Lady Nairne

Lady Nairne (1766-1845)

The Land of the Leal

The following poem was wrongly attributed to Robert Burns during the lifetime of poet and songwriter Carolina Oliphant Lady Nairne as she published her works anonymously. Only after her death did the world learn the full extent of her songwriting and poems, and sadly Scotland does not give her the credit she deserves in regards to her contribution to Scottish culture, with her songs continuing to be covered by modern artists to this day. The Land of the Leal is a deathbed song, where a dying husband says farewell to his wife and awaits his passing into the afterlife, and in joining their daughter who died years before.

The Land of the Leal

I'm wearing awa', Jean,
Like snaw when it is thaw, Jean;
I'm wearing awa', Jean,
To the land o' the leal.
There's nae sorrow there, Jean,
There's neither cauld nor care, Jean,
The day is aye fair, Jean,
In the land o' the leal.

Ye were aye leal and true, Jean,
Your task's ended now, Jean,
And I'll welcome you
To the land o' the leal.
Our bonnie bairn's there, Jean,
She was baith guid and fair, Jean,
And we grudged her right sair
To the land o' the leal.

Then dry that tearfu' e'e, Jean,
Wy soul langs to be free, Jean,
And angels wait on me
To the land o' the leal.
Now, fare ye weel, my ain Jean,
This warld's care is vain, Jean,
We'll meet and aye be fain
In the land o' the leal.

The Hundred Pipers 

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

We'll up an' gie them a blaw, a blaw

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a'.

O it's owre the border awa', awa'

It's owre the border awa', awa'

We'll on an' we'll march to Carlisle ha'

Wi' its yetts, its castle an' a', an a'.

Chorus:

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

We'll up an' gie them a blaw, a blaw

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a'.

O! our sodger lads looked braw, looked braw,

Wi' their tartan kilts an' a', an' a',

Wi' their bonnets an' feathers an' glitt'rin' gear,

An' pibrochs sounding loud and clear.

Will they a' return to their ain dear glen?

Will they a' return oor Heilan' men?

Second sichted Sandy looked fu' wae.

An' mithers grat when they march'd away.

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

We'll up an' gie them a blaw, a blaw

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a'.

O! wha' is foremos o' a', o' a',

Oh wha' is foremost o' a', o' a',

Bonnie Charlie the King o' us a', hurrah!

Wi' his hundred pipers an' a', an ' a'.

His bonnet and feathers he's waving high,

His prancing steed maist seems to fly,

The nor' win' plays wi' his curly hair,

While the pipers play wi'an unco flare.

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

We'll up an' gie them a blaw, a blaw

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a'.

The Esk was swollen sae red an' sae deep,

But shouther to shouther the brave lads keep;

Twa thousand swam owre to fell English ground

An' danced themselves dry to the pibroch's sound.

Dumfoun'er'd the English saw, they saw,

Dumfoun'er'd they heard the blaw, the blaw,

Dumfoun'er'd they a' ran awa', awa',

Frae the hundred pipers an' a', an' a'.

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

We'll up an' gie them a blaw, a blaw

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a'.

After Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Highlanders were defeated at Culloden in 1746, Charlie escaped to France through the heroism of Flora MacDonald. There is no doubt that Charlie would have wanted to return but not receiving any international help his dreams were never fulfilled. In the 1800s Caroline Oliphant (Lady Nairne) wrote this song about the people who had yearned for his return.

Will Ye No Come Back Again?

Bonnie Chairlie's noo awa',
Safely ower the friendly main;
Mony a heart will break in twa',
Should he ne'er come back again.

Chorus:
Will ye no come back again?
Will ye no come back again?
Better lo'ed ye canna be,
Will ye no come back again?

