"Wild Mountain Thyme", also known as "Purple Heather" and "Will You Go Lassie, Go", is a folk song

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, rewritten by Francis McPeake, a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a variant of a traditional song The Braes of Balquhidder by Robert Tannahill

Robert Tannahill

‎Robert Tannahill was a Scottish poet. Known as the 'Weaver Poet', his music and poetry is contemporaneous with that of Robert Burns.He was born at Castle Street in Paisley on 3 June 1774, the fourth son in a family of seven...

 (1774-1810), a contemporary of Robert Burns

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...

.

Lyrics

The song's chorus

Refrain

A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...

 is:

Will ye go, lassie, go,

And we’ll all go together

To pick wild mountain thyme

All around the blooming heather,

Will ye go, lassie, go.

The song is a variant of The Braes of Balquhidder by Robert Tannahill

Robert Tannahill

‎Robert Tannahill was a Scottish poet. Known as the 'Weaver Poet', his music and poetry is contemporaneous with that of Robert Burns.He was born at Castle Street in Paisley on 3 June 1774, the fourth son in a family of seven...

 (1774-1810), which was named after the braes, or hills, of Balquhidder

Balquhidder railway station

Balquhidder was a railway station around two miles south of Lochearnhead, Stirling . It was where the Callander and Oban Railway was joined by the Comrie, St Fillans & Lochearnhead Railway from Crieff.- Opening and development :...

 near Lochearnhead

Lochearnhead

Lochearnhead is a village on the A84 Stirling to Crianlarich road at the foot of Glen Ogle, north of the Highland Boundary Fault...

. The Braes has a similar lyric

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

 which includes the lines "Let us go, lassie, go" and "And the wild mountain thyme".
McPeake version, published 1957 closely paraphrases the Tannahill version of the song, earliest known publication date 1821 (posthumously)



Tannahill:

Noo the simmer's in prime

Wi' the flooers richly bloomin'

Wi' the wild mountain thyme

A' the moorlan's perfumin'

McPeake:

O the summer time is coming

And the trees are sweetly blooming

And the wild mountain thyme

Grows around the purple heather

Tannahill:

I will twin thee a bow'r

By the clear siller fountain

And I'll cover it o'er

Wi' the flooers o' the mountain

McPeake:

I will build my love a bower

By yon clear crystal fountain

And on it I will pile

All the flowers of the mountain

Recordings

There have been numerous recordings of this song, including:

• Francis McPeake - for the BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
   series As I Roved Out (1957)
• Sandy Paton - on Many Sides of Sandy Paton (1959)
• The McPeake Family - on McPeake Family of Belfast (1961)
• Judy Collins
  Judy Collins
  Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
  
   - on A Maid of Constant Sorrow
  A Maid of Constant Sorrow
  A Maid of Constant Sorrow is a 1961 album, the debut of Judy Collins, released by Elektra Records and featuring traditional folk songs. Collins' voice and guitar are sparsely accompanied by Fred Hellerman and Walter Raim on second guitar, Erik Darling on banjo, and Bill Lee on bass...
  
  (1961)
• The Clancy Brothers
  The Clancy Brothers
  The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...
  
   - (as "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?") on The Boys Won't Leave the Girls Alone
  The Boys Won't Leave the Girls Alone
  The Boys Won't Leave the Girls Alone is a collection of mostly traditional Irish folk songs performed by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. It was their third album for Columbia Records and was released in 1962. It was also their first studio album for Columbia. Its title is taken from the song,...
  
  (1962)
• Paul Clayton - on Folk Singer (1965)
• Joan Baez
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  Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
  
   - on Farewell Angelina
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  (1965)
• The New Christy Minstrels - (as "Go, Lassie, Go") on Wandering Minstrels (1965)
• Lee Mallory
  Lee Mallory
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   - on unreleased recording with producer Curt Boettcher & The Ballroom (eventually released on CD) (1965)
• The Byrds
  The Byrds
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   - on Fifth Dimension
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  (1966)
• Marianne Faithfull
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   - on North Country Maid (1966)
• Bob Dylan
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   - on the bootleg
  Bootleg recording
  A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
  
   album The Minnesota Tapes and on bootleg recordings of his Isle of Wight Festival
  Isle of Wight Festival 1969
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   performance on August 31, 1969.
• Long John Baldry
  Long John Baldry
  John William "Long John" Baldry was an English and Canadian blues singer and a voice actor. He sang with many British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry in the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where Let the Heartaches Begin reached No...
  
