Jean Redpath performing three songs of her native Scotland. Her notes to the songs are found below.
I. The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie
Practically every town and village in Scotland is honored in song, with Fyvie perhaps getting more than its fair share. Located on the River Ythan, in the northeastern Scottish country of Aberdeen, Fyvie is widely known through its place-name reference in this song and the ballad of "The Trumpeter of Fyvie" (Tifty's Annie", Child No. 233). This is one of the most popular songs in northeastern Scotland.
II. Willie's Rare
This lyric lament is probably all that remains from a once longer ballad. It is sometimes considered a variant of "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (Child No. 215), and is listed as such in numerous anthologies. The source is William Thomson's "Orpheus Caledonius", 1733, one of the earliest published collections of Scots songlore.
III. The Fife Overgate
Several forms of this ribald Scots ballad are known, but the version sung here is mostly from my own family tradition in Leven, Fifeshire. The tune, refrain and half of the text were learned from my mother's singing, with the remaining verses conflated from several other sources. The first verse is unique in that it places the song in an East Fife setting.
And here is a link to my Jean Redpath playlist:
• Jean Redpath (1937-2014)