The Lassie and the Butcher

On Autumn Harvest AH 004
Old Songs & Bothy Ballads - Some Rants o Fun

Hamish Grant sings:

A young lassie takes the road from Crieff to Perth and on the way she meets in with a butcher. In no time at all she falls to the ground and her plaidie is blown away in the wind - a neat piece of sexual symbolism that is developed through the rest of the song. The song was included in Robert Ford's Vagabond Songs in 1899 and it was a favourite in old Jimmy McBeath's repertoire in the 1960s. The song itself may have originated in the 1800s but the plaidie symbolism is much older and is included in the refrain of the ancient ballad The Elfin Knight (Child #2) with a version that was old in 1673.

1: There once was a lassie and she cam in fae Crieff,
She met a butcher laddie and he was sellin beef;
And he's gien tae her the middle cut and doon she did faa,
And the wind blew the bonnie lassie's plaidie awa.

Chorus:
For the wind blaws east and the wind blaws west,
The wind blew the bonnie lassie's plaidie awa;
The beef was in her basket and she couldna rise ava,
And the wind blew the bonnie lassie's plaidie awa.

c p 2007 Autumn Harvest AH004
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