| Author | Topic: Add: Will Ye No Come Back Again | |
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 02 Feb 03 - 08:30 am | |
Will Ye No Come Back Again Bonnie Charlie's noo awa, Safely oe'r the friendly main, Mony a heart will break in twa, Should he ne'er come back again. Chorus: Will ye no come back again? Will ye no come back again? Better lo'ed ye canna be, Will ye no come back again? Ye trusted in your Hieland men, The trusted you dear Charlie! They kent your hiding in the glen, Death and exile braving. English bribes ware a' in vain, Tho' puir and puirer we maun be, Siller canna buy the heart Thayt aye beats warm for thine and thee. We watched thee in the golamin' hour, We watched the in tha mornin' grey; Though thirty thousand pounds they gi'e, Oh, there is nane that wad betray! Sweet's the laverock's note, and lang, Liltin' wildly up the glen; But aye to me he sings ae sang, "Will ye no come back again?" Source: The Scottish Students Songbook. Pub. Bayley & Ferguson - London & Glasgow Notes: Words by the Baroness Nairne (1766-1845). Air attributed to Niel Gow junior (1795-1823). Added to database here | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 02 Feb 03 - 10:53 am | |
The version in Rev. Charles Rogers, The Scottish Minstrel: The Songs of Scotland Susequent to Burns (2nd ed., Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, 1872, p. 64; no tune is indicated) has some differences, mostly in spelling & punctuation. So does the version in C.V. Stanford's The National Song Book (Boosey, 1907, p. 93; with music) [asterisked words in brackets indicate the Stanford version]. WILL YE NO COME BACK AGAIN Bonnie Charlie's now awa', Safely ower the friendly main; Mony a heart will break in twa Should he ne'er come back again? Will ye no come back again? Ye trusted in your Hieland men, They trusted you, dear Charlie! They kent your hiding in the glen, Death or exile braving. English bribes were a' in vain, Tho' puir, and puirer, we maun be; Siller canna buy the heart That beats aye for thine and thee. We watch'd thee in the golamin' hour, We watch'd thee in the mornin' grey; Though* thirty thousand pound they gi'e*, [*Tho'; *gie] Oh, there is none* that wad betray! [*nane] Sweet's the laverock's note, and lang, Lilting wildly up the glen; But aye to me he sings ae sang, Will ye no come back again? Another version with different stanzas is in Harold Boulton's Songs of the Four Nations, 2nd ed. (J.B. Cramer, 1892, pp. pp. 94-97; with music), which however says "Words by Lady Nairne; Old Scottish Air arranged by Arthur Somervell". WILL YE NO COME BACK AGAIN? Royal Charlie's now awa', Safely owre the friendly main; Mony a heart will break in twa, Should he ne'er come back again. Chorus: Will ye no come back again? Will ye no come back again? Better lo'ed ye canna be, Will ye no come back again? Sweet the laverock's note and lang, Liltin' wildly up the glen; But aye to me he sings ae sang, "Will ye no come back again?" The Hills he trode were a' his ain, And bed beneath the birkentree; The bush that hid him on the plain, There's none on earth can claim but he. Mony a gallant sodger fought, Mony a gallant chief did fa'; Death itself were dearly bought, A' for Scotland's king and law. Still other stanzas are in William Cole's Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales (Charles Hansen Music, 1961, 1969, pp. 174-175; no mention of the lyricist): Mony a traitor 'mang the isles Brak the band o' nature's laws; Mony a traitor wi' his wiles, Sought to wear his life awa'. Whene'er I hear the blackbird sing, Unto the evening sinking down, Or merl that makes the woods to ring, To me they hae nae other sound. (Note: "According to Ewan MacColl this is the most popular of all the 'Bonnie Prince Charlie songs' in Scotland today. It is used as a parting song for all occasions.") Edited By masato sakurai - 02/02/2003 16:18:40 | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 02 Feb 03 - 03:01 pm | |
The text in George Henderson's Lady Nairne and Her Songs (1899) has the song substantially as in the first example here, with minor spelling differences (owre for o'er, and so on); except for the second verse: Ye trusted in your Hieland men, They trusted you, dear Charlie; They kent you hiding in the glen, Your cleadin' was but barely. Lady Nairne is supposed to have based her song on an older one. G. S. MacQuoid, Jacobite Songs and Ballads, quotes a text which comprises all those verses given above which are not in Lady Nairne's, together with a form of the laverock verse; this presumably is the older song. No source is named, but I'd guess at Hogg's Jacobite Relics. | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 02 Feb 03 - 04:10 pm | |
Thanks, Malcolm, for the heads-up. The William Cole version seems to be from Hogg. The version in James Hogg, The Jacobite Relics of Scotland [second series] (Edinburgh: Printed for William Blackwood & T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1812, pp. 195-196) is: WILL YE NO COME BACK AGAIN (for the Air, see Song XXXI ["The Ma o' the Moon"], of this Volume) Royal Charlie's now awa, Safely owre the friendly main; Mony a heart will break in twa, Should he ne'er come back again. Will you no come back again?Mony a traitor 'mang the isles Brak the band o' nature's laws; Mony a traitor, wi' his wiles, Sought to wear his life awa. The hills he trode were a' his ain, And bed beneath the birken tree; The bush that hid him on the plain, There's none on earth can claim but he. Whene'er I hear the blackbird sing, Unto the e'ening sinking down, Or merl that makes the woods to ring, To me they hae nae ither soun', Mony a gallant sodger fought, Mony a gallant chief did fa'; Death itself were dearly bought, A' for Scotland's king and law. Sweet the lav'rock's note and lang, Lilting wildly up the glen; And aye the o'erword o' the sang Is "Will he no come back again?" Edited By masato sakurai - 02/02/2003 16:14:08 Edited By masato sakurai - 02/02/2003 16:14:53 | ||