Good grief. In the liner notes all along, eh. Well, it will do no harm to add the song as sung by the man from whom Ray learned it.


MY LADDIE'S BEDSIDE or THE TREES THEY ARE HIGH

(Duncan Williamson, Lochgilphead, 1976. Recorded by Linda Williamson.)

Oh it's I am awa' tae ma laddie's bedside,
I am awa' tae be ma laddie's guide;
I am awa' tae ma laddie's bedside
Though his faither and mither be angry.

Oh at my bedside ma lassie you'll no sit,
At my bedside ma lassie you'll no sit,
For I hae choosed a guide an' a far better fit,
Be awa' lassie, wha cares for ye?

Oh ye might have coorted one my love, ye might have coorted seven,
You might have coorted eight, nine, ten or eleven;
You could coort another one for tae mak' up the dozen,
But be kind tae yer ain lass for a' that.

Oh come back ma bonny lassie, dinnae gang awa',
Oh come back ma bonny lassie, dinnae gang awa',
Oh come back ma bonny lassie, dinnae gang awa'
I was only in the jest for tae try ye-O.

Oh if you were in the jest ma laddie, I was in nane,
Oh lang bonny laddie may ye lie yer lane,
Oh lang bonny laddie may ye lie yer lane
And you'll weary lang before I come tae see ye again.

Oh the trees they are high ma love, the leaves they are green,
The years are passing by ma love that you and I have seen;
But the lang winter's nicht when ye have tae lie yer lane
An' you'll weary lang before I come tae see ye again.


From Ailie Munro, The Folk Music Revival in Scotland, Norwood Editions, 1985, 110-111.

Note that this set is not in the public domain. Duncan Williamson is a Traveller, married to an American folklorist. He first heard this song from his father's sister, at Tarbert, Argyll, about 1942. Ailie Munro adds:

"He often sings the last verse three times: as the opening verse, then again after verse 3 (at this point it will often end, 'Be awa' laddie, wha cares for ye?'), and once more at the close. In verse 2, line 3, 'a far better fit' means 'more suitable'. 'He had chosen someone he thought was far superior to his own girl-friend in his mind,' says Duncan. 'But in case he was making a mistake and choosing the wrong one, he told his girl-friend it was only a joke - to keep her from falling out with him. So if he made a mistake he had always his own girl to fall back on'.

A revised and expanded edition of Ailie Munro's book is available as The Democratic Muse: Folk Music Revival in Scotland (Scottish Cultural Press, 1996).


Here is the tune (second verse):

X:1
T:My Laddie's Bedside
S:Duncan Williamson, Lochgilphead, 1976.
Z:Recorded by Linda Williamson.
B:Ailie Munro, The Folk Music Revival in Scotland, Norwood Editions, 1985, 110-111.
N:Tune and words for verse 2.
N:Tempo indication is approximate.
L:1/8
Q:1/4=75
M:4/4
K:F
G3/2A/|B2 A2{G} G3/2G/ F/D3/2|G2 G2 G z z f|
w:Oh at my bed-side ma las-sie you'll no sit, At
f2 g2 d3/2d/ {d}f3/2d/|(c3/2A/) (Bc) d z z/ f/|f3/2f/ g3/2g/ d2 c/B3/2|
w:my bed-side ma las-sie you'll_ no_ sit, For I hae choosed a guide an' a
(cd) d3/2F/ F z F3/2F/|G2 B/c3/2 (d/c3/2) (B/A3/2)|G4 G2|]
w:far_ bet-ter fit, Be a-wa' las-sie, wha_ cares_ for ye?


The song is number 5530 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Other versions are in John Ord, Bothy Songs and Ballads (1930, reprinted John Donald, Edinburgh 1995, p.179); Christie's Traditional Ballad Airs (1881, II, 230-231); Shuldham-Shaw and Lyle, The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection (vol.6 148-150), MacColl and Seeger, Till Doomsday in the Afternoon (1986 233) and Sheila Douglas, Come Gie's a Sang (1995, 40-41). This last is from Heather Heywood, who recorded it on her LP (now CD) Some Kind of Love (Greentrax Records); she learned it from Alison Potts.