> June Tabor > Songs > Queen Among the Heather

Queen Among the Heather

[ Roud 375 ; Ballad Index K141 ; trad.]

Belle Stewart sang the Scottish traditional song Queen Amang the Heather in a recording by Bill Leader in his own home, Camden Town, London, in 1964 or 1965. This was published in 1965 on the Topic LP The Stewarts of Blair. Hamish Henderson commented in the album notes:

This splendid version of a song equally well-known among the Scots farming community and the travelling folk was learnt by Belle when she still was a wee bairn—among the singers to have contributed to her version are old Henry MacGregor of Perth, her cousin Jimmy Whyte and her brother Donald MacGregor. Version of it used to be as thick as blueberries in Strathmore and the Braes of Angus. It seems to be related to Ower the Muir Amang the Heather, of which Burns wrote: “This song is the composition of Jean Glover … I took the song down from her singing as she was strolling through the country with a sleight-of-hand blackguard.” Subsequent collecting makes it almost certain that Jean's version was itself a re-shaping of an older Ettrick song. James Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd produced a version which was in turn modified. Musical and textual evidence however, suggests that—as in the case of Huntingtower—a classic ballad lies behind the lyric lovesong. In this case, the progenitor is Glasgow Peggie (Child 228), the tunes for which are clearly related to Queen Amang the Heather, and whose story present a parallel situation—the Highlander who takes the heiress he has carried off and beds her down “amang the heather” before revealing that he is homself a Chieftain.

Fred Kent recorded Belle Stewart singing this song again in Blairgowrie in May 1976; this was published as title track of her 1977 Topic LP Queen Among the Heather. It was included on the Topic anthologies As Me and My Love Sat Courting (The Voice of the People Series, Vol. 15; 1998) and Three Score and Ten. A recording of her daughter Sheila Stewart by Doc Rowe in Blairgowrie on October 15, 1998 can be found on her Topic CD From the Heart of the Tradition.

June Tabor learnt Queen Among the Heather from the singing of Belle Stewart and sang it unaccompanied on her first solo album, Airs and Graces (1976). This recording was later included in her anthology The Definitive Collection.

Lyrics

Belle Stewart sings Queen Amang the HeatherJune Tabor sings Queen Among the Heather

Noo, as I roved out one summer's morn
Amang the lofty hills and moorland and mountain,
It was there I spied a lovely maid,
Whilst I with others was out a-hunting.

Oh, as I rode out one morning fair
Over lofty hill, moorland and mountain,
It was there I met with a fine young girl,
While I with others was hunting.

No shoes nor stockings did she wear;
Neither had she hat nor had she feather,
But her golden locks, aye, in ringlets rare
In the gentle breeze played around her shoulders.

No shoes nor stockings did she wear;
Neither had she hat nor had she feather,
But her golden curls, aye, and ringlets rare
In the gentle breeze played round her shoulders.

“Oh,” I said, “braw lassie, why roam your lane?
Why roam your lane amang the heather?”
For she says, “My faither's awa' fae hame
And I'm herding a' his yowes thegether.”

I said, “Fair lassie, why roam your lane?
Why roam your lane among the heather?”
She said, “My father's away from home
And I'm herding of his ewes together.”

“Noo,” I said, “braw lassie, if you'll be mine
And care to lie on a bed o' feathers,
In silks and satin it's you will shine,
And you'll be my queen amang the heather.”

I said, “Fair lassie, if you'll be mine
And you lie on a bed o' feathers,
In silks and satin it's you will shine,
And you'll be my queen among the heather.”

“But,” she said, “kind sir, your offer is good,
But I'm afraid it was meant for laughter,
For I know you are some rich squire's son
And that I'm a poor lame shepherd's dochter.”

She said, “Kind sir, your offer is good,
But I'm afraid it's meant for laughter,
For I know you are some rich squire's son
And I'm a poor lame shepherd's daughter.”

“But had you been a shepherd loon
A-herding yowes in the yonder valley,
Or had you been a plooman's son,
Wi' all my heart I would hae lo'ed ye.”

“Oh, but had you been some shepherd lad
A-herding ewes among the heather,
Or had you been some ploughman's son,
It's with all my heart I would have loved you.”

Noo, I hae been to balls and I hae been to halls;
I have been in London and Balquidder,
But the bonniest lassie that ever I did see
She was herding the yowes amang the heather.

Now, I've been to balls and I have been to halls;
I have been to London and Balquidder,
But the bonniest lassie that ever I did see
She was herding of her ewes together.

So we baith sat doon upon the plain.
We sat awhile and we talked thegether,
And we left the yowes for to stray their lane,
Till I wooed my queen amang the heather.

So we both sat down upon the plain.
We sat awhile and we talked together,
And we left the ewes for to stray their lane,
Till I won my queen among the heather.

References

See also the Mudcat Café discussion Origins/lyrics: Queen Among the Heather