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(Braw Lads o’) Gala Water

[ Roud 2578 ; Robert Burns / trad.]

Ewan MacColl: Folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland Peggy Seeger, Ewan MacColl: The Singing Island David Herd: Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc., Second Volume

Ossian sang Gala Water in 1978 on their Iona album St. Kilda Wedding. They noted:

The Gala river rises in mid-Lothian and runs south joining the Tweed about four miles above Melrose. This song is known in various forms, the most popular being the version written by Burns in 1793. Earlier versions were published however by Herd and Robert Chambers and the words here are largely those given by Chambers with an additional verse from Herd. We sing the song at a faster pace than is normal but we felt that the quicker tempo was more in keeping with these earlier lyrics. The song is followed by Major David Mansons, a reel by Pipe Major Peter R. Mcleod.

Battlefield Band sang Braw Lads o’ Galla Water on their 1980 album Home Is Where the Van Is. They noted:

There are many versions of this well-known song which we have given a more lyrical treatment than usual.

Scotch Measure with Sylvia Barnes sang Braw Lads o’ Gala Water on their 2020 album of live recordings from the 1980s, Scotch Measure Live 1987-88.

Old Blind Dogs sang Gala Water in 1992 on their Lochshore album New Tricks They noted:

A song for Dane Ashby, our on the road PA engineer who hails from the part of Scotland where identity is somewhat in question due to its proximity with ‘the ither pairt o’ Britain’. “Braw braw bonnie lad oh.”

Elspeth Cowie sang Braw, Braw Lads on Yarrow Braes in 1998 on the Linn anthology The Complete Songs of Robert Burns Volume 5.

Ed Miller sang Braw Lads o’ Gala Water on his 2009 album of songs written or collected by Robert Burns, Lyrics of Gold. He noted:

An example of Burns slightly altering or improving an older existing piece, this romantic pastoral song previously appeared in Herd’s 1788 collection. The Gala Water (river) runs south from the Moorfoot Hills to join the Tweed at Galashiels in the Borders region of Southern Scotland. As my father lived there in his latter years, I fondly recall frequent drives down the beautiful Gala valley as well as hikes in the surrounding hills in my youth; but never once did I ever encounter a shepherdess…

Emily Smith sang Gala Water on her 2009 album of songs by Robert Burns, Adoon Winding Nith. She noted:

A song credited to Burns but thought to also exist in an older form. It tells a happy story of a girl who has fallen for a young man from Gala, or Galashiels in the Scottish Borders.

Lyrics

Battlefield Band sing Braw Lads o’ Galla Water

Braw, braw lads o’ Galla Water,
Bonnie lads o’ Galla Water
I’ll kilt my coats abune my knee,
And follow my love through the water,
Braw, braw lads.

There is yin, a secret yin
Abune them a’ I love him better,
And I’ll be his and he’ll be mine
The bonny lad o’ Galla Water,
Braw, braw lad.

Lothian lads are black as deils
And Selkirk lads are no’ much better,
I’ll kilt my coats abune my knee
And follow the lad o’ Galla Water,
Braw, braw lad.

Corn rigs are fine and bonnie,
A block o’ sheep is muckle better,
The wind will shake a field of oats
While lambs are frisklin’ in Galla Water,
Braw, braw lads.

Adieu, soor plooms o’ Galashiels,
Tae you, my faither, here’s a letter,
It’s I’m awa’ wi’ the black-haired lad,
To bide wi’ him in Galla Water,
Braw, braw lads.

Ed Miller sings Braw Lads o’ Gala Water

Braw braw lads on Yarrow braes,
They rove amang the bloomin’ heather;
But Yarrow braes, nor Ettrick shaws
Can match the lads o’ Gala Water;
Braw, braw lads.

Lothian lads are black as de’ils,
And Selkirk lads are no’ much better.
I’ll kilt my coats aboon ma knee,
And follow the lad o’ the Gala Water;
Braw, braw lad.

Altho’ his daddie was nae laird,
And tho’ I hae nae muckle tocher,
Yet rich in kindest truest love,
We’ll tent oor flocks by the Gala Water;
Braw, braw lad.

It ne’er was wealth, it ne’er was wealth,
That coft contentment, peace or pleasure.
The bands and bliss o’ mutual love,
Oh’that’s the chiefest world’s treasure;
Braw, braw lad.

Emily Smith sings Gala Water

Braw braw lads on Yarrow braes
Rove among the blooming heather
But Yarrow braes, nor Ettrick’s shaws
Can match the lads o Gala Water
O braw, braw bonnie lads o

But there is ane, a secret ane
Aboon them aa I loe him better
And I’ll be his, and he’ll be mine
The bonnie lad o Gala Water
O braw, braw bonnie lads o

Although his daddie was nae laird
And though I hae nae meikle tocher
Yet rich in kindest, truest love
We’ll tent oor flocks by Gala Water
O braw, braw bonnie lads o

It ne’er was wealth, it ne’er was wealth
That coft contentment, peace, or pleasure
The bands and bliss o mutual love
O that’s the chiefest warld’s treasure
O braw, braw bonnie lads o