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Sunday, March 8, 2009

THE NAMELESS LASSIE

“The Nameless Lassie”. James Ballantine (1808-1877)Melody by Alexander Mackenzie. (late 19th century) SOURCE SLIPPY STANE BROADSHEET (N.D.)

There's nane may ever guess or trow my bonnie lassie'name,
There's nane may ken the humble cot my lassie ca's her hame,
Yet though my lassie's nameless, an' her kin o' low degree,
Her heart is warm, her thoughts are pure, an' O, she's dear
to me.

She's gentle as she's bonnie, an' she's, modest as she's fair;
Her virtues, like her beauties a' , are varied; as they're rare—
While she is light and merry as the lammie on the lea,
For happiness an' innocence thegither aye maun be.
When she unveils her blooming face, the flowers may cease
to blaw.

An' when she ope's her hinnied lips, the air it trembles a';
But when wi ithers sorrow touched the tear stands in, her e'e,
Oh, that's the gem in beauty's crown the priceless pearl to me.
Within my soul her form's enshrined, her heart is a' my ain,
An' richer prize, or purer bliss, nae mortal e'er can gain—
The darkest paths o' life I tread wi' steps o' bounding glee,
Cheer'd onward by the love that lights my nameless lassie's e’e!!!

http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/2031

This was a song my grandparents love and my parents knew it too. I first heard Kenneth McKellar sing it; he recorded it in the early 1960's.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi there, my name is Penni and I am 64. My mother now passed on, told me a story of my grandmother whom I never met, and who died at the age of 53. She had 16 children all born but only 3 survived into adulthood, but one in particular who only lived 30 minutes was saddest of all. It seems they could find no-one to register her when she was dying and therefore her she never recieved a first name, she went doan as blank Lawrence, and this song was poplular at the time and seemingly my grandmother cried each time she heard it. Now I can see why when finally I have found it, thank you so much for putting this on.

RICHARD K. MUNRO said...

I am glad you enjoyed the NAMELESS LASSIE.

as I said the song has been recorded. Alasdair Fraser recorded it for the fiddle and you can find Kenneth Mckellar's recording on SCOTTTISH SATURDAY NIGHT which has been re-released on CD. Are you English? The song has some Scottish dialect and was written in the fashion of a Burns song.

RICHARD K. MUNRO said...

I am glad you enjoyed the NAMELESS LASSIE.

as I said the song has been recorded. Alasdair Fraser recorded it for the fiddle and you can find Kenneth Mckellar's recording on SCOTTTISH SATURDAY NIGHT which has been re-released on CD. Are you English? The song has some Scottish dialect and was written in the fashion of a Burns song.