Yon High, High Hill- M. Gillespie (Glas) c.1870 Grieg/Duncan B
[My date. From: The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection. This variant of "Waukrife Mammy" as taken by Rev. Duncan (editor) from his older sister, who got her ballads from her parents, a washerwoman, George Innes, and others. It likely dates back to the late 1850s or 1860s but this is a guesstimate.
R. Matteson 2018]
As I Came Our[1] Yon High, High Hill, sung by Mrs. Margaret Gillespie (1841-1910) who was Rev. Duncan's sister, later of Glasgow. This is Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection, version B.
As I came our yon high high hill,
I met a bonny lassie
She looked at me an' I at her
And O but she looked saucy.
CHORUS Wi' my row-dum tow-dum, tarra riddle ow,
Wi' my row-dum tarra reedle ansie.
2. Far are ye gaun, my bonnie, bonnie lass
Far are ye gaun, my honey?
Right modestly she answered me,
An errand to my mammie.
3. "Where do ye dwell, my bonnie, bonnie lass?
Where do ye dwell, my honey?"
Right modestly she answered me,
"In a wee house wi' my mammie."
4. "What is yer name, my bonnie, bonnie lass?
What is yer name, my honey?"
Right modestly she answered me,
"My mammie ca's me Annie."
5. "How old are you, my bonnie, bonnie lass?
How old are you, my Annie?"
Right modestly she answered me,
"I'm sixteen years come Sunday."
6. "Where do ye sleep, my bonnie, bonnie lass?
Where do ye dwell, my Annie?"
Right modestly she answered me,
"In a wee bed near my mammie."
7. May I come and see you my bonnie, bonnie lass?
May I come and see you, my Annie?
Right modestly she answered me,
I daurna for my mammie.
8. I gid to see you my bonnie, bonnie lass,
I gid to see my Annie,
But the auld wife she got out o' her bed,
An' came slippin' ben fu' cannie[2].
9. She took the claw to clear the clow[3]
To see gin she could ken me.
But I dang the auld wife into the fire,
And bade my heels defend me.
10. Blink our the burn, my bonnie, bonnie lass,
Blink o'er the burn, my Annie,
For ye've gotten a clod that winna cling[4],
For a' yer waukrife mammy[5].
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1. poor use of slang: o'er (owre) is proper
2. slipping through the house cunningly
3. She took the tongs to clear(move) a coal (from the fireplace). Clow also is "clinker," the sound a coal makes when it drops on the brick-- moving the coal gave more light to the room
4. pregnant (literally-- the bread that will not shrink= the bread that will rise)
5. In spite of your wakeful mammy.