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The Braes o’ Balquhidder /
Wild Mountain Thyme (Will You Go Lassie, Go?)

[ Roud 541 ; G/D 4:862 ; Ballad Index FSWB141A , SmHa084 ; Bodleian Roud 541 ; Robert Tannahill / Francis McPeake]

Wild Mountain Thyme (also known as Purple Heather and Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?) is a Scottish/Irish folk song. The lyrics and melody are a variant of the song The Braes of Balquhither by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810) and Scottish composer Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829), but were adapted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake (1885–1971) into Wild Mountain Thyme and first recorded by his family in the 1950s. [Wikipedia]

Francis McPeake of Belfast and son sang Will You Go Lassie, Go? on 7 July 1952 for the BBC recording 18290 made by Peter Kennedy and Sean O Boyle. This was included in 1955 on the HMV anthology of Kennedy recordings, Folk Song Today. The whole McPeake family sang this song as the title track of on their 1963 Topic EP Wild Mountain Thyme. Francis McPeake (son) accompanied on the uilleann pipes and sang with Francis (father), Francis (grandson), Tommy McCrudden, Kathleen McPeake and James McPeake, who also accompanied on the harp.

Francis McPeake’s tune of Wild Mountain Thyme is reckoned to be totally original. However, there was some debate as to whether McPeake heard it from an ‘uncle’, or some such source—as in the 1952 recording he makes a mention of this, but not having written it—and the interpretation is ambiguous. [Mudcat]

Sandy Paton sang Wild Mountain Thyme in 1959 on his Elektra album The Many Sides of Sandy Paton. Kenneth S. Goldstein noted:

A beautiful song knows no national boundaries, as witness this hauntingly lovely Irish variant of an eighteenth century Scottish ballad.

Jeannie Robertson sang Braes o’ Balquidder in a recording made by Hamish Henderson on her 1960 Collector album Lord Donald. Hamish Henderson noted:

A number of composed songs by such writers as Burns, Hogg and Tannahill are found in the repertoire of Scottish folksingers, most of them reduced to a sort of “singer’s digest”. Typical examples are Hogg’s Birnie Bouzle and Tannahill’s Braes o’ Balquidder. In Jeannie’s two stanza digest of the latter, Tannahill’s appeal to the ‘lassie’ to go with him to a sort of Highland weekend jaunt has been transformed into a lover’s meeting song of breath-taking loveliness.

Ewan MacColl sang The Braes o’ Balquither in 1964 on his and Peggy Seeger’s Folkways album Traditional Songs and Ballads. The album’s booklet noted:

Written by Robert Tannahill, the Paisley weaver and poet, The Braes o’ Balquither has passed into the Scots country singer’s repertoire. A song known as Wild Mountain Thyme is a favourite with singers in Northern Ireland and appears to be a version of Tannahill’s song.

Learned from Betsy Henry of Auchterarder.

The Halliard (Nic Jones, Dave Moran, Nigel Patterson) sang The Wild Mountain Thyme in 1967 on their first album, It’s the Irish in Me.

Fotheringay recorded Wild Mountain Thyme at Sound Techniques in autumn 1970 for their aborted second album. It was finally released in 2008 by Fledg’ling records as Fotheringay 2. A live performance on BBC Radio “Sound of the Seventies”, hosted by Bob Harris, recorded on 15 November 1970 and broadcast on 21 December, was included in 2015 on their Universal anthology Nothing More.

The Clancy Brothers with Louis Killen sang Will You Go, Lassie live at the Bushnell Auditorium in Hartford, Connecticut in 1972. This concert recording was released a year later on their album Live on St. Patrick’s Day.

John MacDonald sang The Braes o’ Balquhidder on his 1975 Topic album The Singing Molecatcher of Morayshire. Hamish Henderson noted:

A song by the Paisley weaver-poet Robert Tannahill (1774-1810), to an old air The Three Carles o’ Buchanan. This exquisite song became very popular in the 19^th century throughout Scotland and Ireland. It was in the repertoire of the celebrated ballad-singer Mrs Elizabeth Cronin of Macroom, Co. Cork, and the version recorded by the McPeake family of Belfast—now known throughout the modern folk revival as The Wild Mountain Thyme—continues to enjoy widespread popularity. It belongs to a well-known class of courtship songs in which the lover appeals to his girl to leave the city and enjoy the pleasures of country life. These songs gained added pathos in the period of the Industrial Revolution, when so many of the Lowland towns turned into smokey hell-holes.

Bert Jansch sang Wild Mountain Thyme on his 1982 album Heartbreak. This track was included in 1996 on the anthology New Electric Muse: The Story of Folk into Rock.

