Blacksmith (III), The

DESCRIPTION: "When I was a blacksmith An working in my shop I did kiss a bonnie lass Behind the working block." He describes her hair, eyes, teeth and skin. He compares birds to women. The last lines are enigmatic: "I winna lie in your bed Neither at stock nor wa"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Greig/Duncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting sex beauty nonballad bird
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greig/Duncan4 841, "The Blacksmith" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6249
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Behind the Stable Door
NOTES [95 words]: The verses seem as though they must be floating but I can't place them. For example, the verse describing the woman's hair is "The colour o my bonnie lovey's hair Was o the bonnie brown An ye widna see the like o my bonnie love In a' the country roun"; one of the verses referring to birds is "The blackbird it's a bonnie bird The cuckoo also vain But by a the creatures o the earth The woman's the prettiest one." - BS
The last lines may be from "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship." Comparison of people to blackbirds and cuckoos are of course too numerous to mean much. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4841

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography