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The Lea-Rig

[ Roud 8516 ; Ballad Index RBurnsLR ; Bodleian Roud 8516 ; Robert Burns]

Davy Steele sang The Lea-Rig in 1990 on his CD Summerlee.

Rod Paterson sang The Lea-Rigg in 1995 on Volume 1 of the Linn Records anthology The Complete Songs of Robert Burns.

Ellen Mitchell sang The Lea-Rig to Rod Stradling in 2000 or 2001. This recording was included in 2001 on her and Kevin Mitchell's Musical Traditions anthology Have a Drop Mair.

The Cast sang The Lea-Rig in 2007 on their Greentrax CD Greengold.

Karine Polwart sang The Lea-Rig in 2007 on her CD Fairest Floo'er.

Fiona Ross sang My Ain Kind Dearie, O in 2017 on her Tradition Bearers album with Tony McManus, Clyde's Water. She noted:

Burns re-worked an earlier version of The Lea-Rig to produce this beautiful love song. It intertwines a wistful melancholy with a sense of the joy their tryst brings to the lovers who, braving the elements, seek each other out under cover of darkness.

Kris Drever sang The Lea Rig on his 2019 mini-album Hill and Shore.

Lyrics

Karine Polwart sings The Lea-Rig

When o'er the hill the eastern star
Tells buchtin time is near, my jo,
And owsen frae the furrow'd field
Return sae dowf and weary O;
Down by the burn, where birken buds
Wi' dew are hangin clear, my jo,
I'll meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.

At midnight hour, in mirkest glen,
I'd rove, and ne'er be eerie, O,
If thro' that glen I gaed to thee,
My ain kind Dearie O;
Altho' the night were ne'er sae wild,
And I were ne'er sae weary O,
I'll meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.

The hunter lo'es the morning sun;
To rouse the mountain deer, my jo;
At noon the fisher seeks the glen
Adown the burn to steer, my jo:
Gie me the hour o' gloamin' grey,
It maks my heart sae cheery O,
To meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.

Fiona Ross sings My Ain Kind Dearie, O

When o'er the hill, the Eastern star
Tells buchtin-time is near my jo
And owsen frae the furrowed field
Return sae dowf and weary o
Doon by the burn whaur scented birks
Wi dew are hangin clear my jo
I'll meet thee on the lea-rig
My ain kind dearie, o

In mirkest glen at midnicht hour
I'd rove and ne'er be eerie o
If thro that glen I gaed tae thee
My ain kind dearie, o
Altho the nicht were ne'er sae wild
And I were ne'er sae weary o
I'd meet thee on the lea-rig
My ain kind dearie, o

The hunter luves the mornin sun
Tae rowse the mountain deer my jo
At noon the fisher seeks the glen
Alang the burn tae steer my jo
Gie me the hour o gloamin grey
It maks ma heart sae cheerie o
Tae meet thee on the lea-rig
My ain kind dearie, o