OSSIAN

Ossian

Copyright: Trad. Arr. Ossian/Springthyme Music © 1984

 

A traditional love song, The Corncrake comes from south west Scotland mentioning the town of Ayr and the river Doune which flows to the sea just south of the town. The sound of the corncrake (a harsh rasping call which might not be thought particularly romantic) has now become rare in mainland Scotland with the loss of meadow habitat. The song is known throughout Scotland and is in the Greig-Duncan Folk-Song Collection.

This is followed by the air of another song, in jig time I Hae a Wife o Ma Ain which was written by Robert Burns and contributed by him to Johnson's Scots Musical Museum in 1792.

 

Oh the lass that I loed best of all was handsome young and fair,

Wi her I spent some merry nights upon the banks o Ayr;

Wi her I spent some merry nights by yon wee burnie rows,

Whaur the echo mocks the corncrakes amang the whinny knowes.

 

Oh we loed each other dearly and disputes we seldom had,

As constant as the pendulum her heart beats always glad;

We sought for joy and found it by yon wee burnie rows,

Whaur the echo mocks the corncrakes amang the whinny knowes.

 

Ah ye maidens fair and pleasure dames drive tae the banks o Doune,

An ye'll dearly pay for every scent tae the barber for perfume;

But rural joy is free tae aa whaur scented clover grows,

Whaur the echo mocks the corncrakes amang the whinny knowes.

 

Oh the lass that I loed best of all was handsome young and fair,

Wi her I spent some merry nights upon the banks o Ayr;

Wi her I spent some merry nights by yon wee burnie rows,

Whaur the echo mocks the corncrakes amang the whinny knowes.

MA ROVIN EYE

Billy Ross - lead vocal & guitar; Billy Jackson - whistle & vocal; George Jackson - mandolin & vocal; John Martin - fiddle.

Copyright: Trad. Arr. Ossian/Springthyme Music © 1984

 

In one form or another this song is still widely popular - in Ireland as As I Roved Out, in England as Seventeen Come Sunday. This version is from the North East of Scotland.

 

As I gaed o'er yon Hieland hill,

I met a bonny lassie;

And she gied me a wink wi the tail o her ee,

And faith but she was saucy.

 

"Where are ye gaun my bonnie lass?

Where are ye gaun my honey?

Where are ye gaun my bonnie lass?"

"For baccy for my grannie."

 

Chorus:

Wi ma rovin eye,

Fol di doodle die,

Wi ma rovin fol di derry,

Wi ma rovin eye.

 

"Oh what is your name my bonnie lass?

What is your name my honey?

What is your name my bonnie lass."

"Oh they cry me bonnie Annie."

 

"And how old are you my bonnie lass?

How old are you my honey?

How old are you my bonnie lass?"

"I'll be sixteen come Sunday."

 

"Whaur dae ye sleep my bonnie lass?

Whaur dae ye sleep my honey?

Whaur dae ye sleep my bonnie lass?"

"In a wee bed next my mammy."

 

"Oh gin I were tae come tae your hoose then,

When the moon is shining clearly;

Would you arise and let me in,

So yer mother wouldn't hear me?"

 

Oh when I went doun tae the lassie's door,

I found that she was wakened,

Oh but lang, lang e'er the mornin come,

Her mother heard us talkin.


Ó MO DHÙTHAICH

(OH MY COUNTRY) (Gaelic Song)
OSSIAN'S LAMENT

Billy Ross - lead vocal; Billy Jackson - clarsach & flute; George Jackson - fiddle; John Martin - fiddle.

Copyright: Trad. Arr. Ossian/Springthyme Music © 1984

 

The song Ó mo Dhùthaich was collected in South Uist by Margaret Fay Shaw and is in her 1955 collection Folksongs and Folklore of South Uist. Composed by a native of South Uist, Allan MacPhee, as a lament it tells of the hardships he endured - expelled from Skye during the Highland clearances only to experience the even harsher conditions of the Canadian winter in Manitoba. Ossian's Lament is an ancient tune to which it is said the Ossianic bardic poems were chanted.

 

Ó mo dhùthaich, 's tu th'air m'aire,

Uibhist chùmhraidh ùr nan gallan,

Far a faighte na daoin' uaisle,

Far 'm bu dual do Mhac 'ic Ailein.

 

Tìr a' mhurain, tìr an eòrna,

Tìr 's am pailt a h-uile seòrsa,

Far am bi na gillean òga

Gabhail òran 's 'g òl an leanna.

