Tweedside.
[The beautiful tune of "Tweedside" is of great antiquity, and has even been attributed to David Rizzio, but without any authentic foundation. Gay adopts it as the air of one of his songs in the opera of "Polly," printed in 1729. The old verses to the tune, which are here given, are said to have been written by Lord Yester, afterwards marquis of Tweeddale, who died in 1713, in his 68th year. Lord Yester, according to Mr. Robert Chambers, "was a distinguished statesman in the reigns of William and Anne, and married the only daughter of the duke of Lauderdale, considered the greatest heiress in the kingdom. He was one of the principal instruments in carrying through the Union, being at the head of the party called the Squadrone Volante. Macky, in his curious work of that period, describes him as a great encourager and promoter of trade and the welfare of his country. 'He hath good sense,' he adds, 'is very modest, much a man of honour, and hot when piqued; is highly esteemed in his country, and may make a considerable figure in it now. He is a short brown man, towards sixty years old.' The song must have been written before 1697, when he ceased to be Lord Yester, by succeeding his father. Neidpath Castle, near Peebles, which overhangs the Tweed, must be the locality of the song—that being then the property, and one of the residences, of the Tweeddale family. The song first appeared in Mr. Herd's Collection, 1776."]
When Maggy and I were acquaint,
I carried my noddle fu' hie,
Nae lintwhite in a' the gay plain,
Nae gowdspink sae bonnie as she!
I whistled, I piped, and I sang;
I woo'd, but I cam' nae great speed;
Therefore I maun wander abroad,
And lay my banes far frae the Tweed.
To Maggy my love I did tell;
My tears did my passion express:
Alas! for I lo'ed her ower weel,
And the women lo'e sic a man less.
Her heart it was frozen and cauld;
Her pride had my ruin decreed;
Therefore I maun wander abroad,
And lay my banes far frae the Tweed.
Tweedside.
[The following once highly popular verses to the tune of "Tweedside" first appeared in Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, 1724, and again, with the music, in the Orpheus Caledonius, 1725. They were written by Robert Crawfurd, a cadet of the family of Drumsoy, one of the "ingenious young gentlemen," of whom Ramsay speaks as contributors to his Miscellany. Crawfurd was author of "The Bush aboon Traquair," (see page 11,) and other songs given in Ramsay's work. He is sometimes called William Crawfurd, a mistake arising from Lord Woodhouselee misapplying an expression in one of Hamilton of Bangour's letters regarding a Will. Crawfurd. His father was twice married, first, to a daughter of a Gordon of Turnberry, by whom he had two sons, Thomas, at one time envoy extraordinary to the court of France, and Robert, the poet. The latter resided long in France, and died, or, as is said, was drowned on returning to his native country, in 1732. The second marriage of the father was to Jean, daughter of Archibald Crawfurd of Auchinames, in Renfrewshire, by whom he had a large family. Hence the mistake of making the poet belong to the Auchinames family (as is generally done)—a mistake, we believe, first exposed by Mr. David Laing, of the Signet Library, Edinburgh. Mr. Ramsay of Ochtertyre, in a letter to Dr. Blacklock, dated 27th Oct. 1787, says, "You may tell Mr. Burns when you see him, that Colonel Edmonston told me t'other day that his cousin Colonel George Crawfurd was no poet, but a great singer of songs; but that his eldest brother Robert (by a former marriage) had a great turn that way, having written the words of 'The Bush aboon Traquair' and 'Tweedside.' That the Mary to whom it was addressed was Mary Stewart of the Castlemilk family, afterwards wife of Mr. John Belches. The colonel (Edmonston) never saw Robert Crawfurd, though he was at his burial fifty-five years ago. He was a pretty young man, and lived long in France."—According to Sir Walter Scott, the Mary celebrated in "Tweedside" did not belong to the Castlemilk family, but was Mary Lilias Scott of the Harden family, a descendant of another famed beauty, Mary Scott of Dryhope in Selkirkshire, known by the name of "The Flower of Yarrow." Harden is an estate on the Tweed, about four miles from Melrose.]
