Rothesay Bay


1. Fu' yellow lie the corn-rigs
Far down the braid hillside;
It is the brawest harst field
Alang the shores o' Clyde,
And I'm a puir harst lassie
Wha stands the lee lang day
Amang the corn-rigs of Ardbeg
Aboon sweet Rothesay Bay.

2. I had ance a true love,
Now I hae nane ava;
And I had three braw brithers,
But I hae tint them a':
 My father and my mither
Sleep i' the mools this day;
I sit my lane amang the rigs
Aboon sweet Rothesay Bay.

3. It's a bonnie bay at morning,
And bonnier at the noon,
But bonniest when the sun draps,
And red comes up the moon;
When the mist creeps o'er the Cumbraes,
And Arran peaks are gray,
And the great black hills, like sleepin' kings,
Sit grand roun' Rothesay Bay.

4. Then a bit sigh stirs my bosom,
And a wee tear blin's my e'e,
And I think of that far countrie
Wha' I wad like to be!
But I rise content i' the morning
To wark, whilst wark I may,
I' the yellow harst field of Ardbeg
Aboon sweet Rothesay Bay.

A Scottish song that appears in print as 3/4 time but is sung in 4/4 time.  I’ll go with Jean Redpath’s singing any day!  The ancient town of Rothesay (with a castle from the 1200s) is on the Isle of Bute among many islands off the Western coast of Scotland.