   - on Everything Stops for Tea
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  (1972)
• Van Morrison
  Van Morrison
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   - as "Purple Heather" on Hard Nose the Highway
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  According to Ritchie Yorke, who published his biography, Into the Music in 1975, the album enjoyed rave reviews at the time of release. He cited one dissenting critic Charlie Gillett, who wrote in Let It Rock: "The trouble with Hard Nose the Highway is that although the music is quite often...
  
  (1973)
• Nigel & the Crosses - on Time Between - A Tribute to The Byrds
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  Time Between – A Tribute to The Byrds is a various artists tribute album consisting of cover versions of songs originally written and recorded by the Los Angeles band The Byrds. It was released in 1989 as an LP and CD by Imaginary Records in the UK and by the Communion Label in the United States...
  
  (1989)
• Meg Davis
  Meg Davis
  Meg Davis is an American singer of traditional music. She is also a songwriter, best known for her classic ballad "Captain Jack and the Mermaid"...
  
   - on Meg Davis Live at Dennos (1992)
• Strawbs - (as "Will You Go") on the B-side
  A-side and B-side
  A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
  
   to the single "Part of the Union
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  " and on the album Halcyon Days
  Halcyon Days (Strawbs album)
  Halcyon Days is a compilation album by English band Strawbs. Although credited to Strawbs it does contain three Hudson Ford tracks and a Dave Cousins solo track . The album was released as a 2 CD set in the UK and US...
  
  
• Glenn Frey
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  Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...
  
   - on Glenn Frey Live
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  Glenn Frey Live is a live album by Glenn Frey, released in 1993 .-Track listing:#"Peaceful Easy Feeling" – 2:35#"New Kid in Town" Glenn Frey Live is a live album by Glenn Frey, released in 1993 (see 1993 in music).-Track listing:#"Peaceful Easy Feeling" (Jack Tempchin) – 2:35#"New Kid in Town"...
  
  (1993)
• The Silencers
  The Silencers (band)
  The Silencers are a Scottish rock band formed in London in 1986 by two ex-members of the post-punk outfit Fingerprintz. Their music is characterized by a melodic blend of pop, folk and traditional Celtic influences...
  
   - on So Be It (1994)
• Jim Diamond
  Jim Diamond (Scottish musician)
  James "Jim" Diamond is a Scottish singer-songwriter. Diamond is best known for his three Top 5 hits. The first was "I Won't Let You Down" , as the lead singer in the trio Ph.D., with Tony Hymas and Simon Phillips. His solo performance, "I Should Have Known Better", was a United Kingdom number one...
  
   - on Sugarolly Days
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  Sugarolly Days is a 1994 album by Jim Diamond. It is a collection of Scottish folk songs. Gallagher & Lyle appear on several tracks.-Track listing:#Sugarolly Mountains 5.59#The Road to Dundee 4.10#One Day Without Fear 4.45#Ae Fond Kiss 3.25...
  
  (1994)
• Brother
  Brother (band)
  Brother is a rock band incorporating Celtic rock , mongrel rock, Australian rock, didgeridoo, and vocals. They record on their own Rhubarb Records label, and have gained a worldwide following with their meld of Celtic music and dress with alternative rock and style.-Band history:The Richardson...
  
   - (as Will You Go) on the album Pipe Dreams (1994)
• The Corries
  The Corries
  The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. Although the group was a trio in the early days, it was as the partnership of Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne that it is best known.-Early years:...
  
   - on The Corries: In Concert (1995)
• Rod Stewart
  Rod Stewart
  Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
  
   - as 'Purple Heather' on A Spanner in the Works
  A Spanner in the Works
  A Spanner in the Works is a studio album released by Rod Stewart on May 26, 1995 . It is Rod’s seventeenth studio album and ended a four-year gap since his last studio album. At the time this was the longest span between studio albums that Rod had experienced. The album was released on Warner...
  
