Henry's Songbook

As I was a-walking one morning in May
Doon by a bonnie braeside I fondly did stray
I spied a bonnie lassie, she wis standing her lane
She wis bleaching her claes on the braes o' Strathdon

I stepped up tae her as I seemed for tae pass
Ye're bleaching yer claes, my bonnie young lass
It's twelve months and mair since I've had ye on my mind
Jist for tae get married if you are inclined

Tae marry, tae marry, I'm three time o'er young
Besides a' you young men have flattering tongues
My faither and my mither they would baith angry be
If I was tae marry a rover like ye

Come a' ye pretty fair maids, take a warning frae me
And never slight a young man for his poverty
For slighting of a young man I'm afraid ye'll get nane
And single ye'll wander the braes o' Strathdon

As sung by Aileen Carr

[1978:] Several versions of this song are found throughout Scotland but its origins are uncertain. In the Hebrides it is known as Stra' Ban where the words are an almost direct Gaelic equivalent of those sung [by Ossian]. Similarly Gavin Greig collected a version of the song in the North East called The Braes of Strathdon but commented, "further south the song is known as The Braes of Strathblane and I think there is little doubt that it belongs originally to Stirlingshire and that it has been localised in the North East simply by changing the name of the Strath". (Greig XVII.)

The words here were first published in Mavers Collection (1866) and are recorded as those heard in Kintyre. The song has an unusually unhappy ending for this 'boy meets girl in the month of May' type. (Notes Ossian, 'St. Kilda Wedding')

[2001:] A lovely and rather plaintive tale of unrequited love, is a version of a song also known as The Braes of Strathblane. The text Aileen sings here was collected in Aberdeenshire by Peter Hall, and given to her by Tom Spiers, who discovered it while sorting through and re-recording the material that Peter had collected. (Notes 'Scots Women')

[2001:] Strathblane has a history of cloth manufacture, dy[e]ing and weaving. Many Irish people, mainly young women, came over to work there, and history records that they arrived rosy cheeked and healthy and failed away into ill-health because of the nature of the work and the poor living conditions. Strathblane is a village at the foot of the Cam[p]sie Hills, just above Glasgow to the north; over the years it has expanded into a suburban sprawl.

This song was printed as a broadside by Ross (Newcastle), Stewart (Carlisle) and Dalton (York) and in books such as Ord's Bothy Songs & Ballads and Ford's Vagabond Songs & Ballads which probably accounts for it's having been much collected - 11 versions in Greig-Duncan. (Notes Kevin & Ellen Mitchell, 'Have A Drop Mair')

See also
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=17312#166956 The Braes of Strawblane