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Annie McKelvie

  • (Iain Ingram)
  • Do you fancy a night at the dancing wi' me
    The band in the town hall's the finest you'll see
    If there's no' another place you'd rather be
    Then come to the dance with me, Annie

    Dumbarton's the place I met Annie McKelvie
    She was walking alone by the shore
    And we talked for a while till as evening was falling
    I walked her back home to her door

    She said, Give me a while to think o'er your proposal
    My mother would have to consent
    So we parted that night with a kiss at her doorstep
    Back home through Bowling I went

    At last she agreed she would come to the dancing
    And travel to Clydebank by train
    On that cold station platform I waited for hours
    I never saw Annie again

    Oftimes I walk by the banks of the Leven
    And follow its flow to the Clyde
    And I think of that day spent wi' Annie McKelvie
    The lassie that wounded my pride

    Last chorus:
    Do you fancy a night at the dancing wi' me
    The band in the town hall's the finest you'll see
    If there's no' another place you'd rather be
    Then I'll wait at the dance for you, Annie

(as sung by Iain MacKintosh)

Susannes Folksong-Notizen

  • english  [1985:] In the winter [...] there was 'the dancin'', not to be confused with 'going to dances' or balls, which was altogether more formal and convention-ridden [...] 'The Dancin'' was not even to be confused with tennis-club hops, Bible Class socials or doing the Charleston at twenty-first birthday parties at the Plaza. 'The Dancin'' was ongoing every-night-of-the-week, a public pay-your-money and take-the-floor activity, and it was the big time to thousands. [...] Glasgow was dancing-daft for the first half of this century and while there was something of the mating ritual about it, many a foxtrotter paid his money for sheer love of the dancing. (Blair, Tea at Miss Cranston's 63f)

  • english  [1990:] Alison [Duncan from Dunoon] sent me a tape of Annie, remarking 'Based on Iain [Ingram]'s personal experience but transposed to his favourite Edwardian era when he sings it.' I heard this song first from one of the performers at a Women's Concert in Edinburgh. It seemed so totally convincing in its 1930s setting, I assumed it was old, and began to construct a story for myself of why it should have survived in the tradition, and why I'd never heard it before. Iain has a rare ability - few songwriters can inject a convincing period feel into songs. (McVicar, One Singer One Song 32)

  • english  [1991:] The melody in the middle of this tale of gentle jilting is an afternoon tea dance favourite called, appropriately enough, Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms. (Notes Iain MacKintosh, 'Risks and Roses')

See also
Dumbarton's decline

Quelle: Scotland

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Henry
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28.10.1999, aktualisiert am 02.04.2010, 27.07.2003 + 15.04.2009