Traditional Scottish Songs
- The Band o' Shearers
The shearers in this "bothy ballad" are not working with sheep, but cutting the grain crops with a sickle.
The Band o' Shearers
Oh summer days and heather bells
Come blooming owre yon high hill,
There's yellow corn in a' the fields,
And autumn brings the shearin'.Chorus:
Bonnie lassie will ye gang
And shear wi' me the hale day lang?
And love will cheer us as we gang
Tae join yon band o' shearers.Chorus:
Oh, if the weather be owre hot
I'll cast my cravat and my coat
And shear wi' ye amang the lot,
When we join yon band o' shearers.Chorus:
And if the thistle is owre strang,
And pierce your lily milk-white hand,
It's wi' my hook I'll cut them down,
When we gang tae the shearin'.Chorus:
And if the weather be owre dry,
They'll say there's love twixt you and I
But we will proudly pass them by,
When we join the band o' Shearers.Chorus:
And when the shearin' it is done
And slowly sets the evening sun,
We'll have some rantin' roarin' fun,
And gang nae mair tae the shearin'.Final Chorus:
So bonnie lassie bricht and fair
Will ye be mine for evermair?
If ye'll be mine, then I'll be thine,
And we gang nae mair tae the shearin'.Meaning of unusual words:
shearin' = cutting grain crops with a sickle
gang = go
hale day lang = whole day long
owre = over
gang nae mair = go no more
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