Jock Tamson’s Bairns sang The Braes o’ Balquhidder in 1982 on their Topic album The Lasses Fashion. They noted:

All the songs on this album reflect some aspect of courtship or love, and this song of Robert Tannahill’s is one of the best examples from the more sentimental and pastoral side of Scottish music.

Tannahill was a Paisley weaver who believed himself to be the natural successor to Robert Burns as Scotland’s foremost poet and composer of national songs. A melancholic character, he eventually committed suicide by drowning himself in the Maxwelton Burn in 1810. His body was recovered from the water by a black American called Peter Burnet.

The Irish version of this song is usually called The Wild Mountain Thyme..

Swan Arcade sang Wild Mountain Thyme in 1990 on their CD Full Circle.

Alison McMorland and Geordie McIntyre sang Braes o’ Balquidder in 2001 on their Tradition Bearers CD Rowan in the Rock. They noted:

This lyric gem was originally from the pen of Robert Tannahill, weaver-poet of Paisley, Renfrewshire (1774-1810). Many fine variants, in text and tune, are extant in Scotland as well as Ireland. We heard a fine Tennessee version recently! Geordie was privileged to learn this particular way of it, in the early 1960’s, from Andrew Tannahill, poet and playwright, a descendent of Robert Tannahill.

This video put on YouTube in 2013 gives no information on the recording’s time and place:

Maggie Reilly sang Wild Mountain Thyme in 2007 on her CD Rowan.

Kate Rusby sang Blooming Heather in 2007 on her CD Awkward Annie.

Jon Boden sang Wild Mountain Thyme as the 13 June 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. He noted in his blog

Sung a lot on Forest School Camps (and everywhere else of course). Recently heard a wonderful version by the McPeakes on the Topic re-release—a fair bit more bite than the Rod Stewart version that’s for sure.

Band of Burns sang Wild Mountain Thyme in January 2017 at Union Chapel in London. A concert recording was released in the following year on their CD Live at the Union Chapel.

Christine Kydd sang Braes o Balquhidder in 2019 on her Greentrax album of songs from Scotland, Shift and Change. She noted:

Irish musician Francis McPeake wrote The Wild Mountain Thyme, which is known to have been inspired by this song from the Scots tradition. I came across this when freelancing based at Timespan in Helmsdale. My version is based on the singing of Colin MacDonald (Strath Halladale, Kildonan, Sutherland) on Tobar an Dualchais and the words of the Paisley weaver poet, Robert Tannahill. A joy to sing with Innes [Watson] and Angus [Lyon] playing on this!

Ewan McLennan sang Wild Mountain Thyme on his 2020 album Borrowed Songs. He noted:

The album is brought to a close with that beautiful, well-worn traditional Scottish ‘finishing song’, Wild Mountain Thyme; quite possibly one of the first folk songs I ever learnt and still one of my favourites!

Anna Tam sang Braes of Balquhidder on her 2021 CD Anchoress. She noted:

Words by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774-1810) and set to what is most likely a traditional air, rather than a tune by Tannahill. This lovely song was the inspiration for Wild Mountain Thyme.

The Haar sang Wild Mountain Thyme on their 2022 album Where Old Ghosts Meet. They noted:

Wild Mountain Thyme is a variant of the Scottish song The Braes of Balquhither that was adapted by a Belfast musician, Francis McPeake, in the first half of the 20^th century. This isn’t a story of love found and ‘lived happily ever after’, but of yearning, loss and desperation. There’s no way back.

Siobhan Miller sang Wild Mountain Thyme on her 2022 CD Bloom.

Mànran released Wild Mointain Thyme in November 2023 for their homeless shelter charity single Wild Mountain Thyme.

Adam Holmes sang Go Lassie Go on his 2024 album The Voice of Scotland.

Lyrics

Robert Tannahill’s poem The Braes o’ Balquhither

Let us go, lassie go
To the braes of Balquhither,
Where the blae-berries grow,
’Mang the bonnie Highland heather;
Where the deer and the rae,
Lightly bounding together,
Sport the lang summer day
On the braes o’ Balquhither.

I will twine thee a bower
By the clear siller fountain,
And I’ll cover it o’er
Wi’ the flow’rs o’ the mountain.
I will range through the wilds,
And the deep glens sae drearie,
And return wi’ the spoils
To the bower o’ my dearie.

When the rude wintry win’
Idly raves round our dwelling,
And the roar o’ the linn
On the night-breeze is swelling,
So merrily we’ll sing,
As the storm rattles o’er us,
Till the dear sheiling ring
Wi’ the light lilting chorus.

