Traditional Scottish Songs
- The Heiress
Carolina Oliphant (1766-1845), also known by Lady Nairnie (though prior to her death she had published her works under the pseudonym of "Bogan of Bogan") is better known for her Jacobite songs such as Will Ye No Come Back Again?. But in this amusing ballad she writes about how life can change for a girl once she inherits some money. In her life in rural Perthshire she perhaps came across real life illustrations of this situation!
The Heiress
I'll no be had for naething,
I'll no be had for naething,
I tell ye, lads, that's ae thing,
So ye needna follow me.Oh! the change is most surprising;
Last year I was Betsy Brown;
Now to my hand they're a' aspiring,
The fair Eliza I am grown!
But I'll no be had for naething,
I'll no be had for naething,
I tell ye, lads, that's ae thing,
So ye needna follow me.Oh! the change is most surprising.
Nane o' them e'er look'd at me;
Now my charms they're a' admiring,
For my sake they're like to dee!
But I'll no, etc.The laird, the shirra, and the doctor,
And twa-three lords o' high degree;
Wi' heaps o' writers, I could mention,
Surely, sirs, it is no me!
But I'll no, etc.But there is ane, when I had naething,
A' his heart he gied to me;
And sair he toiled, to mak a wee thing,
To gie me when he cam frae sea.
Sae I'll no, etc.And if e'er I marry ony,
He will be the lad for me;
For oh, he was baith gude and bonny,
And he thocht the same o' me.
Sae I'll no be had for naething,
I'll no be had for naething,
I tell ye, lads, that's ae thing,
So ye needna follow me.Meaning of unusual words:
shirra=sheriff
writers=lawyers
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