When Will Ye Gang Awa?- Catherine Scott (NS) 1937 Creighton-Senior
[From Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia; Creighton and Senior, 1950.
R. Matteson 2013]
When Will Ye Gang Awa?- Sung by Catherine Scott (Mrs. Edward Gallagher) (Chebucto Head, NS) 1937 Creighton-Senior
"When will ye gang awa' Jamie?
Far across the sea, laddie?
When ye gang to Germany,
What will ye bring to me, laddie?"
"I'll bring a brand new gown, lassie,
The brawest in the town, Janie.
It shall be made with silken thread
With ruffles all around, lassie."
"That's nae guid at all, Jamie,
Silken gown and all, laddie.
There's nae a gift in all the town
I'll hae when you're awa, laddie."
"When I come back again, Janie,
Frae a foreign land, Lassie,
I'll bring wi' me a galant gay,
tae be your own guid man, lassie."
"Be my guid man yourself, Jamie,
Marry me yourself, Jamie.
Take me back to Germany
at hame with ye to dwell, laddie."
"Canna see how that could be, lassie,
Canna see how that could be, Janie,
For I've a wife and bairns three,
canna see how you'd agree, lassie."
"Why couldn't ye hae telt me that afore, Jamie?
Why couldn't ye a telt me long ago, laddie?
For had I ken all your false heart,
you ne're hae got in mine, laddie."
"Dry the tearful 'ee, lassie,
weep nae mair for me, Janie,
For I have no wife, nor bairns three,
I'll wed no one but thee, lassie.
"All Loch Voil is mine, lassie,
All Loch Voil is mine, lassie.
St. Johnston's tower and Hunting Bower, [1]
they are all mine and thine, lassie."
1. St. Johnston's Bower and Huntingtower
Excerpt from: The Creighton-Senior Collaboration, 1932-51
The great discovery of 1937 was Catherine Scott, the wife of Edward Gallagher, the lighthouse keeper at Chebucto Head, whom the two women first visited on the 7th and 8th of August. Helen came to regard her as "the most delightful folk singer I have ever heard [with a voice that] is lovely and absolutely true. [12] This is how she remembered the first collecting session with the Gallaghers:
Dear Mrs. Gallagher! How we grew to love her! That Saturday afternoon her floor had to be scrubbed so her house would be in order for possible Sunday visitors. She wanted to sing, and then did the thing most natural to her which was to sing while she scrubbed. This was her songs' function in her life anyway, for they accompanied her housework. (Walter Roast sang as he ploughed and Ben Henneberry as he fished.) This is how we got "The Broken Ring", a song which became the basis of a folk opera. Her voice was true, and like Dennis Smith, she could stop anywhere and pick her tune up again in the same key. With other singers, Doreen made frequent erasures. This wasn't necessary here.
Our real work began [after the children were in bed] as Mrs. Gallagher recalled one gem after another. This was a happy home and a musical one. Mr. Gallagher played the accordion and mouth organ and in time the boys played musical instruments... The weekend had given us eighteen new songs and variants of several already published in Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia. Four were Child ballads, and Doreen considered at least ten of the eighteen publishable.[13] Mrs. Gallagher would prove to be one of Helen's more prolific informants as well as one of her finest singers, and she would be employed extensively in
the CBC broadcasts of 1938 and 1939. The sister of another informant, Andrew Scott of Enfield, Catherine was of Scottish descent and had learned many of her songs from her mother, and she had taught school before getting married. Her repertoire was varied, and Doreen noted seventeen tunes from her that year. For Helen the highlights were a version of Child # 68 "Young Hunting", the pirate ballad "Henry Martin" (Child # 250), a Robin Hood ballad titled "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (Child # 132), and a comic ballad that sanctioned wifebeating, 'The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin" (Child # 277).
Broadside ballads included the "Broken Ring Song", the humorous "Quaker's Courtship", the naval ballad "Chesapeake and Shannon", "Brennan on the Moor", and "Well Sold the Cow", the tune of which particularly appealed to Doreen. "When Will Ye Gang Awa'" reflected Catherine's Scottish heritage, but Irish songs were actually more numerous, including "The Wild Irishman", "Paddy Backwards" and "The Courtship of Willie Riley". Since Catherine had young children it was hardly surprising that she also sang cumulative songs that could keep them amused or teach them things, such as "The Alphabet Song" and "The Tree in the Wood".
Footnotes:
12 Helen Creighton & Doreen Senior, eds., Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia, ix. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1950.
13 A Life in Folklore, 104-105.