Now the summer is in prime,
Wi’ the flow’rs richly blooming,
An’ the wild mountain thyme
A’ the moorlands perfuming.
To our dear native scenes
Let us journey together,
Where glad Innocence reigns
’Mang the braes o’ Balquhither.

The McPeake Family sings Will Ye Go Lassie, Go

The summer time is coming
And the trees are sweetly blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,
Will you go, lassie, go?

I will build my love a bower
By yon clear crystal fountain.
And on it I will build
All the flowers of the mountain.
Will you go, lassie, go?

If my true love she were gone,
I will surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?

Ewan MacColl sings The Braes o’ Balquither

Will ye go, lassie, go to the braes o’ Balquhither,
Whaur the blaeberries grow ’neath the bonnie bloomin’ heather;
Whaur the deer and the row, lightly bounding thegither,
Sport the lang simmer day on the braes o’ Balquhither?

I will mak’ thee a bower by the clear siller fountain,
Whaur the flowerets so gay deck the slopes o’ the mountain;
I will gang ower the bens and the valleys sae eerie,
And I’ll come back again tae the aims o’ my dearie.

Noo’s the high simmer-time and the flooers are a’ blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme on the breeses perfuming;
Let us go, lassie, go, and we’ll journey thegither
Whaur the blaeberries grow on the braes o’ Balquhither.

Fotheringay sings Wild Mountain Thyme

Oh, the summer is in its prime
And the leaves are sweetly blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme
All the mountains is perfuming
Will you go, lassie, go?

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,
Will you go, lassie, go?

I will build my love a bower
By yon clear crystal fountain.
And on it I will pile
All the flowers of the mountain.
Will you go, lassie, go?

If my true love he were gone,
I will surely find no other
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?

John MacDonald sings The Braes o’ Balquhidder

Will ye go, lassie go,
To the braes o’ Balquhidder?
Where the blaeberries grow,
’Mangst the bonnie powerful heather;
Where the roe and the deer,
Lightly bounding together,
Sport the lang summer’s e’en
’Mang the braes o’ Balquhidder.
Will you go, lassie, go?

I will build thee a bower
By the clear silver fountain,
An’ I’ll cover it o’er
Wi’ the flowers o’ the mountain;
I will hunt o’er the hills,
An’ the deep glens sae dreary,
An’ return wi’ their spoils
To the bower o’ my deary
Will you go, lassie, go?

As the rude wintry win’
Idly hows round my dwellin’,
An’ the roar o’ the linn
On the night breeze is swellin’,
It is merrily we’ll sing,
As the storm rages o’er us,
And the dear sheeling ring
To’ the light liltin’ chorus.
Will you go, lassie, go?

Now the summer’s in its prime,
An’ the flowers highly bloomin’,
An’ the wild mountain thyme
A’ the hillsides perfumin’,-
To our dear native land
Let us journey together,
Where the blaeberries grow,
’Mang the braes o’ Balquhidder.
Will you go, lassie, go?

Alison McMorland and Geordie McIntyre sing Braes o’ Balquidder

I will build my love a bower
By yon clear siller fountain
An’ aroon it I will build
All the flooers o’ the mountain

Chorus (after each verse):
Will ye go lassie go
Tae the braes o’ Balquidder
Whaur the blaeberries grow
Amang the bonnie purple heather

I will roam o’er glens
And bens sae eerie
An’ I’ll bring back the spoils
Tae the airms o’ my dearie

Noo its high Simmertime
An’ the flooers are a-bloomin
An’ the wild mountain thyme
On the breezes perfumin’

Whaur the deer an’ the roe
Lichtly bound a’ the gither
Sport the lang simmer days
On the braes o’ Balquidder

Jon Boden sings Wild Mountain Thyme

Oh, the summer time has come
And the trees are sweetly blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?

Chorus (after each verse):
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,
Will you go, lassie, go?

I will build my love a fountain
By yon clear crystal stream.
And my love will be the fairest
That the summer sun has seen.
Will you go, lassie, go?

I will build my love a bower
By yon clear crystal fountain.
And on it I shall plant
All the flowers of the mountain.
Will you go, lassie, go?

And if my true love won’t come,
I will surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?

Mànran sig Wild Mointain Thyme

Oh, the summertime is coming
And the trees are sweetly blooming
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?

Chorus (after each verse):
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?

I will build my love a bower
By yon clear and crystal fountain
And on it, I will pile
All the flowers of the mountain
Will you go, lassie, go?

If my true love, he won’t come
I will surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?

Links

I copied Robert Tannahill’s verses from The Scottish Songs, edited by Robert Chambers, Edinburgh: William Tait, 1829, as shown on Mudcat.