Ye trusted in your Hielan' men,
They trusted you dear Chairlie.
They kent your hidin' in the glen,
Death or exile bravin'.
Chorus

We watched thee in the gloamin' hour,
We watched thee in the mornin' grey.
Tho' thirty thousand pounds they gie,
O there is nane that wad betray.
Chorus

Sweet the laverock' s note and lang,
Liltin' wildly up the glen.
But aye tae me he sings ae sang,
Will ye no' come back again?
Chorus

Meaning of unusual words:
gloamin'=twilight
laverock=skylark

Lady Nairne (1766-1845) composed around 100 songs including such classics as ‘Charlie is my darling’ and ‘The Rowan Tree’. 
She maintained such a strict anonymity that Robert Burns was sometimes believed to be the composer. 

Lady Nairne was an astute collector of song and wrote some of Scotland's best-known songs, yet today there are few people that are familiar with her work. It doesn't help that some of her songs and prose have been attributed to Robert Burns, James Hogg or Walter Scott.

She was born Carolina Oliphant, at Gask House, Perthshire on 16th August 1766. She had three sisters and two brothers, and fortunately, her father was a progressive thinker for his time as he belived in education for girls as well as boys. Her father, Laurence Oliphant, and her mother's family, the Robertsons of Struan, were fierce supporters of the Jacobite movement. Both her father and grandfather had to leave Scotland after Culloden. Their la nds were bought by relatives in the ensuing sales of forfeited estates.

Her father suffered in poor health, brought on by his experiences whilst in exile, and to cheer him and her uncle, Duncan Robertson, Chief of Struan, she composed Jacobite songs and set them to old tunes. Charlie is my Darling, Will Ye no Come Back Again, and The Hundred Pipers are examples of this.

In her younger years, she was pretty, energetic, and had a keen fondness for dancing. Niel Gow, the famous fiddler, was a contemporary, and they no doubt crossed paths. It was at this time that she adapted popular melodies with new lyrics. The original lyrics would have been considered much too crude for society folk. These included The Laird o' Cockpen, The County Meeting, and The Pleughman.

On June 2nd, 1806, at age 41, she married her second cousin, Major William Murray Nairne, and they remained in Edinburgh until his death in 1830. It was upon coming to Edinburgh that she became involved in her lifelong project to preserve and foster the songs of Scotland. In those days, it was not considered proper for ladies of her place in society to dabble in what she herself called "this queer trade of song-writing". Her attempts at keeping her hobby a secret included not telling her husband, publishing her books anonymously, or under the nom-de-plume: Mrs. Bogan of Bogan. Much of her work was contributed in this form, to Robert Purdie's The Scottish Minstrel, 1821-24, in six volumes. When she went to visit him, she would wear an old, veiled cloak, in the hopes she would not be recognized.

In 1824, following George IV's visit to Edinburgh in 1822 and Walter Scott's endless petitioning, Parliament restored the forfeited Jacobite peerages and Major Nairne regained the family Barony, and she and her husband became Baron and Baroness Nairne.

Baron Nairne died in 1830, and from then on, Lady Nairne travelled quite extensively with her invalid son, who was born in 1808, and her great niece. First, she went to Bristol, then Ireland, and then travelled widely on the Continent. Her son died in Brussels in 1837, and she finally relented to her relatives' pleas to return to Scotland in 1845. Tired and sick, she came back to her home in Gask to die on October 26, 1845, at age 79. She was buried within the new chapel which had been completed only days earlier.

Two years after her death, a posthumous collection of verse, Lays of Strathearn, was prepared by her sister, but this time her name was subscribed to the book. A granite cross was erected to her memory in the grounds of Gask House. Altogether, she wrote or adapted nearly 100 songs and poems in her lifelong endeavor. Lady Carolina Nairne deserves recognition today, because not only did she help to preserve many Scottish tunes, but also, at a time when women's talents were expected to be merely domestic, she managed to do her own thing.

Her creative ability, the secret part of her life, never interfered with her position as a society lady. Lady Carolina Nairne has been sadly neglected, but to her we owe immense gratitude, for, without her, much of the Scottish musical heritage would have been lost.

This information comes from The Life of Lady Nairne

https://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/bio/nairnela.html

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