Lyr Add: The Lea-Rig (Robert Burns and others)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LEA-RIG (Robert Burns)
From:
Date: 20 Sep 98 - 11:23 AM

Sorry, can't find it in DB...
a great R. Burns song

  
The lea-rig
  
 When o'er the hill the eastern star  
   Tells bughtin-time is near, my jo,  
 And owsen frae the furrowed field  
   Return sae dowf and weary O:  
 Down by the burn where scented birks  
   Wi' dew are hanging clear, my jo,  
 I'll meet thee on the lea-rig,  
   My ain kind Dearie O.  
  
 At midnight hour, in mirkest glen,  
   I'd rove and ne'er be irie O,  
 If thro' that glen I gaed to thee,  
   My ain kind Dearie O:  
 Altho' the night were ne'er sae wet,  
   And I were n'er sae weary O,  
 I'd meet thee on the lea-rig,  
   My ain kind Dearie O.  
  
 The hunter lo'es the morning sun,  
   To rouse the mountain deer, my jo,  
 At noon the fisher takes the glen,  
   Adown the burn to steer, my jo;  
 Gie me the hour o' gloamin grey,  
   It maks my heart sae cheary O  
 To meet thee on the lea-rig,  
   My ain kind Dearie O.  
  

Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: THE LEY-RIGG + MY AIN KIND DEARY
From: Bruce O.
Date: 20 Sep 98 - 02:06 PM

Here's an earlier song to the same tune from David Herd's MSS, c 1776.

The Ley-Rigg

Will ye gang o'er the ley-rigg
Wi' me, my kind deary O,
And cudle there fu' kindly,
Myne ain kind dearie O?

[Chorus]
I'll row you east, I'll row you west,
I'll row you the way you like best,
An I'll row you o'er the ley-rig,
Mine ain kind deary O.

At thornie dyke and birken tree
We'll daff and ne'er be weary O,
They'll skug ill een frae you to me,
My ain kind dearie O.

Nae heard wi' kent or collie there
Shall e'er come near to feare ye O,
But lav'rocks, singing in the air,
Shall woo like me there dearie O.

While others herd their ewes and lambs
And boil for wardly gear, my jo,
Upon the ley my pleasure growns,
Wi' you, my kind dearie O.

Herd's MSS contains a related 4 line verse that seems to be the basis of the 8 line one that Burns quoted in the Interleaved Museum.

Here's another from 'The Merry Muses of Caledonia', 1799.

My Ain Kind Deary

I'll lay thee o'er the lea-rig,
Lovely Mary, dearie, O;
I'll lay thee o'er the lee-rig
My lovely Mary, deary, O.
Altho' the night were ne'er so wet
An' I were ne'er so weary O!
I'd lay thee o'er the lee-rig
My lovely Mary, deary, O.
[Cho] Altho' the night, &c.

Look down ye gods from yonder sky,
An' see how blest a man am I;
No envy my fond heart alarms,
Encircled in my Mary's arms.

Lyin' across the lee-rig,
Wi' lovely Mary, deary, O;
Lyin' across the lee-rig,
Wi' my aind kind deary, O!
[Cho] Altho' the night, &c.

The tune was known both as "My ain kind deary" and "The Lee-Rig". See both the Scots Tunes index and the CNTYDAN2 index on my website for early copies.

X:1
T:The Lee Rigg
S:Oswald's CPC, bk 8, c 1756
Q:80
L:1/4
M:C|
K:A
~c3/4B/4|AEEF|A2Ac|~B3/2A/Bc|AFFc/B/|\
AEEF|A2Aa|~f2a/f/e/c/|eAA::e|\
f3/2a/fe/c/|e3/2f/ e/c/B/A/|B3/2c/ e/c/B/c/|\
AFF~c/B/|AF/E/EF|A3/2B/ c/B/c/e/|f2a/f/e/c/|eAA:|]

Subject: RE: Lyr add The lea-rig
From:
Date: 28 Jun 05 - 04:24 PM

Hi: I have a bound book of handwritten music dated and signed 1791. It has 150 full pages of music. Song titles include:"Caber Feigh","The Irish Washerwoman" & "My Ain Kind Dearie". It seems to be mostly full of Scot & Irish Reel, etc. I've had this old book for years but I don't know too much about it. Dan