Band o' Shearers, The

DESCRIPTION: As shearing season approaches, the lad asks, "My bonnie lassie, will ye gang, And shear wi' me the whole day long, And love will cheer us as we gang And join the band of shearers." The two find they are happy together, and decide to wed
AUTHOR: Robert Hogg ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love courting work sheep
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Ford-VagabondSongsAndBalladsOfScotland, pp. 196-197, "The Band o' Shearers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #3, p. 3, "The Band o' Shearers" (1 fragment)
Greig/Duncan3 406, "The Band o' Shearers" (8 texts, 5 tunes)
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, pp. 268-269, "The Band o' Shearers" (1 text)
McMorland/Scott-HerdLaddieOTheGlen, pp. 64, 151, "The Band O Shearers" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BANSHEAR*

Roud #1524
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(126), "The Band o' Shearers," Poet's Box (Dundee), n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gallant Shearers" (chorus)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Shearing
NOTES [80 words]: This song and "The Gallant Shearers" share a chorus and a theme, and are undoubtedly connected, though it's not clear which is older. But the feel of the verses is different enough that I follow Ord-BothySongsAndBallads in splitting them, as does Roud. - RBW
I'll follow Roud in putting Greig/Duncan3 here rather than with "The Gallant Shearers" but it could go either way.
Greig/Duncan3: "Learnt in Skene fifty-five years ago from an old Highlandman. Noted 19th December 1906." - BS
Last updated in version 3.2
File: FVS196

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

The Ballad Index Copyright 2023 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.