Mentioned by a GUEST back on 20-Sep-2018:


THE BERRY FIELDS O BLAIR
As recorded by Belle Stewart on “Voice of the People 20: There Is a Man upon the Farm” (1997)

When berry time comes roond each year, Blair's population's swellin.
There's every kind o picker there and every kind o dwellin.
There's tents and huts and caravans; there's bothies and there’s bivvies,
And shelters made wi tattie-bags and dug-oots made wi divvies.

Noo there's corner-boys fae Glesgae, kettle-boilers fae Lochee,
And miners fae the pits o Fife, mill-workers fae Dundee,
And fisherfowk fae Peterheid and tramps fae everywhere,
Aa lookin for a livin aff the berry fields o Blair.

Noo there's travellers fae the Western Isles, fae Arran, Mull and Skye;
Fae Harris, Lewis and Kyles o Bute; they come their luck tae try.
Fae Inverness and Aberdeen, fae Stornoway and Wick,
Aa flock to Blair at the berry time, the straws and rasps to pick.

Noo there's some wha earn a pound or twa, some cannae earn their keep,
And some wid pick fae morn till nicht, and some wid raither sleep.
There's some wha has tae pick or stairve, and some wha dinnae care.
There's some wha bless and some wha curse the berry fields o Blair.

Noo there's faimilies pickin for one purse, and some wha pick alane.
There's men wha share and share alike wi wives that's no their ane.
There's gladness and there's sadness tae; there's happy herts and sair,
For there's comedy and tragedy played on the fields o Blair.

Ah, but afore I put my pen awa, it's this I would like to say:
You'll traivel far before you'll meet a kinder lot than they,
For I've mixed wi them in field and pub and while I've breath to spare,
I'll bless the hand that led me tae the berry fields o Blair.