  (1995)
• The Irish Rovers
  The Irish Rovers
  The Irish Rovers is a Canadian Irish folk group created in 1963 and named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover". The group is best known for their international television series, and renditions of traditional Irish drinking songs, as well as early hits, Shel Silverstein's "The Unicorn",...
  
   - on The Irish Rovers' Gems (1996)
• John McDermott
  John McDermott (singer)
  John Charles McDermott is a Scottish-Canadian tenor best known for his rendering of the song "Danny Boy". Born in Glasgow, Scotland, John moved with his family to Willowdale, Ontario, Canada in 1965. Growing up in a musical family, his only formal musical training was at St...
  
   - on When I Grow Too Old To Dream (1997)
• Lisa Lynne
  Lisa Lynne
  Lisa Lynne is a Celtic harpist and composer and New Age recording artist residing in Los Angeles, California.Lisa Lynne is a self-proclaimed multi-instrumentalist who has "spent the last eighteen years pursuing her passion for the Celtic harp."...
  
   - on Quiet Heart (1997)
• Big Country
  Big Country
  Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife in 1981. They were most popular in the early to mid-1980s, but they still release material for a cult following...
  
   used the main movement as an instrumental bridge in their live versions of Fields of Fire on the 'Final Fling' Tour of 1999/2000.
• Real McKenzies
  Real McKenzies
  The Real McKenzies is a North American Celtic punk band founded in 1992 and based in Vancouver, British Columbia.In addition to writing and performing original music, Real McKenzies perform traditional Scottish songs, giving them a new punk-influenced sound...
  
   - on Clash of the Tartans
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  Clash of the Tartans is the second album by the band Real McKenzies, originally released in 1998 . "Mainland" was the selected single, with an accompanying video directed by Danny Novak.-Track listing:...
  
  (2000)
• Mark Knopfler
  Mark Knopfler
  Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
  
   - on A Shot at Glory
  A Shot at Glory (album)
  A Shot at Glory is a 2002 original soundtrack album by Mark Knopfler with music from the film of the same name, directed by Michael Corrente...
  
  (2001)
• Enter the Haggis
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  Enter the Haggis is a Canadian Indie/Celtic/Folk Rock world-fusion band based in Toronto, Canada. Commonly called ETH, the band has been playing and recording since 1996. Their latest studio album, "Whitelake" is the band's ninth album....
  
   - on Live! (2002)
• The Chieftains
  The Chieftains
  The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
  
   - on Further Down the Old Plank Road (2003)
• Emerald Rose
  Emerald Rose
  Emerald Rose is a Celtic folk rock band from Georgia of the United States. The band consists of four members: Brian Sullivan , Larry Morris, Arthur Hinds and Clyde Gilbert. Emerald Rose plays a mix of Celtic, folk, and Pagan tunes.- Biography :...
  
   - as "Wild Mountain Thyme" on Celtic Crescent (2003)
• James Taylor
  James Taylor
  James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
  
   - on Telluride Bluegrass Festival: Reflections, Vol. 1 (2003)
• Broadside Electric
  Broadside Electric
  Broadside Electric are an American electric folk band from Philadelphia. Formed in 1990, they are still active in 2011...
  
   - on Black-edged Visiting Card
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  Black-edged Visiting Card is the title of the first album by Broadside Electric. It was released on December 1, 1992 in the United States.-Track listing:#New York Girls / Yoshke / Sailor's Hornpipe – 5:57...
  
  
• The Real McKenzies - on Clash of the Tartans
  Clash of the Tartans
  Clash of the Tartans is the second album by the band Real McKenzies, originally released in 1998 . "Mainland" was the selected single, with an accompanying video directed by Danny Novak.-Track listing:...
  
  
• Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha
  Yat-Kha
  Yat-Kha is a band from Tuva, led by vocalist/guitarist Albert Kuvezin. Their music is a mixture of Tuvan traditional music and rock, featuring Kuvezin's distinctive kargyraa throat singing style, the kanzat kargyraa.-Biography:...
  
