018 Blythe Was She
Tune: Andro And His Cutty Gun
Chorus
Blythe, blythe and merry was she,
Blythe was she butt and ben,
Blythe by the banks of Earn,
And blythe in Glenturit glen!
1．
By Oughtertyre grows the aik,
On Yarrow banks the birken shaw;
But Phemie was a bonier lass
Than braes o' Yarrow ever saw.
2．
Her looks were like a flow'r in May,
Her smile was like a simmer morn.
She tripped by the banks o' Earn,
As light's a bird upon a thorn.
3．
Her bonie face it was as meek
As onie lamb upon a lea.
The evening sun was ne'er sae sweet
As was the blink o' Phemie's e'e.
4．
The Highland hills I've wander'd wide,
As o'er the Lawlands I hae been,
But Phemie was the blythest lass
That ever trod the dewy green.
Notes
Title Blythe Was She: Blithe Was She
This poem was written in the Autumn of 1787 at Auchtertyre about Miss Euphemia Murray of Lentrose. This poem was first printed on 14th Februrary, 1788.
Chorus
Line 2 butt and ben: outside and inside, in kitchen and parlour; ben: interior room
Line 3 Earn: name of a river
Line 4 Glenturit: name of a valley
Stanza 1
Line 1 Oughtertyre: name of a river; aik: oak
Line 2 Yarrow: name of a river; birken shaw: birch woods
Line 3 Phemie: name of the girl in this poem; bonier: more lovely
Line 4 braes: slopes, hillsides
Stanza 2
Line 1 flow'r: flower
Line 2 simmer: summer; morn: morning
Line 3 tripped: walked lightly and happily
Stanza 3
Line 1 bonie face: pretty face
Line 2 onie: any; lea: meadow, pasture
Line 3 ne'er sae: never so
Line 4 blink: flash or twinkle; e'e: eye
Stanza 4
Line 1 wander'd; wandered
Line 2 Lawlands: lowlands; hae: have
Line 4 trod: walked