Blath

O come all ye tramps and hawker boys
And gatherers o blath
That tramps this country roon and roon
Come listen ane and aa
I¼ll tell to you a rovin tale
And sichts that I hae seen
O far into the snowy north
And south by Gretna Green

I¼ve see the high Ben Nevis
A-towerin to the moon
I¼ve benn by (?)
And roon by bonnie doon
And by the (?) silvery tides
And places (?)
And far into the snowy north
Lies (?) bonnie glen

Loch Lomond, Loch (?)
Has all been seen by me
The Dee, the Don, the Devron
That hurries into the sea
Dun (?) Castle by the way
I nearly had forgot
And aye the rickle o (?)
The house o John o Groat

I¼m often doon by Galloway
Or roon about Stranraer
My journey takes me everywhere
I¼m sure I¼ve travelled far
I¼ve got the rovin notion
It¼s nothing to what I los¼
In all my days my daily fare
And where I¼ll pass my doss

Sometimes I laugh into mysel
When I¼m trudging on the road
With a bag o blath upon my back
My face as broon as a toad
Wi (?) cake and tattie scones
And cheese and (?) ham
No thinking whaur I¼m coming frae
Nor whaur I¼m goin tae gang

I¼m happy in the summertime
Beneath the bright blue sky
No thinking in the mornin
At nicht whaur I¼m goin tae lie
Or barns or byres or anywhere
Or in amongst the hay
And if the weather does permit
I¼m happy every day

I think I¼ll gang tae Paddy¼s land
I¼m makkin up my mind
For Scotland¼s greatly altered noo
I cannae raise the wind
O I will trust in Providence
Let Providence will prove true
And I will sing of the Erin¼s isle
When I come home to you

The Braes o Gleniffar

O it¼s cold blows the wind oer the braes o Gleniffar
For my old castle turret is covered in snaw
How fain frae the time when I first met my lover
Among the green bushes by Stanley green shore

O the ilk thing aroon us was blithesome and bonny
O the ilk thing aroon us was bonny and braw
Now naethin is heard but the wind swiftling dreary
And naethin is seen but the wide-spreadin snaw

O the trees are a-bare and the birds mute and dowie
As they shake the cold drift frae their wings as they flee
And they chirp oot their plain sayin O for my Johnny
It's winter with him and it's winter wi me

O thon caul sleety cloud skiffs along the bleak mountain
And shakes the dark firs on the steep rocky brae
While doon the dark glen blaws a snow-flooded fountain
that murmured sae sweet tae my laddie and me

O it's no its wild roar as it roars down the mountain
It's no its wild surge brings a tear to my ee
For it¼s O gin I seen my bonnie Scotch laddie
The dark days o winter would be summer to me

Willy Drowned at Sea

O it's seven long years since my true love left me
It is seven long years since he went to sea
It is seven long years since my true love left me
I hope he'll come back and he'll marry me

Now I lie in my bed and I often wonder
I lie in my bed and I often pray
I pray to my dearest God in heaven
Would he send my true love O home to me

Now who is that there that is at my window?
Who is keeping me out of my night's rest?
It is not my father, it is not my mother
Who is keeping me out of my night's rest

He said, Open your door, love, and let me in, love
Will you open your door, love, will you let me in?
For I am cold, love, and I am weary
And I am wet to the very skin

So she opened the door with the greatest of pleasure
She opened the door and she let him in
Saying, If you're my Willy you have changed your color
You're not like the young man I used to know

So they went walking and got talking
Until the small cock he began to crow
He said, I must away, dear, I can stay no longer
O for it's afar away I have to go

She said, Willy dear love O please don't leave me
O Willy dear don't go back to sea
O Willy dear O please don't leave me
O Willy won't you stay with me?

He said, I must away, dear, I can stay no longer
For it's afar away I have to go
And when I'm gone, love, please pray no longer
For never more can I come home to you

The Factory Girl

(...)

Bonny Loch Leven

O twilight has fallen on bonny Loch Leven
Hilltops are glowing (?)
When over the hillside a lassie cam callin
Calling her cattle to come home from the glen

Refrain:
O come, come hither, darkness is fallin
Shadows gather (?)
O come my dearies, come to your callin
Home to your sheeelin in the glen

O years have gone by since I last saw my dearie
O years I have roved on the dark rollin sea
Far over the waters her voice comes a-callin
Calling her cattle at (?)

(Refrain)

Down by the Marlin Green

Here I am a stranger, just newly home from sea
And my ship it lies at anchor in the harbor o Dundee
O your face it is the fairest dear that ever I had seen
O fair young maid would you walk with me down by the Marlin Green?