   - on Re-Covers (2005)
• Keltik Elektrik with Jim Malcolm - on Putumayo Presents Celtic Crossroads (2005)
• Kate Rusby
  Kate Rusby
  Kate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
  
   - as 'Blooming Heather' on Awkward Annie
  Awkward Annie
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  (2007)
• Lucy Wainwright Roche
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   - on 8 Songs (2007)
• Moira Nelson - on Echoes of Another Time (2007)
• The High Kings
  The High Kings
  The High Kings are an Irish ballad group. They were formed on Carick on Suir by Fibarr Clancy and Martin Furey.Brian Dunphy , and Broadway/pop/country singer Darren Holden were later recruited having wowed the world with their own solo careers on broadway in musical reviews, such as Riverdance...
  
   - (as "Will Ye Go, Lassie Go") on their eponymous first album (2008)
• Lauren Yason, Richard Fox, and Caroline Dale
  Caroline Dale
  Caroline Dale is a widely-recorded British cellist who has performed music for numerous films, including Truly, Madly, Deeply, Hilary and Jackie, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as well as the 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and 2007's Academy Award winner Atonement...
  
   - for the film Stone of Destiny
  Stone of Destiny (film)
  Stone of Destiny is a 2008 British-Canadian adventure/comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith. It stars Charlie Cox, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle, Kate Mara and Brenda Fricker....
  
  (2008)
• Blake
  Blake (band)
  Blake are a classical vocal quartet. They are widely known as the group who formed on Facebook.They released their debut album "Blake" in November 2007, which won the Album of the Year Award at the Classical BRIT Awards in 2008...
  
   - on And So it Goes (2008)
• Fotheringay
  Fotheringay
  Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition "Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots had been imprisoned...
  
   - on Fotheringay 2
  Fotheringay 2
  Fotheringay 2 is the second album by the group formed by Sandy Denny after she left Fairport Convention in 1969, and consists of previously unreleased tracks. The band was short-lived, and this album collects those remaining performances.-Track listing:...
  
  (recorded 1971/2007 released 2008)
• Lark & Spur - on Once in France (2008)
• Ronan Keating
  Ronan Keating
  Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...
  
   - on Songs for My Mother
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  (2009)
• Robin Pecknold
  Robin Pecknold
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   (as White Antelope) (2009)
• Denis Ryan
  Denis Ryan
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   - on "Denis Ryan Mist Covered Mountains"
• Jean Redpath
  Jean Redpath
  Jean Redpath MBE is a singer of folk songs and Scottish music.Redpath was born in Edinburgh, to musical parents. Her mother knew many Scots songs and passed them on to Jean and her brother; her father played the hammer dulcimer. She was raised in Leven, Fife,Scotland, and later returned to...
  
  
• Amanda (sångensemblen) - on Tres (2005)
• Damh the Bard - on Tales from the Crow Man (2009)
• Chelsea House Orchestra - on Crossing the Border (2010)
• Ben Folds - on Download for Good (2011)

Controversy

While there is a copyright asserted by English Folk Dance and Song Society Publications

English Folk Dance and Song Society

The English Folk Dance and Song Society was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dance Society. The EFDSS, a member-based organisation, was incorporated as a Company limited by guarantee in 1935 and became a Registered Charity The English Folk...

, who published it for Francis McPeake in 1957, there is a continuing controversy about the actual ownership of the song. However, when the McPeake family took Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

 to court in the early 1990's for their due royalties of his cover of the song, not only did they not receive royalties but the defense's case alleged that McPeake Senior seemed to have plagiarized Robert Tannahill

Robert Tannahill

‎Robert Tannahill was a Scottish poet. Known as the 'Weaver Poet', his music and poetry is contemporaneous with that of Robert Burns.He was born at Castle Street in Paisley on 3 June 1774, the fourth son in a family of seven...

's version.

External links

• Wild Mountain Thyme lyrics
• Site with link to downloadable MP3
• [ Allmusic review: Purple Heather by Van Morrison]