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The Blackbird

Date
Track ID 32998
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1956.121.A2

Original Tape ID

SA1956.121

Summary

In this song a maiden laments the loss of her young sailor lad who has gone to sea. She wishes that she were a blackbird and could follow his ship, or that she could write him a letter to tell her of her pain.

Belle Stewart heard the song from her cousin Jimmy Whyte, who had eight or ten verses, but she heard it at the age of six or seven, and did not pick it all up. She later learned it from her brother Donald MacGregor, who has much more of it.

Item Notes

4 verses; verse 4 truncated by one line. 'Till Doomsday in the Afternoon' contains an extended version with an extra verse and a repeat of verse two (MacColl & Seeger, 1986, pp. 203-204).

Recording Location

County - Perthshire

Parish - Blairgowrie

Village/Place - Blairgowrie

Language

English

Collection

SoSS

Classification

R387 R858 GD52

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good