Wild Mountain Thyme

"Purple Heather" redirects here. For the European plant, see Calluna. For The American plant, see Krameria erecta.

"Wild Mountain Thyme" (also known as "Purple Heather" and "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go") is a folk song written by Francis McPeake, a member of a well known musical family in Belfast, of Scottish origin. McPeake's lyrics are a variant of the song "The Braes of Balquhither" by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774-1810), a contemporary of Robert Burns. Tannahill's original song, first published in R. A. Smith's Scottish Minstrel (1821–24), is about the hills (braes) around Balquhidder near Lochearnhead. Like Burns, Tannahill collected and adapted traditional songs, and "The Braes of Balquhither" may have been based on the traditional song "The Braes o' Bowhether".

McPeake's tune is significantly different from Tannahill's, which was most likely based on a traditional air. In an 1850 publication, Scottish Songs, edited by George Farquhar Graham, notes indicate that Tannahill's song was set to music by R. A. Smith himself. Others scholars suggest the melody is based on an old Scottish traditional tune "The Three Carls o' Buchanan".

McPeake dedicated "Wild Mountain Thyme" to his first wife. Many years after she died, McPeake remarried, and his son, Francis McPeake II, wrote an extra verse to celebrate the marriage. "Wild Mountain Thyme" was first recorded by McPeake's nephew, also named Francis McPeake, in 1957 for the BBC series As I Roved Out.

Lyrics

McPeake's version of the song, published in 1957, closely paraphrases the Tannahill version, which was published posthumously in 1821. Tannahill's original lyrics include a number of phrases that McPeake carried over into his song, including the lines "Let us go, lassie, go" and "And the wild mountain thyme".

"The Braes of Balquhither"

Let us go, lassie, go

To the braes o' Balquhither,

Where the blae-berries grow

'Mang the bonnie Highland heather;

Where flie 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 flowers o' the mountain;

I will range through the wilds,

And the deep glens sae dreary,

And return wi' their spoils.

To the bower o' my deary.

When the rude wintry win'

Idly raves round our dwelling,

And the roar of the linn

On the night breeze is swelling,

So merrily we'll sing,

As the storm rattles o'er us,

'Till the dear sheeling ring

Wi' the light lilting chorus.

Now the summer is in prime,

Wi' the flowers richly blooming,

And 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.

"Wild Mountain Thyme"

Oh, the summer time is coming,

And the trees are blooming,

And the wild mountain thyme

Grows around the blooming heather.

Will you go, lassie, will you go?

Chorus:

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 all around the bower,

I'll pile flowers from the mountain.

Will you go, lassie, will you go?

If my true love, she won't have me,

I will surely find another

To pull wild mountain thyme

All around the blooming heather.

Will you go, lassie, will you go?

Oh, the summertime is coming

And thre trees are blooming

And the wild mountain thyme

Grows around the blooming heather.

Will you go, lassie, will you go?

Recordings

The following is a list of recordings of the song.

• Francis McPeake for the BBC series As I Roved Out (1957)
• Sandy Paton on Many Sides of Sandy Paton (1959)
• The McPeake Family on McPeake Family of Belfast (1961)
• The Clancy Brothers (as "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?") on The Boys Won't Leave the Girls Alone (1962)
• The Courriers on Carry On (1963)
• Judy Collins on A Maid of Constant Sorrow (1965)
• Paul Clayton on Folk Singer (1965)
• Joan Baez on Farewell, Angelina (1965)
• The New Christy Minstrels (as "Go, Lassie, Go") on Wandering Minstrels (1965)
• Lee Mallory on unreleased recording with producer Curt Boettcher & The Ballroom (1965)
• The Byrds on Fifth Dimension (1966)
• Marianne Faithfull on North Country Maid (1966)
• Bob Dylan on various bootleg albums of his Isle of Wight performance (1969)
• Nana Mouskouri on Turn on the Sun (1970)
• Long John Baldry on Everything Stops for Tea (1972)
• The Alexander Brothers on Married by the Bible (1972)
• Van Morrison (as "Purple Heather") on Hard Nose the Highway (1973)
• George Hamilton IV on Forever Young (1979)
• Bert Jansch on Heartbreak (1982)
• Marianne Faithfull on North Country Maid Faithfull Sings Folk Songs (1983)
• Bernadette on Back On The Road Again (1984)
• Penelope Houston on Birdboys (1987)
• Nigel & the Crosses on Time Between – A Tribute to The Byrds (1989)
• Meg Davis on Meg Davis Live at Dennos (1992)
• Strawbs (as "Will You Go") on Halcyon Days
• Glenn Frey on Glenn Frey Live (1993)
• The Silencers on So Be It (1994)
• Jim Diamond on Sugarolly Days (1994)
• Brother (as "Will You Go") on Pipe Dreams (1994)
• The Corries on The Corries: In Concert (1995)
• Rod Stewart (as "Purple Heather") on A Spanner in the Works (1995)
• The Silencers on So Be It (1995) and Real (2008)
• The Irish Rovers on The Irish Rovers' Gems (1996)
• John McDermott on When I Grow Too Old to Dream (1997)
• Lisa Lynne on Quiet Heart (1997)
• Big Country (as an instrumental bridge) on "Fields of Fire" on the Final Fling Tour of 1999–2000.
• Real McKenzies on Clash of the Tartans (2000)
• Mark Knopfler on A Shot at Glory (2001)
• Enter the Haggis on Live! (2002)
• Papa M on Three (2003)
• The Chieftains on Further Down the Old Plank Road (2003)
• Emerald Rose on Celtic Crescent (2003)
• James Taylor on Telluride Bluegrass Festival: Reflections, Vol. 1 (2003)
• Brian Kennedy (as "Will Ye Go Lassie Go") on "On Song" (2003)
• Broadside Electric on Black-edged Visiting Card
• The Real McKenzies on Clash of the Tartans
• Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha on Re-Covers (2005)
• Keltik Elektrik with Jim Malcolm on Putumayo Presents Celtic Crossroads (2005)
• Kate Rusby (as "Blooming Heather") on Awkward Annie (2007)
• Lucy Wainwright Roche on 8 Songs (2007)
• Moira Nelson on Echoes of Another Time (2007)
• Maggie Reilly on Rowan (2007)
• The High Kings (as "Will Ye Go, Lassie Go") on their eponymous first album (2008)
• Lauren Yason, Richard Fox, and Caroline Dale for the film Stone of Destiny (2008)
• Blake on And So it Goes (2008)
• Fotheringay on Fotheringay 2 (2008)
• Lark & Spur on Once in France (2008)
• Ronan Keating on Songs for My Mother (2009)
• Robin Pecknold (as White Antelope) (2009)
• Denis Ryan on Denis Ryan Mist Covered Mountains
• Jean Redpath
• Amanda on Amanda: Tres (2005)
• Damh the Bard on Tales from the Crow Man (2009)
• The Real McKenzies on Shine Not Burn (2010)
• Chelsea House Orchestra on Crossing the Border (2010)
• Ben Folds on Download for Good (2011)
• Mudmen on Donegal Danny (2012)
• The Rumjacks on Crosses for Eyes (2012)

Copyright controversy

While there is a copyright asserted by English Folk Dance and Song Society, who published it for Francis McPeake in 1957, there is a continuing controversy about the actual ownership of the song. When the McPeake family took Rod Stewart to court in the early 1990s for their due royalties of his cover of the song, not only did they not receive royalties but the defense's case alleged that McPeake Senior seemed to have plagiarized Robert Tannahill's version.

External links

• Wild Mountain Thyme (lyrics and MP3 file)
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