On June 25th, 2021, singer Emer Dunne dropped her second single
from her folk album, 'Hourglass', due out in the autumn, the well loved Scottish folk song 'Wild Mountain Thyme', produced by Bill Shanley.
Emer has been working on a music video to coincide with this release, this included various locations and a nod to the 50's.
Among the footage we will see children playing old school games - hopscotch, marbles and more...
Wild Mountain Thyme
"Wild Mountain Thyme" (also known as "Purple Heather" and "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?") is a Scottish/Irish folk song. The lyrics and melody are a variant of the song "The Braes of Balquhither" by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810) and Scottish composer Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829), but were adapted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake (1885–1971) into "Wild Mountain Thyme" and first recorded by his family in the 1950s.
Tannahill's original song, first published in Robert Archibald Smith's Scottish Minstrel (1821–24), is about the hills (braes) around Balquhidder near Lochearnhead. Like Robert Burns, Tannahill collected and adapted traditional songs, and "The Braes of Balquhither" may have been based on the traditional song "The Braes o' Bowhether".
Emer Dunne is a folk singer from Co Laois
who has completed her much anticipated album due out this autumn called,
‘Hourglass’ with her producer Bill Shanley (Mary Black, Paul Brady and more).
She released the first single, ‘Daisy’ from her album. ‘Hourglass’ in March 2021. ‘Daisy’ has been a
great success in the Irish charts and receiving some great reviews and nationwide radio airplay.
Now getting ready for the next release Emer has said,
“We want to give a flavour of what is to come in the album. ‘Hourglass’ has a variety of folk
songs and music. The song ‘Daisy’ is a contemporary folk song and new to a lot of people,
but this next release is a well-known Scottish folk song and I feel our version offers something
unique while staying true to its established roots.”
Wild Mountain Thyme (also known as "Purple Heather" and "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?") is a Scottish/Irish
folk song. The lyrics and melody are a variant of the song "The Braes of Balquhither" by Scottish poet
Robert Tannahill and Scottish composer Robert Archibald Smith
but were adapted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake (1885–1971) into
"Wild Mountain Thyme" and first recorded by his family in the 1950s.
Emer possesses a very natural talent and her sound has been described as one of the most
clear and beautiful voices to emerge on the Irish music scene. A captivating live performer
she has proven that she can work with Irish, classical, and modern styles.
To date, Emer has performed in Germany, Amsterdam and Manchester to rave reviews.
She sang as part of an Irish dance show that toured many corners of Europe and Japan.
Alongside headline shows in her own right, Emer has opened for Phil Coulter, The Fureys,
The Irish Tenors, Frankie Gavin, Mick Hanly, John Spillane, The Celtic Tenors and many more.
Among her accolades to date her self-penned track ‘Untold Story’ was featured on Irish
television, Virgin Media. She was contacted by the management of the legendary Leonard
Cohen to commend her beautiful rendition of his most famous song, ‘Hallelujah’.
Growing up in the heart of the Midlands, the Laois singer has also written and produced
various theatre shows. She is now very excited for the release of her second single and her
forthcoming debut folk album this autumn.
Vocals: Emer Dunne;
Backing Vocals: Emer Dunne & Bill Shanley;
Piano/Keys: Gavin Murphy;
Whistles: Alan Doherty;
Bass: James Blennerhassett;
Drums: Jason Duffy.
The existing tune of "Wild Mountain Thyme" is significantly different from Tannahill's "The Braes of Balquhither", which was most likely based on a traditional air. In an 1854 publication, George Farquhar Graham notes that Tannahill's song was set to the air "Bochuiddar" (Balquidder), as found in Captain Simon Fraser's Collection of Melodies of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (1816). Other scholars suggest the melody is based on an old Scottish traditional tune "The Three Carls o' Buchanan".
McPeake is said to have dedicated the song to his first wife, but his son wrote an additional verse in order to celebrate his father's remarriage. "Wild Mountain Thyme" was first recorded by McPeake's nephew, also named Francis McPeake, in 1957 for the BBC series As I Roved Out.
While Francis McPeake holds the copyright to the song, it is generally believed that rather than writing the song, he arranged an existing travelling folk version and popularised the song as his father's. When interviewed on radio, Francis McPeake said it was based on a song he heard whilst travelling in Scotland, and he rewrote it later. Bob Dylan's recording of the song cited it as traditional, with the arranger unknown, though Dylan's copyright records indicate that the song is sometimes "attributed to" McPeake.
Lyrics
The original version of the song, published in 1957, closely paraphrases the Tannahill version, which was published posthumously in 1822. Tannahill's original lyrics include a number of phrases that McPeake carried over into his song, including the lines "Let us go, lassie, go" and "And the wild mountain thyme" as he rewrote the song.
In her book Fragrance and Wellbeing: Plant Aromatics and Their Influence on the Psyche, author Jennifer Peace Rhind describes "Wild Mountain Thyme" as essentially a love song, with the line, "Wild Mountain Thyme grows among the Scottish heather" perhaps being an indirect reference to the old custom of young women wearing a sprig of thyme, mint or lavender to attract a suitor. Rhind also notes that, in British folklore, the thyme plant was the fairies' playground and often the herb would be left undisturbed for their use.
Recordings
The following is a chronological list of recordings of the song.
Francis McPeake for the BBC series As I Roved Out (1957)
David Hammond on I Am the Wee Falorie Man (1958)
Sandy Paton on Many Sides of Sandy Paton (1959)
The McPeake Family on McPeake Family of Belfast (1961)
Lee Mallory on unreleased recording with producer Curt Boettcher & The Ballroom (1966), later released on Mallory's collections "That's the Way It's Gonna Be" and "Many Are the Times" (2003)
The Wild Mountain Thyme
O the summer time has come
And the trees are sweetly blooming
And wild mountain thyme
Grows around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?
[Chorus]
And we'll all go together,
To pull wild mountain thyme,
All around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?
I will build my love a tower,
By yon clear crystal fountain,
And on it I will pile,
All the flowers of the mountain.
Will you go, lassie, go?
[Chorus]
I will range through the wilds
And the deep land so dreary
And return with the spoils
To the bower o' my dearie.
Will ye go lassie go ?
[Chorus]
If my true love she'll not come,
Then I'll surely find another,
To pull wild mountain thyme,
All around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?
[Chorus]
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