Terry Conway from Allandale, Northumberland: On Autumn Harvest ah010: Old Songs & Bothy Ballads: Hurrah Boys Hurrah! Live from the Fife Traditional Singing Festival May 2010.
The song seems first to have appeared in Rhymes of Northern Bards by John Bell (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1812) where it is given as a song famous in Newcastle about the Years 1792-3-4. The song refers to a situation where one British regiment left town and another replaced it, with the Black Cuffs (the North Yorks Militia) and Green Cuffs (23rd Ulster Dragoons) being references to their uniforms. Dolly pawns her sark to become a camp follower while her friends hang around the Quayside waiting for the next regiment to come in. The meaning of do-li-ah is unclear, but dillen dol must surely refer to a young woman and perhaps it should be written as Dolly the dillen doll.
| 1: Oh when wild war's deidly blasts are blawn, And gentle peace returnin, Left many's a puir bairn faitherless, And many a widow mournin. 2: Noo I left the lines o tented fields, Whaur lang I'd been a lodger; Wi ma humble knapsack an ma wealth, I'm a puir but honest sodger. 3: Noo a leal licht hert was in ma breist, Ma hands unstained wi plunder; And for fair Scotia, hame again, I cheery on did wander. 4: Noo I dreamed aboot the banks o Coil, I dreamed aboot my Nancy; And aye I mindit the winsome smile, That took my youthful fancy. |
1: Oh when wild war's deidly blasts are blawn,
And gentle peace returnin,
Left many's a puir bairn faitherless,
And many a widow mournin.
2: Noo I left the lines o tented fields,
Whaur lang I'd been a lodger;
Wi ma humble knapsack an ma wealth,
I'm a puir but honest sodger.
3: Noo a leal licht hert was in ma breist,
Ma hands unstained wi plunder;
And for fair Scotia, hame again,
I cheery on did wander.
4: Noo I dreamed aboot the banks o Coil,
I dreamed aboot my Nancy;
And aye I mindit the winsome smile,
That took my youthful fancy.
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