Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Illustrations of the lyric poetry and music of Scotland

LXXV. THE BANKS OF FORTH. SI
ten by Mallet to the tune of " The Birks of Invermay," be-
ginning " The smiling morn, the breathing spring." But
both of these poets are evidently indebted to an inspired au-
thor for the principal imagery of their songs. '• Rise up, my
love, my fair one, and come away ; for lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone ; the flowers appear on the earth ;
the time of the singing of the birds is come, and the voice
of the turtle is heard in our land. Arise, my love, my
fair one, and come away." — Cant, ii. ver. 10 — 13.
LXXVI.
SAW YE MY FATHER.
This simple and pathetic melody is not to be found in any
very early musical publication ; and even the verses, so far as
I have been able to discover, do not appear in any collec-
tion prior to that of Herd. It is a certain fact, however, that
the song has been a great favourite in Scotland for a long
time past. An English version of the ballad, with the mu-
sic, appears in the second edition of Horsfield's Songster's
Companion, 8vo. London, 1772 ; and also in Dale's Collec-
tion of Scottish Songs, vol. ii. The copy in the Museum is
taken verbatim from Herd's edition. We have another ver-
sion in Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song.
In a note prefixed to which, he says, that Pinkerton pub-
lished the spurious verses, beginning, Saw ye my father^ or
saw ye my mother, six-and-twenty years ago, (viz. in 1784),
and that though he pronounced even them to constitute an
excellent song of superlative beauty, yet from that time to
the present (1810) no exertions have been made to recover
the original glowing verses now presented to the reader.
I.
I'll dip, quo' she, yere lang grey wing'.
All' pouk yere rosie kame.
If ye daur tak' the gay morn star
For the morning's ruddie leam !
But if ye craw na till the day,
I'll make your bauk o' silk.
And ye shall pickle the red cherries,
And drink the reeking milk !