1. |
Far Over the Forth
04:14
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Far over the forth, I look at the north
But what is the north with its highlands to me?
The south nor the east give ease to my breast
It’s a far foreign land o’er the wild rolling sea.
Ah, the long summer day, amid the heather and the bracken
The joy and delight in his bonny blue eyes
It’s little I knew that the wild western ocean,
Would be rolling this day between my laddie and me.
His father he frowned on the love of his boyhood
And oh, his proud mother looked cold upon me
But he still followed me to my home in the shieling
And the hills of Breadalbane rung wild with our glee.
We trysted our love on the cairn, on the mountains
The deer and the roe stood bridemaiden to me
And my love’s trying glass was a pure crystal fountain
What then was the world to my laddie and me?
So I look at the west as I go to my rest
That happy my dreams and my slumbers may be.
For far in the west lives a lad I love best
He is seeking a home for my baby and me.
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2. |
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When Bony commanded his troops for to stand,
He leveled his cannon all over the land.
He leveled his cannon the whole victory for to gain,
And he slew my light horseman returning from Spain.
CHORUS:
Broken hearted I will wander, broken hearted I will remain,
For my bonny light horseman in the war he was slain.
Now the dove, she laments for her mate as she flies.
“Oh, where tell me where is my true love?” she cries.
And where in this wide world is there one that can compare
With my bonny light horseman, who was slain in the war?
CHORUS
If I was a small bird and had wings to fly,
I’d fly o’er the salt seas where my true love does lie.
And with my fond wings I’d beat over his grave,
And I’d kiss the cold lips that lie dead in the clay.
CHORUS
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3. |
Lord Lovat
03:56
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Lord Lovat he stands at his stable door
He was brushing his milk steed down
When who passed by but Lady Nancy Bell
She was wishing her lover godspeed,
She was wishing her lover godspeed.
“Oh, where are you going, Lord Lovat?” she said,
“Come promise, tell me true.”
“I’m going over the seas, strange countries to see.
Lady Nancy Bell, I’ll come and see you,
Lady Nancy Bell, I’ll come and see.”
He hadn’t been gone a year or two
Scarcely had been three
When a mightiful dream came into his head.
“Lady Nancy Bell, I’ll come and see you,
Lady Nancy Bell, I’ll come and see.”
Oh, he’s passed down to Capelton’s church
And down through Mary’s Hall.
And the ladies were all weeping for,
And the ladies were all weeping for.
“Oh, who is dead?” Lord Lovat, he said,
“Come promise, tell me true.”
“Lady Nancy Bell died for her true lover’s sake.
And Lord Lovat was his name,
And Lord Lovat was his name.”
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4. |
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When I was not but sweet sixteen
And beauty just a-blooming-o.
Oh, little, little, did I think
At nineteen I’d be grieving-o.
CHORUS:
For the ploughman lads, the gay wee lads,
They’re false and they’re deceiving-o.
They’ll take your all and they’ll go away
And they leave their lassies grieving-o
Oh, if I’d have known what I now know
I’d have taken my mother’s warning-o.
And I wouldn’t be sitting by your fireside,
Crying hush-a-bye my baby-o
CHORUS
Oh, hush-a-bye, for I’m your ma,
And lord knows where is your daddy-o.
But I’ll take good care and I’ll be aware
Of the young men in the gloaming-o.
CHORUS
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5. |
Awake, Awake
04:49
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Awake, awake, you drowsy sleeper
Awake, awake, it is almost day
How can you sleep, you cruel creature
Since you have stolen my heart away?
Oh, hush, hush, hush, don’t you wake my mother
No songs of love will she let me hear
If you sing songs, go pray court some other
Or whisper lowly in my ear
My father lies in the next room simple
Taking of his natural rest
And in his right hand he holds a weapon
He says he’ll kill the one I love best
Come Polly Von, come, you’ll stop my pining
Sit you down by the side of me
And put your loving arms around me
And say you’ll love no one but me
I’ll go with you in some lonesome valley
There I will spend my days with you
Though all my meals will be of the freshest berries
And the water I drink of the morning dew
Pretty flowers were made to bloom, love
Pretty stars were made to shine
Pretty girls were made for boys to love
And maybe you were made for mine
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6. |
When I Was In My Prime
02:11
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When I was in my prime, I flourished like a vine
There came along a false young man that stole the heart of mine,
That stole the heart of mine.
The gardener standing by, three offers he made to me
The pink, the violet, and red rose, but I refused all three,
But I refused all three.
For the pink’s no flower at all, for it fades away too soon
And the violet is too pale a hue, I think I’ll wait ‘til June,
I think I’ll wait ‘til June.
In June the red rose blooms, that’s not the flower for me
For then I’ll pluck the red rose up and plant a willow tree,
And plant a willow tree.
