“Heather Down the Moor (Among the Heather; Down the Moor)”
Description
The singer wanders "down the moor" and meets a beautiful girl. He courts her "the live-long day," and she stays with him even as her flocks wander. At the end, she leaves him. He wishes he could find her again and make her his "queen among the heather"
Notes
This song is very close to "Queen among the Heather" (Kennedy #141, etc.); they have similar plots and occasional common lyrics. There will be versions where it is almost impossible to tell which is which. I thought about listing them as one song.
But on consideration, this song has two characteristics rarely seen in "Queen among the Heather." First, this song tends to follow a complex stanza pattern:
One morn in may, when fields were gay,
Serene and pleasant was the weather.
I chanced to roam some miles from home
Among the bonnie bloomin' heather
Down the heather
O'er the moor and through the heather.
I chanced to roam some miles from home
Among the bonnie bloomin' heather
Down the moor.
"Queen among the Heather" usually has simple four-line stanzas.
"Heather down the Moor" also tends to end with the lines
But if I were a king, I would make her a queen,
The bonnie lass I met among the heather
Down the moor. - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "Queen Among the Heather" (plot, lyrics)
- cf. "The Magpie's Nest" (lyrics)
- cf. "Banks of Sullane" (theme)
References
- SHenry H177, pp. 271-272, "O'er the Moor amang the Heather" (1 text, 1 tune)
- Morton-Ulster 3, "Heather on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
- OLochlainn-More 6, "Doon the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
- DT, HTHRMOOR*
- Roud #375
- BI, HHH177