With a roguish smile upon her face, she answered me and said:
Kind sir I'd love to walk with you, but you know I am afraid
For the paths they are so slippery and the night so cold and keen
It would not do for me to fall down by the Marlin Green

But with kindly words and promises along with me she went
We rambled here and rambled there (?) time we spent
And I fear that maid had many's the fall down by the Marlin Green

O soon my time for sailin came from the harbor o Dundee
I left a poor young maiden for to weep to poverty
For to slightly love and sail away is neither straight nor clean
So never do what I once done down by the Marlin Green

Then as I lay on my bed one night when my weary watch was done
I dreamt I was the father of a darlin baby son
And I saw its mother too right plainly to be seen
And she was weeping bitterly down by the Marlin Green

So when my ship returns again to the harbor o Dundee
I will search the town all up and down till my darling I do see
I will ask her to forgive me for the rogue that I had been
And we will make it up again down by the Marlin Green

Tam Lin

O Lady Margaret she sat in her high chamber
She was sewing her silken seams
She luikit east and she luikit west
And she saw those woods grow green

So picking up her petticoats
Beneath a harlin gown
And when she came to the neighboring woods
There she laid them down, down
There she laid them down

O she had not pulled one nut, one nut,
One nut nor scarcely three
When the highest lord in all the countryside
Cam a-riding through the trees, the trees
Cam a-riding through the trees

He said, Why do you pull those nuts, those nuts,
How dare you bend those trees
How dare you come to my merry green woods
Without the leave of me?

She said, Sir, oncet on time those woods were mine
Without the leave of yours
And I can come to this merry green woods
And I can bend those trees, those trees
And I can bend those trees

So he took her gently by the hand
And he gently laid her down
And when he had his will of her
He rose her up again

She said, Now you've had your will of me
Come tell to me your name
And if a baby I do have
I will call it the same

He said I'm an earl's son from Carlyle
And I own all those woods so green
And I was taken when I was young
By an evil fairy queen

But tomorrow night is Halloween
And all those nobles you can see
And if you will come to the five mile gate
There you can set me free, O free
There you can set me free

O first they will come some dark, some dark
Then they will come some brown
But when there comes a milkwhite steed
You must pull its rider down, down
You must pull its rider down

O first I'll turn to a wicked snake
And then to a lion so wild
O hold me fast, fear me not
I may be the father of your child

Then I'll turn to a naked man
O an angry man I'll be
Just throw your mantle over me
And then you will have me free, O free
And then you will have me free

So that night at the midnight hour
Lady Margaret she made her way
And when she came to the five mile gate
She waited patiently, O ly
She waited patiently

O first there came some dark, some dark
Then there came some brown
But when there came a milkwhite steed
She pulled the rider down, down
She pulled the rider down

First he turned to a wicked snake
Then to a lion so wild
She held him fast, she feared him not
He may be the father of her child

Then he turned to a naked man
O an angry man was he
She threw her mantle over him
And then she had him free, O free
And then she had him free

Then cried a voice of the fairy queen
O an angry queen was she
Saying, If I had known yesterday
O what I know today
I'd took out your very heart's blood
And put in a heart of clay, of clay
And put in a heart of clay

So Lady Margaret on the white milk steed
Lord William on his dappled grey
With a bugle and horn hangin down by the side
It's merrily they rode away, away
It's merrily they rode away

The Sailor and the Maid

A pretty fair maid walking in her garden
When a handsome sailor cames walking by
And as he views her he steps up to her
Sayin, Fair young maid would you fancy I?

To fancy you, sir, it would not do, sir
For I have a true lover of my own
And he's but a true and a faithful sailor
And seven long years now since he's been gone

But seven long years makes no alterations
Another seven I'll wait for him
And if he is wed sure I wish him happy
And if he is dead sure I wish him rest

He said, Do you see that big castle up yonder?
And do you see all those lilies white?
I will but give you it's gold and silver
If you will be my true love tonight

She said, What do I care for your gold and silver?
O what do I care for your lilies white?
O what do I care for your castle up yonder?
If my own true lover was here tonight

He put his hand all into his pocket
His fingers were so genteel and small
He brought out a ring that was broke between them
And when she saw it she down did fall

He picked her up all into his arms
He gave gave her kisses one and two
Sayin, I am your true and your faithful sailor
And I've come home dear to marry you

Thomas the Rhymer

True Thomas he lay on a Huntly bank
Beneath an Eilton tree
O when he saw a lady fair
Comin ridin oer the lea

O Thomas he doffed off his hat
He got down upon his knee
He said, Lady you're the greatest queen
That ever I did see

O no O no O Thomas, she said
That name does not belong to me
For I have come from Elfinland
I have come to visit thee

And you maun come O Thomas, she said
You maun come along wi me
For I am bound for Elfinland
It is very far away

O her mantle it was of the forest green
And her tresses they were so fair
And from every tass of her horse's mane
Hung twenty siller bells and mair