And the willow tree shall weep, and the willow tree shall wind
I wish I was in the young man’s arms that stole the heart of mine,
That stole the heart of mine.
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7. |
Lovely Molly
04:14
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I once was a ploughboy, but a soldier I am now
I courted with lovely Molly as I followed the plough
I courted with lovely Molly at the age of sixteen
But now I must leave her and serve James my king.
Lovely Molly, lovely Molly, despite all your charms
There is many’s a night you have laid in my arms
And if ever I return again it will be in the spring
Where the mavis and the turtledove and the nightingale sing.
You may go to the market, you may go to the fair
You may go to the church Sunday and meet your new love there.
And if anybody loves you half as much as I do
Then I won’t stop your marriage, farewell love, adieu.
Lovely Molly, lovely Molly, despite all your charms
There is many’s a night you have laid in my arms
And if ever I return again it will be in the spring
Where the mavis and the turtledove and the nightingale sing.
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8. |
The Mermaid
02:52
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It seems you’ve withered and forsaken sport
The snow is higher along the port
Your mouth mellifluous and your ringlets gold,
You’re weary, Mary Kinney, and the Erne is cold.
Oh, faithful mother, cried her daughter fair
I’ve searched the seashore and the rocks bone bare
But my mermaid mother I failed to find
You were swimming the Erne through the wave and wind.
I am so weary as night turns day
With my Mary and Patrick, I’d feign to stay
On the crest of the billow through froth and foam
Pity poor Mary Kinney in her watery home.
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9. |
Yarrow
05:40
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There was a lady in the north
You scarce would find her marrow.
She was courted by nine gentlemen
And the ploughboy lad from Yarrow.
These nine sat drinking at the wine
As oft they’d done before-o.
And they made a vow among them all
To fight for her on Yarrow.
He’s come over hill and over dale
Down by the streams so narrow.
And there he spied nine armed men
Come to fight with him on Yarrow.
“There’s nine of you and but one of me,
It’s an unequal marrow.
But I’ll fight you all one by one
On the dewy dens of Yarrow.”
So it’s three he slew and three withdrew,
And three he wounded sorely.
‘Til her brother he came from behind
And he wounded him most cruelly.
“Go home, go home, you false young man
And bring your sister sorrow.
For her true love John lies pale and wan
On the dewy dens of Yarrow.”
“Oh, brother I have dreamed a dream,
A dream of grief and sorrow.
I dreamed I was pulling the heather bells
On the dewy dens of Yarrow.”
“Oh, sister, dear, I can read your dream
Read in it grief and sorrow.
Your true love John lies dead and gone
On the dewy dens of Yarrow.”
She wrung her hands and tore her hair
All in grief and sorrow
She tore a ribbon from out her hair
That she had received in Yarrow.
Then over hill and over dale
And to the streams so narrow,
‘Til she came upon her true love John,
All dead and gone in Yarrow.
Her hair it was three quarters long
The color it was yellow.
She tied it round his middle so small
And she bore him home from Yarrow.
“Oh, daughter dear, don’t weep and mourn
In mortal grief and sorrow.
I can marry you to a much nobler man
Than the one you lost in Yarrow.”
“Oh, father, you have seven sons,
You can wed them each tomorrow.
But the fairest flower among them all
Was the one I lost in Yarrow.”
“Oh, mother, mother, go make my bed,
Go make it long and narrow.
For my love has died for me this day,
I will die for him tomorrow.”
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10. |
Lurgy Stream
03:59
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When to this country I first came, my mind from love being free
‘Til the beauty of a female fair it so enticed me
Her cheeks were like the roses red and her breath it smelled perfumed
Her golden hair waved in the air, most comely to be seen.
It being a Monday evening, my love I chanced to meet
I took her in my arms and gave her kisses sweet
I asked her if she would marry me or single would remain
And if she’d cross over the seas with me and leave sweet Lurgy Stream.
If I would cross over the seas with you, I might be much to blame
If I’d cross over the seas with you, and leave sweet Lurgy Stream
Young men are false and general, perhaps you are the same
You might leave me there to rue the day I left sweet Lurgy Stream.
Oh, that the sun it may withdraw, no more to show us light
And that the moon it may refrain, no more to rule the night
That the twinkling stars they may fall down and never more be seen
The day or the hour that I’d prove false when far from Lurgy Stream.
Farewell to Letterkenny, it’s a place of sport and fame
Likewise to Kilmacrennan that stands near Lurgy Stream
Farewell awhile to sweet Errigal, likewise to Swilly shore
Where I spent many’s a happy day, will I ever see you more?
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Lindsay Straw Boston, Massachusetts
Traditional folk singer, guitarist & bouzouki player.
"Hearken(s) back to more innocent times, of Greenwich Village and pure folk." - The Living Tradition
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