Up a Wild and Lonely Glen

Stanley Robertson: On Autumn Harvest ah003: Old Songs & Bothy Ballads: For Friendship and for Harmony. Live from the Fife Traditional Singing Festival May 2005.

A song that is still widely found in the living tradition under various titles including Bonnie Lass among the Heather - often with very beautiful modal tunes as here. There are versions known in the Canadian Atlantic provinces - sometimes with more verses than often known in Scotland (GD 5: 962; Roud 375).

1: It's up a wild and lonely glen, Shaded by many a fearful mountain, 'Twas far fae the busy haunts o men, The first day that I gaed oot a-huntin. 2: Now I hae been tae parties and balls, And I hae been as far as Balquidder, And the bonniest lassie that e'er I spied, She wis herdin her yowies among the heather. 3: Her face wis white, her goun wis green, Her form it wis sae tall and slender, Wi her douncast looks and her weel-fared face, For she made my hert nae mair tae render. 4: Says I, "Bonnie lass, wid ye gang wi me, And lie wi me in a bed o feathers, And the silks and the scarlets I'll mak them thine: Leave aa your lambs and yowies the-gether." 5: Says I, "Kind Sir, your offer's fair, But I think it is meant in laughter, For you are the son o some rich squire, And I but a humble shepherd's dochter." 6: I bless the time, I bless the day, When first it taen my rovin fancy, She wis herdin her sheep amongst the hills, The first time I ever hae spied my Nancy.

c p 2006 Autumn Harvest
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