 

Thig iad ugainn, carach, seòlta,

Gus ar mealladh far ar n-eòlais;

Molaidh iad dhuinn Manitòba,

Dùthaich fhuar gun ghual, gun mhòine.

 

Cha ruig mi leas a bhith 'ga innse,

Nuair a ruigear, 's ann a chìtear,

Samhradh goirid, foghar sìtheil,

Geamhradh fada na droch-shìde.

 

Nam biodh agam fhìn do stòras,

Dà dheis aodaich, paidhir bhrògan,

Agus m'fharadh bhith 'nam phòca,

'S ann air Uibhist dheanainn seòladh.

 

Oh My Country (translation)

Oh my country, of thee I am thinking,

Fragrant fresh Uist of the handsome youths,

Where may be seen young noblemen,

Where once was the heritage of Clanranald.

 

Land of bent grass, land of barley,

Land of all things in plenty,

Where there are young men and youths,

A place of songs and drinking ale.

 

They come to us, cunning and deceitful,

From our homes they would entice us;

To us they praise Manitoba,

A cold country without coal or peat.

 

To tell you of it I need not trouble,

For when one arrives it may be seen,

A short summer, a peaceful autumn,

And a long winter of bad weather.

 

If I was in possession of the wealth,

Of two suits of clothes and a pair of shoes,

And if the fare was in my pocket,

Then for Uist I would be sailing.

OIDHCHE MHATH LEIBH

(GOODNIGHT TO YOU)

Billy Ross - lead vocal & guitar; Billy Jackson - clarsach; George Jackson - whistle; John Martin - fiddle & cello.

Copyright: Trad. Arr. Ossian/Springthyme Music © 1984

 

A Gaelic 'parting song' of the 1890s composed by Iain MacPhaidein of Mull. 'Not an instrument played wakens my thoughts with happiness as songs from the lips of maidens - Goodnight and blessings with you.'

 

Soraidh leibh is oidhche mhath leibh,

Oidche mhath leibh 's beannachd leibh;

Guidheam slàinte 'ghnàth bhi mar ribh,

Oidhche mhath leibh 's beannachd leibh.

 

Chan eil inneal-ciùil a ghleusar,

'Dhùisgeas smuain mo chléibh gu aoibh,

Mar nì duan o bheul nan caileag,

Oidhche mhath leibh, beannachd leibh.

 

Thuit ar crann air saoghal carach,

'S coma siud, tha 'mhaitheas leinn,

Bidh sinn beò an dòchas ro-mhath,

Oidhche mhath leibh, beannachd leibh.

 

Good Night to You (translation)

Farewell and goodnight to you,

Goodnight and blessings with you,

I wish you always good health,

Goodnight and blessings with you.

 

There is not an instrument played,

That wakens my thoughts with happiness,

As songs from the lips of maidens,

Goodnight and blessings with you.

 

Our lot has fallen in a deceitful world,

No matter, its goodness is with us,

We will live in good hope,

Goodnight and blessings with you.


Shetland Reels:

SPOOTASKERRY

THE WILLOW KISHIE

SIMON'S WART

John Martin - fiddle; Billy Jackson - whistle; George Jackson - mandolin; Billy Ross - guitar.

Copyrights: a, Ian Burns/ Shapiro Bernstein; b, Willie Hunter jnr/ Springthyme Music; c, Willie Hunter snr/ Springthyme Music.

 

Three Shetland reels - composed by three different masters of the form, the first by Ian Burns refers to the 'spoot' or spout of water rising in rough seas over a 'skerry' - a partly submerged rock, and was the old name for his great aunt's house at Southness. The second, by Willie Hunter junior, refers to the woven willow basket or 'kishie' that was strapped to the back and used in Shetland for carrying peats. The third, by Willie Hunter senior, is named after a stone built look-out station or 'wart', this particular one - Simon's Wart, or Seoman's as it is pronounced, being in the parish of Nesting.

MUSIC OF SPEY (Slow Air)

Billy Jackson - clarsach; George Jackson - fiddle; John Martin - fiddle; Billy Ross - whistle.

Copyright: J.S. Skinner. Arr. Ossian/Springthyme Music © 1984

 

A fine slow air by the Scottish fiddler, 'strathspey king' James Scott Skinner from his Miller of Hirn collection of 1881. The piece was inspired by one of the great salmon rivers of the North East that flows through whisky distilling country from the Grampian mountains to the Moray Firth.