Hi Alan, Here are the words from the horse's mooth so to speak! Thanks for your interest. The song has also been recorded by Lucy Pringle & Chris Wright as well as myself. The Norwegian version you can find on 'Nattsang' by Tore Bruvoll and Jon Anders Halvorsen, on the Heilo label. I had the privilege of performing a dual Scots/Norwegian version with the lads in 2004 at Telemarkfestivalen in Bø, Norway, near to the village of Folkestad, where the song originates. I know it as 'En rose jeg har sett', [A rose I have seen], though sometimes it's called 'Folkestadvisa', visa approximately meaning 'song'. "A rose that I hae seen, oot in a simmer's gairden The bonniest o them aa, that e'er the Lord gied life tae The mair Ah watched it grow, the fairer it became An maist o aa fur me, fa seldom roses sees There was a wee bit time that I had leave tae gang in Atween the trees and flooers aa gloriously bloomin But the gairden soon wis closed, they had forbidden me They widna low me in, ma fairest rose tae see There war five years had passed, an I never kent anither Or thocht that ye an me micht fade oot aa thegither Sae oft tae ye ah trekked, though lang ma way did prove But ane passed nearer by, an he tends the gairden noo Ah wish fur ye ma freen so many peaceful nichts As the linden bears its leaf, and the rowan bears its berry Like the bird oot on the wing, the sand alow the wave The star oot o'er the strath, in heaven's peaceful ha'" Norwegian original: "En rose jeg har sett uti en blomsterhave den aller finaste som Herren monne skabe Til meir den vokst opp, ja skjønnere den blev og aller mest for meg, som skjeldan rosur ser Det var ei lita tid då eg fekk lov å gange imellom tre og frukt og blom med herleg ange Men så blei hagen stengd, eg fekk kje koma inn Det blei forbode meg, å sjå dei blomekinn Det var ei femårs tid, eg inkje anna visste hell' at det skulle bli, med deg og meg til visse Eg ofte te deg gjekk, og lang var vegen min men ein som nærer var, han slapp i hagen inn Eg ynskjer deg min ven så mange rolege mettar som linden bærer løv, og haslen bærer netar Som fugl uti lund, som sand på havsens bunn som stjernur uten tal, på himlens frydesal" [from the singing of Halvor Håkanes (1958-) and Aslak Brekke (1901-1978)]
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