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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Bruce O. Lyr Add: The Lea-Rig (Robert Burns and others) (3) Lyr/Tune Add: THE LEY-RIGG + MY AIN KIND DEARY 20 Sep 98


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:|]


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