Lass o' Ballochmyle, The

DESCRIPTION: One evening the singer sees and falls in love with "the Lass o' Ballochmyle." "Had she been a country maid" he would bypass fame, honours or gold if he could have "the cot below the pine To tend the flocks or till the soil" to spend every day with her.
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3337))
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig/Duncan4 735, "The Lass o' Ballochmyle" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #89, pp. 178-179, "Song. On Miss W. A." (1 text, 1 tune, from before 1796)
Roud #6168
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3337), "The Bonny Lass I Love So Well" ("Fair is the morn in flow'ry May"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 11(3338), "The Bonny Lass I Love So Well"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(89a), "The Lass o' Ballochmyle," Poet's Box (Dundee), c.1890
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ettrick Banks" (tune, per Burns)
cf. "The Braes o' Ballochmyle" (form, rhyme and reference to "the braes o' Ballochmyle")
NOTES [131 words]: Greig/Duncan4 is a fragment (the first line of Burns); broadside NLScotland is verses three and four of Burns, with a chorus; the Bodleian broadsides are verses three and four of Burns without a chorus "as sung by Mr T Moore at the various Concert Rooms"; Burns is the basis for the description.
Commentary to broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(89a): "Burns's poem was later adapted into a song with the addition of the traditional chorus that also features in the song on this broadside."
What is the relationship between this song, "The Lass o' Ballochmyle" ("'Twas even; the dewy fields were green"), and another Burns poem, "Farewell to Ballochmyle" ("The Catrine woods were yellow seen")? Roud assigns the same number to both. The first verses are clearly related in form and rhyme. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4735

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