Joe, from your posting 28 Nov 09 - 01:37 AM

BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.15(240), "The Blooming Heather" ("As I was coming home, from the fair of Ballymena"), unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 11(331), 2806 c.14(60), "The Blooming Heather"

Hugh McWilliam, an Irish Schoomaster, wrote a song called The Lass among the Heather, the first line being "As I was coming home, from the fair of Ballymena". This song has been confused and mixed with Tannahill's Braes o' Balquhither and printed in various states of confusion by Greig/Duncan ... the folk process. Jeannie Roberston recorded a version called The Braes o' Balquhidder and it is an amalgum of McWilliams and Tannahill. Jeannie's first verse:

I wis comin from a fair, from the Fair o' Balnafannon,
When I met a winsome dame, She was fair as the Annan,
I asked her where she dwelt, as we strolled along together,
"on the bonnie mountainside," she replied, "among the heather".
I will build you a bower, down by the clear fountain,
And cover it ower wi the flo'ers o' the mountain,
I will range through the mountainside and the dark glen so weary
And I'll bring a' my spoil to the bower o' my dearie.

The Queen among the heather is a diferent song but of a similar genre.