O mount you up O Thomas, she said
You maun come along with me
For I am bound for Elfinland
It is very far away

So they rode and they rode and they merrily merrily rode
And merrily they rode away
Until they came to a red river
That lay across their way

What river is this? O Thomas he said
O please to me do say
This is a river of blood, she said
That is spilled on this earth in one day

So they rode and they rode and they merrily merrily rode
And merrily they rode away
Until they came to a crystal river
That lay across their way

What river is this? O Thomas he said
O please to me do say
This is a river of tears, she said
That is spilled on this earth in one day

So they rode and they rode and they merrily merrily rode
And merrily they rode away
Until they came to a thorny road
That lay across their way

What road is this? O Thomas he said
O please to me do tell
This is a road you must never lead
For this road it leads to hell

So they rode and they rode and they merrily merrily rode
And merrily they rode away
Until they came to a great orchard
That lay across their way

Lie down, lie down O Thomas he said
O it's hungry that I maun be
Lie down, lie down O Thomas he said
Some fine apples I do see

O touch hem not the Elfin queen said
Please touch hem not I say
For they are made from the curses
That fall on this earth in one day

Then reachin up into a tree
Into a tree so high
She plucked an apple from a tree
As they went riding by

O eat you this O Thomas, she said
As we go riding by
And it will give to you a tongue
That will never tell a lie

So they rode and they rode and they merrily merrily rode
And merrily they rode away
Until they came to a great valley
That lay across their way

What valley is this? O Thomas he said
O please to me do say
O this is Elfinland, she said
And it's here that you maun stay

So Thomas got some shoes of lovely brown
And a coat of elfin green
And for seven long years and a day
On earth he was never seen

Glenswilly

O come listen a while you countrymen, and hear my native tune
Although my song is rather full, to me you may excuse
I left my peaceful (?) for a foreign land to see
And I bid farewell to Donegal, goodbye to Glenswilly

No more amongst the sycamore I will hear the blackbird sing
No more to me the blithe cuckoo will welcome back the spring
No more I'll see those fighting fields, a chuisle geal mo chroÌdhe
And I'm fond to roam to a foreign soil O far from Glenswilly

Brave (?) men around me stood, each comrade bright and true
And as I shook each well-known hand to bid my last adieu
Saying, Aye my fellow countrymen, I hope you'll soon be free
And we'll wave the green flag proudly over the hills of Glenswilly

God bless you, (?) Donegal, my own dear native land
In dreams I see those lovely hills and lovely mountains grand
Across three thousand miles I'll be, betwixt your land and me
And I'm fond to roam to a foreign soil O far from Glenswilly

My ship is bound for America, right by the Isle o Man
The (?) the comfort I can stand
But the comfort I would seek the most, as you will all agree,
Is to wave the green flag proudly over the hills of Glenswilly

God bless you, (?) Donegal, my own dear native land
In dreams I see those lovely hills and lovely mountains grand
Across three thousand miles I'll be, betwixt your land and me
And I'm fond to roam to a foreign soil O far from Glenswilly

A Bothy Ballad

O noo I'm tired o my farm work
Noo I'm tired o my labor
I'm goin awa doon tae the games
I'm a try and toss the caber
Wi ma doo dum day ma diddy dum da
Ma diddy dum doo dum diddy o

I gangs doon tae the games park
The first thing I did see
Was twenty kilted Highland lads
A-gathered roon a tree
Wi ma doo dum day ma diddy dum da
Ma diddy dum doo dum diddy o

They were frs in their Sunday best
Babies in their prams
But me just like a muckle fool
There in ma knickie tams
Wi ma doo dum day ma diddy dum da
Ma diddy dum doo dum diddy o

Then a lassie she cries oot
Jack, she cries tae me
Come show these kilted Highland lads
The way to toss a tree
Wi ma doo dum day ma diddy dum da
Ma diddy dum doo dum diddy o

Noo I been fed on tattie kale
I been fed on br(?)
But hoo I'm gaunnie toss this tree
O God he only knows
Wi ma doo dum day ma diddy dum da
Ma diddy dum doo dum diddy o

So I taks twa stepd forward
My banes they gan a crack
O and the next thing that I ken
I was lyin on my back
Wi ma doo dum day ma diddy dum da
Ma diddy dum doo dum diddy o

Noo I hae courted the maidens
Aroon the barn door
But to lie and cuddle a big pine tree
I never done before
Wi ma doo dum day ma diddy dum da
Ma diddy dum doo dum diddy o

For to mak yer fortune at the games
It's a thing ye canna do
So I warn all yous plowman lads
Jus bide behind yer plow
Wi ma doo dum day ma diddy dum da
Ma diddy dum doo dum diddy o

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