The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #862   Message #1025119
Posted By: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca
26-Sep-03 - 06:25 AM
Thread Name: Moira Anderson versions:Bonny Gallowa/Rothesay Bay
Subject: Lyr Add: ROTHESAY BAY
Don't know if Teru ever saw this later thread from 1999 where Wolfgang posted the words.

Found the words and more Scots Language explanation. From http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_rothesay.htm

Rothesay Bay

Fu' yellow lie the cornrigs, fat down the braid hillside;
It is the brawest har'st field, alang the shores o' Clyde,
And I'm a puir har'st lassie wha stands the lee lang day -
Amang the cornrigs of Ardbeg, aboon sweet Rothesay Bay.
 
O I had ance a true love, now I hae nane ava;
And I had three braw brithers, but I hae tint them a'.
My father and my mither sleep i' the mools this day -
I sit my lane amang the rigs, aboon sweet Rothesay Bay.
 
It's a bonnie bay at morning, and bonnier at noon,
But bonniest when the sun draps and red comes up the moon
When the mist creeps o'er the Cumbraes and Arran peaks are gray,
And the great black hills, like sleeping kings, sit grand roun' Rothesay Bay
 
Then a bit sigh stirs my bosom, and wee tear blin's my e'e,
And I think of that far countrie wha I wad like to be.
But I rise content i' the morning to wark while I may -
I' the yellow har'st field of Ardbeg, aboon sweet Rothesay Bay.
 
Meaning of unusual words:
cornrigs=strip of land growing corn
puir=poor
aboon=above
ava=at all
tint=lost
mools=earth
Cumbraes=islands east of Bute on the Clyde estuary
Arran=island south of Rothesay

^^^