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OUR FAMILIAR SONGS. |
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I like not the court, nor the city resort,
Since there is no fancy for such maids as me ;
Their pomp and their pride, I can never abide, Because with my humor it doth not agree. O the oak, and the ash, &c.
How oft have I been in the Westmoreland green, Where the young men and maidens resort for to play, Where we with delight, from morning till night, Could feast it and frolic on each holiday. O the oak, and the ash, &c.
The ewes and their lambs, with the kids and their dams,
To see in the country how finely they play; The bells they do ring, and the birds they do sing,
And the fields and the gardens, so pleasant and
gay-
O the oak, and the ash, &c.
At wakes and at fairs, being void of all cares, W« there with our lovers did use for to dance; |
Then hard hap had I, my ill-fortune to try, And so up to London my steps to advance. O the oak, and the ash, &c.
But still I perceive, I a husband might have, If I to the city my mind could but frame ;
But I'll have a lad that is North-Country bred, Or else I'll not marry in the mind that I am. O the oak, and the ash, &c.
A maiden I am, and a maid I'll remain, Until my own country again I do see ;
For here in this place I shall ne'er see the face Of him that's allotted my love for to be. O the oak, the ash, &c.
Then, farewell, my daddy, and farewell, my mammy, Until' I do see you, I nothing but mourn ; Remembering my brothers, my sisters and others, In less than a year, I hope to return. Then the oak, and the ash, &c, |
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LOCHABER NO MORE.
Allan Ramsay, author of the words of " Lochaber No More," was one of the many Scottish poets who have sprung from humble life, and derived their intellectual strength from the maternal side. He also inherited from his mother a happy temperament, which was fostered by success. He worked at wig-making in early life, but after his poems began to bring him celebrity and money, he became a bookseller. In connection with his shop, he established the first circulating library that Scotland ever possessed. His pastoral, entitled " The Gentle Shepherd," won him wide popularity, and is considered by many the finest of its class in the language. Under the title of " Tea-Table Miscellany," he published a choice selection of Scottish and English songs, in four volumes (1724-'40), which proved very popular. He subjected himself to some censure by curtailing or altering, in many instances, the ancient lyrics.
Kamsay was born in Lanarkshire, October 15, 1686, and died in Edinburgh, January 7, 1758, to a picturesque house he had built for himself on the slope of Castle Hill, which still stands. His son, Allan Kamsay, the younger (1713-'84), became eminent as a painter.
The Scotch have long claimed the air of "Lochaber no more f but Chappell has hinted, and Samuel Lover has proved, that its origin is Irish. It is to be found in a book in the British Museum, entitled "New Poems, Songs, Prologues and Epilogues, never before printed, by Thomas Duffet, and set by the most eminent musicians about the town. London, 1676." In this volume the air is called " The Irish Tune." The words which Duffet wrote for it were entitled " Since Ccelia's my foe," and by that name the air was known in England for almost a century. Therefore, it was called in England "The Irish Tune," seventeen years before there is the first claim made to it by the Scotch. It was also found in a manuscript collection of airs written for the viola de gamba, 1683-'92, and was there entitled " King James's March into Ireland." In a late collection it is called " King James's March to Dublin." Twelve years after, the song was known in London as "The Irish |
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