Rigs o Rye

Jim Taylor: On Autumn Harvest ah08: Old Songs & Bothy Ballads: There's Bound to be a Row. Recorded at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival May 2009.

This beautiful love song has long been popular with thirty-five versions in the Greig-Duncan collection (GD 1054, Ord 31, Laws O11). The earliest record of the song may be a chapbook with the title Ridges of Rye printed in Glasgow by J. & M. Robertson in 1799.

1: 'Twas in the month of sweet July,
Before the sun had pierced the sky;
'Twas in between twa rigs o rye,
I heard twa lovers talking.

2: Noo the lad says, "Lassie I must away,
For I have no longer time to stay;
But I've a word or two tae say,
Gin ye've time tae tarry."

3: "Noo yer faither o you he taks good care,
And yer mither combs doun yer yaller hair;
But yer sisters say that ye'll get nae share,
Gin ye go wi me a stranger."

4: "Let my faither fret, let my mither frown,
My sisters' words I do disown;
Though they were deid and below the grun,
I wad go wi you a stranger."

5: "Ah but lassie, lassie yer fortune's sma,
An maybe it will be neen at aa;
Ye're nae a match for me ava,
Go waste yer love on another."

6: Noo the lassies courage began to fail,
Her rosy cheeks they grew wan an pale;
And the tears cam tricklin doun like hail,
Or a shower o rain in the summer.

7: For he's taen his hankerchief, linen fine,
He's dried her cheeks and he's kissed her een;
Sayin, "Lassie, lassie ye shall be mine,
For I said it aa tae try ye."

8: Noo this laddie bein o courage bold,
This laddie scarce nineteen years old;
He's ranged the hills and the valleys aa,
And he's taen his lassie wi him.

9: This couple they are mairrit noo,
And they hae bairnies, one or two;
They bide in Brechin the winter through,
And in Montrose in summer.

They bide in Brechin the winter through,

And in Montrose in summer.

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