Glen Collection of printed music > Printed music > Wood's edition of the songs of Scotland

THE SONGS OF SCOTLAND.
25
: 8S
GALA WATER.
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Braw braw lads
Yar - row braes,
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bloom - ing bea - ther ; But Yar - row braes, nor
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Braw, braw lads,
But there is ane, a secret ane,
Aboon them a' I lo'e him better ;
An' I'll be his, an' he'll be mine,
The bonnie lad o' Gala water.
Although his daddie was nae laird,
An' though I hae nae nieikle tocher ;
Yet, rich in kindest, truest love,
We'll tent our flocks by Gala water.
It ne'er was wealth, it ne'er was wealth,
That coft 1 contentment, peace, or pleasure ;
The bands and bliss o' mutual love,
that's the chiefest warld's treasure !
1 Bought.
" Gala Water." One of the most beautiful of our old Scottish melodies. It is somewhat singular, however, that
it is not to be found in any of our earlier collections. Neil Stewart gives it under the name of " Coming thro' the
broom," in his " Thirty Scots songs for a voice and harpsichord," a work probably published between 1780, 1790 ; the
copy we have seen bears a manuscript date of 1783. Mr. Stenhouse says, " This tune was greatly admired by the
celebrated Dr. Haydn, who harmonized it for Mr. William Whyte's Collection of Scottish Songs. On the MS. of the
music, which I have seen, the Doctor expressed his opinion of the melody, in the best English he was master of, in the
following short but emphatic sentence : — ' This one Dr. Haydn favourite song.' " In January 1793, Burns wrote the
verses here published to this air. The Gala river rises in Mid-Lotbian, and after uniting with the Heriot, runs south,
and falls into the Tweed about four miles above Melrose, and a short distance below Abbotsford. See Museum Illus-
trations, vol. ii. pp. 120-122. The last detached measure, to the words " Braw, braw lads," does not belong to the
original melody, but is inserted because the air is generally so sung at the present day. The singer may adopt or
reject that additional measure.
The following is a portion of what Mr. Robert Chambers gives as probably the original song of " Gala Water :" —
" Out owre yon moss, out owre yon muir, " Lords and lairds cam' here to woo,
Out owre yon bonnie bush o' heather, An' gentlemen wi' sword an' dagger,
a' yc lads whae'er ye be, But the black-ee'd lass o' Galashiels
Show me the way to Gala water. Wad hae naue but the gree o' Gala water.
* * * ■* * * * * *
" Adieu, soor plooms o' Galashiels,
Fareweel, my father an' my mother ;
For .I'll awa' wi' the black herd lad,
Wha keeps his flocks on Gala water.
Braw, braw lads o' Gala water,
Bonnie lads o' Gala water,
Let them a' say what they will,
The gree gaes ay to Gala water. ,: