Devil and the Maid- John McDonald (Perth) 1965
[From recordings by Peter Shepheard, his notes follow; also Travellers' Songs from England and Scotland - page 49 by Ewan Maccoll, Peggy Seeger (see their transcription at he bottom of this page).
R. Matteson 2018]
PS: In August 1965 I was in the Blairgowrie area during the annual traveller gathering for the local berrypicking harvest. Not all the farms employed travellers, but those that did usually set aside a field for traveller camps and vans. I was camped on one of the main traveller sites at Marshall's field in Alyth. In the evening there was often singing around the camp fire and late one night a young traveller Ronnie McDonald came out with this ancient ballad [Spr 65.16.9]. The next morning I was introduced to Ronnie's father John McDonald who recorded several songs and ballads for me including his version of the same ballad [Spr 65.17.1]. Slight differences between their versions are indicated below the text.
The Devil and the Maid- As sung by Ronnie McDonald and his father John McDonald at Marshall's field, Alyth, Perthshire in August 1965. Recorded by Peter Shepheard.
There once was a fair maid went for a walk,
Blow, blow, blow ye wynds blow[1]
She met a devil on the way.
The weary winds'll blow ma plaidie awa
"Noo," he says tae her, "I will gie ye a task,
Blow, blow, blow ye wynds blow
Ye'll mak tae me a Holland sark,
Aye without either seam or needle work.
An the weary winds'll blow ma plaidie awa
'For ye'll wash it doun in yon draw well,
Where there never was water or a dew drop fell.'
'For ye'll dry it up with one blink o sun,
Blow, blow, blow ye wynds blow
If I do that task for you,
Surely you'll do one for me.
An the weary winds'll blow ma plaidie awa'
'For ye'll fetch to me three acres of land,
Aye atween the salt sea an the salt sea strand.'
'For you'll plough it up with a dooble ram's horn,
An ye'll harrow it ower wi a tree o blackthorn.'
'For ye'll sow it ower wi one pile o corn, [a pile = a grain
And ye'll ripe it up wi one blink o sun.' [ripe = ripen]
'For ye'll shear it down wi a peahen's feather,
And ye'll stook it up wi a stang o an ether.' [stang o an ether = tongue of an adder
'For ye'll yoke two sparrows in a matchbox,
And ye'll cart it home to your own farm yard.'
'For it's when you do that task for me,
Blow, blow, blow ye wynds blow
You come back an ye'll get your sark.'
The weary winds'll blow ma plaidie awa
----------------------
1. Ronnie sang 'Blow, blow' whereas his father used the older Scots form 'Blaw, blaw' and also pronounced wind as wynd. Occasionally the 'Weary wind' is replaced by 'Dreary wind'.
___________________________
Blaw Ye Winds Blaw- sung by John McDonald from Travellers' Songs from England and Scotland - Page 49
Ewan Maccoll, Peggy Seeger
1 For there once was a fair maid went a-walk,
Blaw, blaw, blaw ye winds blaw;
Ay, between yon salt sea and yon sea strand,
And the dreary wind's blawed my plaidie awa'.
2 For as she met a devil by the way,
Blaw, blaw, blaw ye winds blaw;
And to her he did give a task,
And the dreary winds did blaw her[1] plaidie awa'.
3 For you'll make to me a holland shirt (etc.)
Without either seam or needle-work (etc.)
4 For you'll wash it up in yon draw-well,
Where there never was water or a dew-drop fell.
5 For it«s when I do that task for you,
Surely you'll do one for me.
6 For you'll fence to me three acres of land,
Aye, between yon salt sea and yon sea strand.
7 For you'll plough it up wi' a double ram's horn,
Sow it o'er wi' one peck o« corn.
8 For you'll harrow it o'er wi' a tree o' black thorn,
And ye'll reap it up wi' one blink o' sun.
9. For you'll shear it down wi' a pea-hen feather,
And you'll stook it up wi' a stang o' a nether, (sting of an adder)
10 For you'll yoke two sparrows in a match-box,
And you'll cart it home to my own farmyard.
11 For it's when you do that task for me,
You come back and you'll get your sark,
And the dreary winds'll blaw my plaidie awa'.
---------------------
1. The use of 'my' and 'her' in the final line of the refrain, and the tense of the verb 'blaw', seem to depend on the sense of the verse-lines.