This lovely old Scots ballad made its way into my first Martha book, Little House in the Highlands. I thought it particulary fitting in light of what little we knew about the real Martha Morse: that she married a man her family considered to be beneath her station, and she went to the New World to marry him and make a new life. "The lad, he was of courage bold; a gallant youth, nineteen years old; he’s made the hills and valleys roar, and the bonnie lassie, she’s gone with him…"
I loved those lines so much I quoted them in the dedication to Highlands.
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‘Twas in the month of sweet July, Before the sun shone in the sky; There in between twa rigs o’ rye, Sure I heard twa lovers talking. He said, "My dear, I must gang away, "Of you, your father he tak’s great care "My father can fret and my mither frown, O, lassie, your fortune it is but sma’ The lassie’s courage began to fail, He’s ta’en her kerchie o’ linen fine, This lad he was of courage bold, |
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This couple they are married noo,
And they hae bairnies one or two,
And they bide in Brechin the winter through,
And in Montrose in summer.
This week’s Poetry Friday roundup can be found at Chicken Spaghetti.