A Student Boy- Norman Kennedy (Aber) c.1958 REC
[From: Folk-Legacy Records: Ballads and Songs of Scotland, FSS 034, LP (1968), trk# 3. Their notes follow.
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXIK3EphuVY
His "braid Scotch" is hard to understand in places.
R. Matteson 2017]
Liner notes: Norman first came to this country from his native Aberdeenshire to sing at one of the early Newport festivals. We heard him there and realized that we had met him (and had even given him a ride from Edinburgh to Aberdeen) when we were collecting songs in Scotland in 1958! He is surely one of the finest young Scottish singers in the authentic traditional style and his repertoire is remarkable. He is also a weaver and a teacher of that ancient folk art. He now makes his home in Vermont.
A Student Boy Cam' Courting Me
A foolish young girl was I
Tae be courted by a student boy
A student boy although he be,
He spak braid Scotch when he come for me.
There is a lass in yonder toon
He takes her wrist and he sets her doon
He takes that lovely upon his knee,
And tells a tale that he used to tell me.
And when my apron reached my tae,
He followed me where'er I gae,
But now my apron it's to my shen[1]
He pass'd the door but he won't look in.
I wish my babe was born,
And settin' on his daddy's knee.
And I was dead and in my grave.
And green grass growing over me.
I wished, I wished, I wished in vain,
I wished I were a maid again;
But a maid again I never'll be
Till apples grow on an orange tree.
1. this line is probably wrong as is the last line of this stanza. shen=shin