The Book of Scottish Song/The Yellow-Hair'd Laddie

The Yellow-Hair’d Laddie.

[Nothing is known of the history of the fine air, called "The Yellow-Hair'd Laddie," beyond that it is very old. Ramsay inserted the original words in his "Tea-Table Miscellany," under the title of "The auld Yellow-Hair'd Laddie," and also in the same collection gave verses of his own to the same tune. We here copy both sets.]

I.

[Old Version.]

The yellow-hair'd laddie sat doun on yon brae,
Cried, Milk the yowes, lassie, let nane o' them gae;
And aye as she milkit, she merrily sang,
The yellow-hair'd laddie shall be my gudeman.
⁠And aye as she milkit, she merrily sang,
⁠The yellow-hair'd laddie shall be my gudernan.

The weather is cauld, and my cleadin is thin,
The yowes are new dipt, and they winna bucht in;
They winna bucht in, although I should dee:
Oh, yellow-hair'd laddie, be kind unto me.

The gudewife cries butt the house, Jennie, come ben;
The cheese is to mak', and the butter's to kirn.
Though butter, and cheese, and a' should gang sour,
I'll crack and I'll kiss wi' my love ae half hour.
⁠It's ae lang half hour, and we'll e'en mak' it three,
⁠For the yellow-hair'd laddie my gudeman shall be.

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II.

[Ramsay's Version.]

In April, when primroses paint the sweet plain,
And summer approaching rejoiceth the swain,
The yellow-hair'd laddie would oftentimes go
To woods and deep glens where the hawthorn trees grow.

There, under the shade of an old sacred thorn,
With freedom he sung his loves, evening and morn:
He sung with so soft and enchanting a sound,
That sylvans and fairies, unseen, danced around.

The shepherd thus sung: "Though young Maddie be fair,
Her beauty is dash'd with a scornful proud air;
But Susie was handsome, and sweetly could sing;
Her breath's like the breezes perfumed in the spring.

"That Maddie, in all the gay bloom of her youth,
Like the moon, was inconstant, and never spoke truth;
But Susie was faithful, good-humour'd, and free,
And fair as the goddess that sprung from the sea.

"That mamma's fine daughter, with all her great dower,
Was awkwardly airy, and frequently sour."
Then sighing, he wish'd, would but parents agree,
The witty sweet Susie his mistress might be.

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