“Where the Gadie Rins (I)”

Description

The singer wishes she were "Where the Gadie rins." She recalls her (ane/twa) richt love(s). "The ane he was killed at the Lowrin fair, and t'ither wis drowned in Dee." She has twice been a bride but never a wife. She recalls her mourning

Supplemental text

Where the Gadie Rins (I)
  Complete text(s)

          *** A ***

Oh! Gin I Were Where Gaudie Rins

From John Ord, Ord's Bothy Songs and Ballads, pp. 347-348

Oh! gin I were where Gaudie rins, where Gaudie rins, where Gaudie rins,
  Oh! gin I were where Gaudie rins, at the fit o' Bennachie;
Oh! I should ne'er come back again, come back again, come back again,
  Oh! I should ne'er come back again, your Lowland lads to see.

I never had but twa right (sic) lads, but twa richt lads, but twa richt lads,
  I never had but twa richt lads that dearly loved me.
The teen was killed in Lourin Fair, in Lourin Fair, in Lourin Fair,
  The teen was killed in Lourin Fair, and the tither drowned in Dee.

Had they gien my lovie man for man, man for man, man for man,
  Had they gien my lovie man for man, or yet a man for three,
He wudna have lien so low th' day, so low th' day, so low th' day,
  He wudna have lien so low th' day at the foot o' yon arn tree.

But they crooded in so thick on him, so thick on him, so thick on him,
  They crooded in so thick on him he cudna fecht nor flee;
And wisna that a dowie day, a dowie day, a dowie day,
  And wisna that a dowie day, a dowie day for me?

The Dee was flowin' frae bank tae bank, frae bank tae bank,
      frae bank tae bank,
  The Dee was flowin' frae bank tae bank when my lovie dreed his dree --
And wisna that a dowie day, a dowie day, a dowie day,
  And wisna that a dowie day, a dowie day for me?

He bought for me a braw new goon, a braw new goon, a braw new goon,
  He bought for me a braw new goon and ribbons to busk it we'!
And I bought him the linen fine, the linen fine, the linen fine,
  And I bought for him the linen fine, his winding sheet to be.

And now this twice I've been a bride, I've been a bride, I've been a bride,
  And now this twice I've been a bride, but a wife I'll never be.
Oh! gin I were where Gaudie rins, where Gaudie rins, where Gaudie rins,
  Oh! gin I were where Gaudie rins, at the fit o' Bennachie.

Notes

The melody "Where (the) Gadie Rins" is said to be a common pipe tune in Scotland. (MacColl and Seeger date it to 1815; Ord suspects the eighteenth century.) Like some other pipe tunes (e.g. "The Flowers of the Forest), it seems to have picked up various texts.

One may suspect that, like some fiddle tunes, it had a mnemonic verse or two. All the texts seem to have a lyric similar to:

Oh, gin I were whaur the Gadie rins,

The Gadie rins, the Gadie rins,

Oh, gin I were whaur the Gadie rins

At the back o Bennachie

or

But there's meal and there's ale whaur the Gadie rins,

The Gadie rins, the Gadie rins,

But there's meal and there's ale whaur the Gadie rins

At the back o Bennachie.

Ord calls the air "one of the best-known songs in the North of Scotland," but says that most people know only fragments of verses. This text gets pride of place as the only one I've heard recorded.

The "Lowrin fair" or "Lowren'-fair" is described by Kinloch as "a market held at Lawrence-kirk, in Mearnshire." - RBW

Cross references

• cf. "Where the Gadie Rins" (II), etc. (tune, chorus)

References

1. Ord, pp. 347-348, "Oh! Gin I Were Where Gaudie Rins" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. ST Ord347 (Full)
3. Roud #(5404)
4. BI, Ord347