Wi' My Rollin' Eye- Mathieson (Aber) 1897 Carpenter
[Carpenter Collection, c. 1929. This version, named after the chorus, has the stanzas of Waukrife Mammy without mentioning the waukrife mammy or including any early stanzas mentioning her lover coming to her house or the encounter with her waukrife mammy. This is a more modern sanitized arrangement similar to some collected by Grieg and Duncan in Aberdeenshire.
R. Mattteson 2018]
Wi' My Rollin' Eye- sung by Willie Mathieson of Denhead, Dunlugas Turriff. Learned from Bothy Mains of Caldsewell Ellon, 1897
1. As I gaed o'er yon high high hill,
I met a bonnie lassie
She looked at me and I at she
And O but she was saucy.
CHORUS Wie my rollin' eye,
Fal di- diddle aye,
Rollin' eye-dum-derrie
Wie my rollin' eye.
2. "What is your name, my bonnie lass?
What is your name, my honey?"
Richt modestly she answered me,
"My name is Bonnie Annie."
3. "How old are ye, my bonnie lass?
How old are ye, my honey?"
Richt modestly she answered me,
"I'm seventeen years come Sunday."
4. "Where dee ye bide, my bonnie lass
Where dee ye bide, my honey?"
Richt modestly she answered me,
"In a wee hoose wis my mammie."
5. "Will ye marry me, my bonnie lass?
Will ye marry me, my honey?"
Richt modestly she answered me,
"I canna leave my mammie."
6. "Then farewell, farewell, my bonnie lass,
Fare 'ee well, ma honey,
Perhaps when I come back again,
You'll be able to leave your mammy."