tracks and is joined on selected tracks by Aly Bain on fiddle and by Frank Usher on acoustic guitar. Since recording this her first album as an LP in 1985 Savourna has recorded more than half a dozen albums – several with rock and jazz musicians – and, while identifying strongly with her Scottish roots, she continues to break through stylistic barriers between traditional, world music, blues, jazz and classical.

Savourna has her own website at <a href="http://www.savournastevenson.com/" target="_self">Savourna Stevenson</a>

Savourna Stevenson & Aly Bain: The Trip We Took Over The Mountains

Sung by Jim Reid on his album I Saw the Wild Geese Flee. Jim Reid's 'Wild Geese' album, first issued in 1984, immediately established him as one of Scotland's finest singers. The song has since been recorded by numerous other singers.

This poem, set to music by Jim, comes from the pen of the late Helen Cruickshank who published the piece under the title Shy Geordie. The Noran Water flows into the South Esk near Brechin. 

Words arranged and music by Jim Reid/Springthyme Music © 1984


1: Up the Noran Water
In by Inglismaddy,
Annie's got a bairnie
That hasna got a daddy.
Some think it's Tammas's
An some think it's Chay's;
An naebody expectit it,
Wi Annie's quiet ways.

2: Up the Noran Water
The bonnie little mannie
Is dandlit and cuddled close
By Inglismaddy's Annie.
Wha the bairnie's faither is
The lassie never says;
But some think it's Tammas's,
And ithers think it's Chay's.

3: Up the Noran Water
The country folk are kind:
And wha the bairnie's faither is
They dinna muckle mind.
But oh! the bairn at Annie's breist,
The love in Annie's ee
Wad mak me wish wi aa ma micht
That the lucky lad wis me!

4: And oh! the bairn at Annie's breist,
The love in Annie's ee
Wad mak me wish wi aa ma micht
That the lucky lad wis me!


More / Buy

Jim Reid: Up The Noran Water

Barnyards O Delgaty

Norman Kennedy - Donald is a Piper / Port A Beul

Here Norman sings The Laird o the Dainty Doun By learned from Jeannie Robertson the famed Aberdeen traditional singer. Jeannie was a neighbour and friend of Norman's in Aberdeen. The recording was made at the St Andrews Folk Club in the Star Hotel in 1964 when the singers from the Aberdeen Folk Club were the guests. 

1: A bonnie lass was milkin her faither's kye
A gentleman on horseback cam ridin by
A gentleman on horseback cam ridin by,
He’s the Laird o the Dainty Doonby.

2: “Hey bonnie lass an fit what wad ye dee
Gin I wis tae spend a nicht wi ye?”
“A nicht wi me that never will be
Though ye're Laird o the Dainty Doonby.”

3: But he’s keppit her by the middle sae sma,
And intae the lang grass he’s placed her doon
’Twas a lang, lang time e’er he let her up again,
The Laird o the Dainty Doonby.

4: Ae bonnie morn, and it was a bonnie day,
Her father for in some money had to pay,
Her father for in some money had to pay
Tae the Laird o the Dainty Doonby.

5: “Mornin”, says he, “And hoo dae ye do?
And hoo’s yer dochter Janet the noo?
And hoo's yer dochter Janet the noo?”
Says the Laird o the Dainty Doonby.

6: “Ma dochter Janet, she is no verra weel,
My dochter Janet she soors at her kail.
My dochter Janet she gey-like pale
Since ye laid her in the Dainty Doonby.”

7: Weel, he’s taen her be the lily-fite hand,
He showed her the rooms and there wis twenty-one.
He’s putten the keys oot intae her hand,
“Noo ye're Lady o the Dainty Doonby.”

8: “O,” says the auld man, “fit’ll I dae?”
“O,” says the auld wife, “I’ll dance till I dee.”
“Weel,” says the auld man, “I think I'll dae that tae
Since she's Lady o the Dainty Doonby.”

The song is in the second edition of David Herd - Scottish Songs and Ballads of 1776  (Vol II p231) under the title The Dainty Downby in 12 stanzas. (Roud 864).

See: https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/thelairdofthedaintydoonby.html

Norman Kennedy - Dainty Dounby

Norman here sings  Lord Gregory - a superb rendition of the ballad in a recording made at the St Andrews Folk Club in the Star Hotel in 1964 when the singers from the Aberdeen Folk Club were the guests.

1: It’s of a King's daughter who strayed from Cappoquin
In search of Lord Gregory, pray God I'll find him.

2: The rain falls on me heavy locks, the dew chills my skin, 
The baby’s cold in my arms, love, “O Gregory let me in.”

3: “Lord Gregory is not here love, nor henceforth can he be seen 
For he's gone to bonny Scotland to bring home his new queen.”

4: “So leave now these windows and likewise this hall,
For it's deep in the sea, love, you should hide your downfall.”

5: “Do you remember, Lord Gregory, that night in Cappoquin?
When we changed rings upon our fingers and that against my will.”

