Love and Freedom
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1965.162.B5
Original Tape ID
Summary
A courtship song in which the singer meets a young piper at Strathmartine Mains, who invites her to go with him. He has no money, but can offer her a life of love and freedom, with the rich bounty of the land to provide for them. She accepts and goes with him.
Preceded by an explanation of how the song was composed: when Mary Brooksbank was little, her mother would dandle her on her knee to this tune, which she had learned from a Traveller man who played melodeon; when Mary was older and asked if there were words to the tune, her mother replied that it was just "a tinkie's diddle". Mary was inspired to write this song as a tribute to the free lifestyle of the Travellers.
Item Notes
5 verses of 4 lines with a vocable refrain of 2 lines. Composed by Mary Brooksbank.
See:
'Come Gie's a Sang' (S. Douglas, 1995) p. 114
'Songs and Ballads of Dundee' (N. Gatherer, 1986, 2000) p. 130
'Sidlaw Breezes' (M. Brooksbank, 1966, 1991) pp. 47-48
Recording Location
County - Angus
Parish - Dundee
Village/Place - Dundee
Item Location
County - Angus
Parish - Mains and Strathmartine
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Fair