Wha'll be King but Charlie

[cimorene]

I mentioned the jigs, reels, and country dances in a previous post. This is an engaging little melody (that fits on only two lines of the book!) and the title stuck in my head because lol bonny prince Charlie and also because of the "Wha'll", so I looked it up today and learned:

• It's also (originally? more commonly?) known as "The News from Moidart"



• The tune is an Irish jig called "Tidy Woman", so in the absence of the lyrics, which my songbook did not provide, there's no particular reason to say it even was about Charlie except I presume it was better known in its Jacobite form in 1950s NYC



• The lyrics were written by a Scottish baroness named Caroline Nairn and it was popular from the late 18th century and remained so into the 20th



• The lyrics are in Scots, nobody has seen the need to translate them into regular English in a prominent search result, and the online Scots to English translators don't work. Google translate does not acknowledge Scots, only Scots Gaelic, which this isn't.

Comments

[twistedchick]

This reads to me like Border Scots -- lowland, but not Glaswegian (I am going by how it sounds to my ear when I say it aloud, and also that I'm studying Scots Gaelic, Welsh and Irish on Duolingo and have recent exposure to the sounds.) If you read it aloud with a little bit of a swing, it makes fine sense.

[krait]

I took a stab at it!

The news fraw Moidart cam' yestreen
Will soon gar mony ferlie;
For ships o' war hae just come in,
And landit Royal Charlie?

The news from Moidart came yesterday evening
(and?) will soon make many marvel;
For ships of war have just come in,
And landed Royal Charlie?

Come thro' the heather, around him gather,
Ye're a' the welcomer early;
Around him cling wi' a' your kin;
For wha'll be king but Charlie?
Come thro' the heather, around him gather,
Come Ronald, come Donald, come a' thegither,
And crown your rightfu' lawfu' king!
For wha'll be king but Charlie.

Come through the heather, around him gather,
You're all the more welcome (for coming) early;
Around him cling with all your kin;
For who'll be king but Charlie?
Come through the heather, around him gather,
Come Ronald, Come Donald, come all together
And crown your rightful, lawful king!
For who'll be king but Charlie.

The Hieland clans, wi sword in hand,
Frae John o' Groats' to Airlie,
Hae to a man declared to stand
Or fa' wi' Royal Charlie.

The Highland clans, with sword in hand,
From John O'Groats to Airlie,
Have to a man declared they'll stand
Or fall with Royal Charlie.

The Lowlands a', baith great an' sma,
Wi' mony a lord and laird, hae
Declar'd for Scotia's king an' law,
An' speir ye wha but Charlie

The Lowlands all, both great and small,
With many a lord and laird (Scottish noble), have
Declared for Scotland's king and law,
And ask you for whom but Charlie?

There's ne'er a lass in a' the lan',
But vows baith late an' early,
She'll ne'er to man gie heart nor han'
Wha wadna fecht for Charlie.

There's never a lass in all the land
But vows both late and early
She'll never give to (a) man (her) heart nor hand
Who wouldn't fight for Charlie.

Then here's a health to Charlie's cause,
And be't complete an' early;
His very name our heart's blood warms;
To arms for Royal Charlie!

Then here's a health (toast) to Charlie's cause,
And may it be complete and early;
His very name our heart's blood warms;
To arms for Royal Charlie!

[cimorene]

Ah, thank you! We couldn't make head or tails of the passages about "a the welcomer early" or "an spier ye wha but"! 😅

[krait]

You're welcome! (Welcomer, even!) :D