Traditional & Folk Songs with lyrics, midis & Mp3
Collier Has a Dochter
Collier Has a Dochter
Collier Has a Dochter
The collier has a dochter,
And oh, she's unco bonnie;
A laird he was that socht her,
Rich baith in lands and money.
She wadna hae the laird,
Nor wad she be a leddy;
But she wad hae a collier,
The colour o her daddie.
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Montgomerie SC (1948), 152 (no. 275).
"The Collier's Bonnie Lassie" as remade by Ramsay is in TTM
and with music in Orpheus Caledonius (1725, 1733), I.99;
whence SMM I. no. 47; see Dick, Notes (1908), 17, and endnote,
p. 88; also his Songs, pp. 366, 421. Herd 1776, I.207 (4x8
lines), Whitelaw BSS (1875), 224, etc. The old words (as our
text) are quoted by Burns--Stenhouse, Illus. 52, etc. [line
5 a laird]. Allan Cunningham Songs of Scotland (1825),
III.74, has the Ramsay verses, and (75) his own recension of
the old:
The Collier has a daughter,
She's black, but O she's bonnie;
A laird he was that loved her,
Rich both in lands and money.
I'm o'er young to wed the laird,
And o'er black to be a lady;
But I will hae a collier lad,
The colour o' my daddie.
The collier has a daughter,
I vow she's wond'rous pretty;
The collier has a daughter,
She's black--but O, she's witty!
He shawed her gowd in gowpins,
And she answered him fu' ready;
The lad I love works under ground,
The colour o' my daddie.
"Such is the song which I have heard sung as the old words."
Two sets of the air are in Dick Songs, pp. 44, 186. SS (1878)
II.166. Tune in English works prior to Orph. Cal.: Walsh
Compleat Country Dancing Master (1719), and the Extraordinary
Collection of Pleasant and Merry Humours, pub. London by
Daniel Wright (c. 1713). A superior set (as Coallier's
daughter) in Sinkler MS., 1720 (with minor 7th throughout).
A good version in Playford, Original Scotch Tunes (1700) as
Collier's Lass [Glen ESM 71]. The Coallier's Daughter is in
Gillespie MS. (1768), no. 33; The Collier's Daughter
(strathspey) in Stewart, 43; Glen SDM I.7. Words to air
include "O saw ye bonnie Leslie" and "Deluded Swain" (Burns).
MS