My Auld Sheen

Arthur Watson: Aince Loed a Lass or The False Bride (GD 6:1198; Roud 154) was widely sung in the early days of the Scottish folksong revival. Although I was attracted to the inherent surrealism of the forest verse, I was less interested in the overal tenor of the song - the jilted suitor’s acceptance of his lot while planning his own forthcoming funeral. I changed my opinion in response to the more assertive versions circulating in the northeast traveller community in which the false bride is compared to discarded footwear: She’s only my auld sheen, and ye’ve got her.

Arthur (vocal and whistle) with Tom (fiddle and vocal) and Pete (melodeon and vocal)

1: I saw my ain bonnie love tae the kirk go,
Wi rings on her fingers she made a fine show;
And I follaed on aifter wi my hert fu o woe,
She’s gaen tae be wad tae anither.

2: And I saw my ain bonnie love sit doun tae dine,
I sat doun aside her and I poured oot the wine;
And I drank tae the lassie that should hae bin mine,
But it wisnae ma lot for tae get her.

3: And the ladies and gentlemen askit o me,
Foo mony strawberries grow in the saut sea;
And I gaed them ane back, aye wi a tear in ma ee,
Foo mony fish sweem in the forest.

4: She has broken my hert and gaed far, far fae me,
She’s broken my hert and gaed far noo fae me;
But it wis not once nor twice that she has lain doun wi me,
She’s only ma auld sheen, ye’ve got her.

5: And she’s only my auld sheen, only my auld sheen,
She’s broken ma hert and awa she has gaen;
She has gaen far awa, far awa she has gaen,
She’s only ma auld sheen noo and ye’ve got her.