“Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go”
Description
As the summer comes in, the singer goes courting (seducing): "Will ye go, lassie, go, And we'll all go together To pull wild mountain thyme All among the blooming heather." He offers her a bower , etc., but will find another girl if she refuses
Notes
Sometimes credited to Jimmy McPeake, and this is not improbable (particularly since the text seems fairly fixed), though I have no firm evidence either way. It's the sort of thing that wouldn't show up in the more staid collections....
Even if it isn't traditional, its popularity with revival singers probably means it should be included here.
Roud lumps this with "The Braes o' Balquither." - RBW
Hammond-Belfast: "Frank McPeake said at the time of recording [for the BBC series 'As I Roved Out']: 'There is a song that I heard an old uncle of mine singing years and years ago. It's 'Will ye go, lassie, go?'" - BS
Also sung by David Hammond, "Will Yo Go Lassie, Go?" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)) Sean O Boyle, notes to David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland": "This is one of the numerous Scots songs that have become localized in Ulster as a result of migratory labor between the North of Ireland and Scotland." - BS
References
- Hammond-Belfast, p. 57, "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?" (1 text, 1 tune)
- Silber-FSWB, p. 141, "Will You Go, Lassie, Go" (1 text)
- DT, WILDMTHY*
- Roud #541
- BI, FSWB141A