Lass of Patie's Mill, The

DESCRIPTION: "The lass o' Patie's mill, Sae bonnie blithe and gay, In spite of all my skill, She stole my heart away." He saw her while "tedding out the hay." He describes her beauty. He wishes that he had money so that he could promise that they could marry
AUTHOR: Words: Allan Ramsay, to an older tune
EARLIEST DATE: 1724 (Tea-Table Miscellany)
KEYWORDS: love beauty
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
CatherineHayesSwanOfErinSongster, p. 80, "The Lass of Patie's Mill" (1 text)
Roud #8651
NOTES [124 words]: The best guess I've found in looking at various online sources is that this tune preceded Allan Ramsey, but whatever words it had were unknown to him, so he set a new text. This proved popular enough that, by 1731, the tune was being re-adapted. The National Library of Scotland has a 1731 printing of "Patie and Peggy: or, The Fair Foundling. A Scotch Ballad Opera," with played at the Theatre-Royal in Drury Lane. This follows the method of John Gay's Beggar's Opera in using traditional tunes and setting new texts. Among the airs included are "Polwart[h] of the Green," "Corn Rigs Are Bonny," "Moggy Lawther" [presumably "Maggie Lauder"], "O'er the Hills and Far Away," "THe Blithesome Bridal," and Air XVI, "The Lass of Patie's Mill." - RBW
Last updated in version 7.0
File: CHSE080

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