6: “For yours was the pure gold, love, and mine was but black tin,
 For yours was worth ten guineas, love, but mine but one cent.”

7: “Do you remember, Lord Gregory, that night in my father's hall? 
When we exchanged pocket handkerchiefs and that was worst of all.”

8: “For yours was fine linen, love, and mine was coarse cloth, 
For yours was worth one guinea, love, and mine but a groat.”

9: But leave now these windows and likewise this hall,
For it’s deep in the sea, love, you should hide your downfall.”

The earliest version of this Scottish ballad was included in David Herd’s Scottish Songs of 1776 - in his manuscript as The Bonny Lass of Lochroyan. Norman’s version is likely to have come from Ireland - perhaps directly or otherwise from the version collected from Elizabeth Cronin in Co Clare by Alan Lomax in 1951.  
Roud 49; Child 746

Norman Kennedy - Lord Gregory

Here Norman sings She Was a Rum One learned from Jeannie Robertson the famed Aberdeen traditional singer.  Jeannie was a neighbour and friend of Norman's in Aberdeen. The recording was made at the St Andrews Folk Club in the Star Hotel in 1964 when the singers from the Aberdeen Folk Club were the guests. Jeannie had been a guest a year earlier and had sung the song then to great acclaim - so the audience already knew the song well and join in the chorus with enthusiasm.

1: As I strolled out one May mornin,
One May mornin right early,
It’s there I spied a pretty fair maid.
And she was a rum one
Fal-the-diddle-I-do-ay
But a bonny one
Fal-the-diddle-I-do

2: Now she walked up and she walked down
And I walked close behind her
And I asked of her the reason why
She could not stride no wider.

Chorius:
She was a rum one
Fal-the-diddle-I-do-ay
But a bonny one
Fal-the-diddle-I-do

3: Go away, go away, you foolish young man
Stop that foolish talking
For it little becomes young men like you
Tae pick up young ladies walking.

4: “O I am a docter tae my trade
My freends they call me rare O
If ye’ll tell me far your trouble lies
I'II see fit I can try O.”

5: “Well ma trouble lies between my thighs
And there it is abidin
It tickles me baith nicht and day
And it keeps me fae my stridin.

6: Noo she lay doun upon the bank
And I provided the plaister
When I raised up she cried tae me
“O never end it maister.”

7: Weel, she gied tae me my winter's keep
LIkewise my winter's fairin
But the best thing that she's gied tae me
Was the stablin for my stallion.

Norman Kennedy - She Was A Rum One

Norman Kennedy - Banks of the Sweet Primroses

Norman Kennedy - Waulkin Song at St Andrews

This recording is probably Norman's earliest - a superb rendition of Bonnie Udny recorded in 1963 - a song known by many traditional singers in Aberdeenshire - and celebrating the 'Lang walks o Udny'. 

1: O Udny, bonny Udny, ye shine far ye stand,
The mair I see Udny the mair my hert yearns;
Though I’m east or I’m west fare’er I may be,
O aa the lands in Scotland, bonnie Udny’s for me. 

2: For it's ye’ll pu the reid rose and I'll pu the thyme,
For ye’ll drink tae your love and I'll drink tae mine;
For my mind will not alter nor go to and fro;
But I’ll aye be kind herted tae the lassie I loe.  

3: Noo it’s time tae drink up boys, it is time tae gyang hame,
For tae bide here ony langer we’d get a bad name;
And tae get a bad name, boys, that never would dee, 
For the lang walks o Udny are aa tae gae through. 

4: For Udny, bonnie Udny, ye shine far ye stan,
The mair I see Udny the mair my hert yearns,
Though I’m east or I’m west fare’er I may be,
O aa the lands in Scotland, bonnie Udny’s for me.

The recording is taken from the vinyl LP of a concert held in the Pollock Hall, Edinburgh organised by the Scottish Federation of Folk Clubs in 1963 - bringing together singers from folk clubs all over Scotland. Norman was part of the contingent from Aberdeen Club that also included Isla StClair.

Bonnie Udny - Norman Kennedy

Springthyme is a record label dedicated to presenting Scotland's living tradition in song and music. Founded in 1974 by musician and singer Pete Shepheard, the label has introduced many fine singers, musicians to the world of recorded music. The very first album was recorded during the weekend traditional music festival held in Kinross in 1973 with musicians including Aly Bain and Tom Anderson and the Shetland Fiddlers and the first recording of ballad singer Stanley Robertson of Aberdeen. Other artistes on Springthyme include Jim Reid, The Foundry Bar Band, Ossian, Jock Duncan, Bill Black, Duncan Williamson, Lizzie Higgins, Jim Crawford, Tom Hughes, John Watt & Davey Stewart, Iain McLachlan and many more including a CD from Pete's own band Shepheard, Spiers & Watson. Springthyme has also issued recordings from their field recordings archive in cooperation with the Musical Traditions label.

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