MY LOVE, SHE’S BUT A LASSIE YET

Con lo stesso titolo si indicano due canzoni, la prima scritta in scozzese da Robert Burns nel 1789 su di una melodia da danza tradizionale (arrangiata da Haydn JHW XXXII/3 no. 264) e la seconda scritta in inglese da James Hogg nel secolo successivo, con l’arrangiamento musicale di Cyril Meir Scott (1879 – 1970) pubblicato nel 1908 per voce e piano.

MELODIA
Dai molteplici titoli essendo un’aria assai popolare diffusa in Gran Britannia, Irlanda e America, conosciuta anche con il nome di Tripping on the Mountain (Irlanda) e tra gli altri titoli Miss Farqharson’s Reel, Lady Bandinscoth’s Reel (Scozia).
The title was fixed on the tune because of two songs composed to it, one by Robert Burns and the other by the “Ettrick Shepherd,” James Hogg, although the tune seems to have first appeared in print in Bremner’s Scots Reels” of 1757 as “Miss Farqharson’s Reel.” It appears in James Aird’s collection (of Scottish tunes), but although Samuel Bayard (1981) for some reason said he could find neither the title nor the music therein—Sara Johnson, and others who have looked find it “plain as day” in Aird, 1782, vol. 2, page 1, No. 1. The writer of Gems of Scottish Song asserts that the original title of the tune was “Lady Bodinscoth’s Reel.” In modern times the reel is often played in a set to accompany the dance “Dashing White Sergeant.”
Although of Scottish origin it soon became a popular tune south of the Tweed, as attested to the title’s appearance in Henry Robson’s list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes (“The Northern Minstrel’s Budget”), which he published c. 1800. Northumbrian musician William Vickers included it in his 1770 music manuscript under the title “My Lover’s Butt a Lady Yett.” “My Love She’s But a Lassie Yet” is also the name of a Scottish country dance, though a somewhat unusual one (Flett & Flett, 1964). Imported to Ireland, the tune was converted to a polka and played under the titles “My Love is But a Lassie” and “Tripping on the Mountain.” The last title is the name it was famously recorded as in the 78 RPM era by flute player John McKenna and fiddler James Morrison.
The melody also found currency across the ocean and Bayard deems it perhaps the most widespread instrumental folk tune in Pennsylvania tradition, and that it in fact seems mostly to have been known as an instrumental air among folk musicians in general. The tune was printed under the title “Richmond Blues” in George P. Knauff’s Virginia Reels, volume II (Baltimore, 1839) and was still cited as commonly played for country dances in Orange County, New York, in the 1930’s (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly). In the South, old‑time musicians know the tune under the title “Sweet Sixteen” and “Too Young to Marry.” Jim Taylor (1995) says the tune in its various titles was well-known to musicians in both North and South during the American Civil War era. See also note for “Richmond Blues.” (tratto da qui)

Per l’ascolto propongo due versioni strumentali (tra le tante) e una sola cantata (molto più rara)
ASCOLTA John Doherty violino
ASCOLTA Curly MacKay organetto

ASCOLTA the Corrie folk trio 1964

Il testo è umoristico e accomuna donne e corteggiatori, bevute e sesso libero!

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Chorus
My love, she’s but a lassie yet,
My love, she’s but a lassie yet!
We’ll let her stand a year or twa,
She’ll no be half sae saucy yet!
I
I rue the day I sought her, O!
I rue the day I sought her, O!
Wha gets her need na say he’s woo’d,
But he may say he has bought her, O.
II
Come draw a drap o’ the best o’t yet,
Come draw a drap o’ the best o’t yet!
Gae seek for pleasure whare ye will,
But here I never missed it yet.
III(1)
We’re a’ dry wi’ drinkin o’t,
We’re a’ dry wi’ drinkin o’t!
The minister kiss’t the fiddler’s wife –
He could na preach for thinkin o’t!
TRADUZIONE INGLESE
Chorus
My love, she is but a girl yet,
My love, she is but a girl yet!
We will let her stand a year or two,
She will not be half so saucy yet!
I
I rue the day I sought her, O!
I rue the day I sought her, O!
Who gets her need not say he is courted,
But he may say he has bought her, O.
II
Come draw a drop of the best of it yet,
Come draw a drop of the best of it yet!
Go seek for pleasure where you will,
But here I never missed it yet.
III(1)
We are all dry with drinking of it,
We are all dry with drinking of it!
The minister kissed the fiddler’s wife –
He could not preach for thinking of it!

NOTE
1) la strofa proviene dalla nursery rhymes omonima del 1744: We’re all dry with drinking on’t, We’re all dry with drinking on’t, The piper kissed the fiddler’s wife, And I can’t sleep for thinking on’t.

TRADUZIONE ITALIANO DI CATTIA SALTO
Il mio amore lei è solo una ragazza ancora, lasciamola maturare un anno o due e non sarà impertinente che per solo la metà. Rimpiango il giorno che l’ho cercata! Chi ottiene i suoi favori non deve dire che l’ha corteggiata, piuttosto può dire che l’ha comprata. Vieni a farti un goccio di quello buono, ancora! Vai a cercare il piacere dove vuoi, ma qui non mi è mai mancato, ancora. Siamo tutti esauriti per il berci su! Il sacerdote baciò la moglie del violinista, non poteva predicare al pensarci su.

LA DANZA
Con lo stesso titolo è anche una scottish country dance anche se non molto diffusa (le istruzioni qui), mentre la melodia è spesso inserita nel set di reels per un’altra country dance questa volta assai più popolare Dashing White Sergeant
FONTI
http://www.nigelgatherer.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=164
https://thesession.org/tunes/564 http://www.burnsscotland.com/items/v/volume-iii,-song-225,-page-234-my-love-shes-but-a-lassie-et.aspx
http://www.cobbler.plus.com/wbc/poems/translations/my_love_shes_but_a_lassie_yet.htm http://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/dance-crib/my-love-shes-but-a-lassie-yet.html
http://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/video/dashing-white-sergeant.html

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Pubblicato da Cattia Salto

Amministratore e folklorista di Terre Celtiche Blog. Ha iniziato a divulgare i suoi studi e ricerche sulla musica, le danze e le tradizioni d'Europa nel web, dapprima in maniera sporadica e poi sempre più sistematicamente sul finire del anni 90

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