Lyr Req: The Wars of Germany

Subject: Lyr Add: O, WAE BE TO THE ORDERS (W Motherwell)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 03:53 PM

From Poems, Narrative and Lyrical by William Motherwell (Boston: William D. Ticknor, 1841), page 175:


O, WAE BE TO THE ORDERS.
William Motherwell

O wae be to the orders that marched my luve awa',
And wae be to the cruel cause that gars my tears doun fa',
O wae be to the bluidy wars in Hie Germanie,
For they hae ta'en my luve, and left a broken heart to me.

The drums beat in the mornin' afore the scriech o' day,
And the wee wee fifes piped loud and shrill, while yet the morn was gray;
The bonnie flags were a' unfurled, a gallant sight to see,
But waes me for my sodger lad that marched to Germanie.

O, lang, lang is the travel to the bonnie Pier o' Leith,
O dreich it is to gang on foot wi' the snaw-drift in the teeth!
And O, the cauld wind froze the tear that gathered in my e'e,
When I gade there to see my luve embark for Germanie!

I looked ower the braid blue sea, sae long as could be seen
Ae wee bit sail upon the ship that my sodger lad was in;
But the wind was blawin' sair and snell, and the ship sailed speedilie,
And the waves and cruel wars hae twinned my winsome luve frae me.

I never think o' dancin, and I downa try to sing,
But a' the day I spier what news kind neibour bodies bring;
I sometimes knit a stocking, if knittin' it may be,
Syne for every loop that I cast on, I am sure to let doun three.

My father says I'm in a pet, my mither jeers at me,
And bans me for a dautit wean, in dorts for aye to be;
But little weet they o' the cause that drumles sae my e'e:
O they hae nae winsome luve like mine in the wars o1 Germanie!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Wars of Germany
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Nov 10 - 03:46 AM

@ Guest:
You have to remember that there was no country called Germany until the second half of the 19th century, when Bismarck united the hundreds of little kingdoms where German was spoken. "High Germany" normally refers to "Highland Germany".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Germany

Subject: RE: The Wars of Germany
From: The Walrus
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 01:45 PM

GUEST,

Please state whether you refer to 'Germany' the State, 'Germany' the geographic area or 'Germany' one or more of the states, electorates, pricipalities or bishoprics making up the varying alliancies, co-alitions, confederation or other groupings - Also, are you including the members of the Holy Roman or the Austro-Hungarian Empire?

Walrus

Subject: RE: The Wars of Germany
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 10:40 AM

name all the wars and date of Germany (for expample world war one)

Subject: RE: The Wars of Germany
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 10:39 AM

Name all the wars and date that Germany had

Subject: RE: The Wars of Germany
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 24 Oct 04 - 09:12 PM

Wars of Germany is not related to the two song-groups often called High Germany, though I've noticed that people often assume that they must all be "versions" of the same song because they share the (once commonplace) term "high Germany".

Motherwell's Wars of Germany ("O wae be to the orders") was first printed in Whistle-Binkie in the mid 19th century, so far as I know. The DT file appears to have been transcribed from a commercial recording, is slightly Anglicised and omits two verses (which are also omitted in all the modern arrangements I've heard, come to that); no source is credited, so it's hard to be sure.

I'm not sure why Rudie started a new thread to make this announcement; as a rule it would probably be more useful in the DT Attribution & Minor Corrections PermaThread. Of course, if he is intending to post the original text (ideally with bibliographic details) that would be very welcome.

The (full?) text can be found on several websites without too much difficulty, but I don't trust website texts that don't credit a verifiable source.

Subject: RE: The Wars of Germany
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Oct 04 - 07:58 PM

Rudie Singer, what is your authority for that?

There are several broadsides from the 1810-1840 interval in the Bodleian Collection.
The main thread in Mudcat on this song is 22617. Some information and much speculation. High Germany

Subject: The Wars of Germany
From: GUEST,Rudie Singer
Date: 24 Oct 04 - 06:45 PM

The lyrics to "Wars of Germany," also called "Wars of High Germany," were written by William Motherwell (1797-1835) from Glasgow.