The False Lover Won Back

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

When a young man leaves his sweetheart she follows from town to town and persuades him to return. The earliest full version of this ballad (Child 218) is from Peter Buchan's Ballads of the north East of Scotland of 1828 although David Herd had a couple of verses in his Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs of 1776. The eight versions in Greig-Duncan show that the ballad had a firm hold in the north east but versions have not been collected elsewhere. Jimmy learned his version from the singing of Ewan MacColl. The tune is one of three collected by Gavin Greig and printed in Alexander Keith's Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs of 1925.

1: The sun it shines ower yonder hill,
And low in yonder dell;
The place whaur me and my love bide,
The sun it never gangs doun, bonnie love,
The sun it never gangs doun.

2: "Go saddle tae me ma bonnie black steed,
And saddle tae me the broun;
That I may ride aa aroon, bonnie love,
That I may ride aa aroon, bonnie love,
That I may ride aa aroon."

3: "But when will ye come back bonnie love?
O when will ye come hame?"
"When the heather hills are nine times brunt,
And aa grown green again, bonnie love,
And aa grown green again."

4: "O that's ower lang tae bide awa,
O that's ower lang fae hame;
For the baby that's nae born yet,
He'll be ower lang wantin his name, bonnie love,
He'll be ower lang wantin his name."

5: But he's turned aboot his high horse heid,
And fast awa rode he;
And she's kilted up her gay clothin,
And fast, fast followed she, bonnie love,
And fast, fast followed she.

6: Noo the firstan toun that they cam till,
He's bocht her hose and shoon;
And he's bad her rue and return noo,
And nae mair follow him, bonnie love,
And nae mair follow him.
7: "But it's love for love that I do want,
It's love for love again;
And it's hard when I like ye sae weel,
And ye nae me again, bonnie love,
And ye nae me again."

8: So the neistan toun that they cam till,
He's bocht her a brooch and ring;
And he's bad her rue and return noo,
And nae mair follow him, bonnie love,
And nae mair follow him.

9: "But it's love for love that I do want,
It's love for love again;
And it's hard when I like ye sae weel,
And ye nae me again, bonnie love,
And ye nae me again."

10: So the neistan toun that they cam till,
He's bocht her a waddin ring;
And he's bad her dry her rosy cheeks,
And he wad tak her wi him, bonnie love,
And he wad tak her wi him.

11: For it's love for love that ye hae got,
It's love for love again;
So turn your high horse heid aboot,
And we will ride for ham, bonnie love,
And we will ride for hame."

An additional verse that Jimmy sometimes sings to end the ballad:
12: Noo there's comfort for the comfortless,
And there's honey for the bee;
Aye there's comfort for the comfortless,
But there's nane but you for me, bonnie love,
There's nane but you for me.

c p 2010 Autumn Harvest : www.springthyme.co.uk