Blow Ye Winds In The Morning

Trad

As I ga’ed oot one morning fair
To view the meadows round
Well there I saw a pretty girl
Come trippin’ o’er the ground

Sing blow ye winds in the morning
Blow ye winds aye-o
Clear away the runnin’ gear
And blow, boys, blow

My father has a milk white steed
He keeps it in the stall
It winnae eat it’s hay or corn
And it winnae go at all

Sing blow ye winds in the morning
Blow ye winds aye-o
Clear away the runnin’ gear
And blow, boys, blow

I told my tale unto the maid
She laughed right in my face
So I took her off to the horses stall
And I put her in the horses place

Sing blow ye winds in the morning
Blow ye winds aye-o
Clear away the runnin’ gear
And blow, boys, blow

She says this is an awful thing
To treat a maiden so
Take off the reigns and halter
And to sea with you I’ll go

Sing blow ye winds in the morning
Blow ye winds aye-o
Clear away the runnin’ gear
And blow, boys, blow

She dressed up in her Sunday best
To meet me at the church
But my lugger sailed the night before
And I left her in the lurch

Sing blow ye winds in the morning
Blow ye winds aye-o
Clear away the runnin’ gear
And blow, boys, blow

To my fathers farm I can’t go back
For fear she might be there
For the marriage game is not for me
To that I roundly swear

Sing blow ye winds in the morning
Blow ye winds aye-o
Clear away the runnin’ gear
And blow, boys, blow

There are several widely different versions of lyrics to this Sea Shanty. The version sung by The Corries relates another common theme in folk music; that of the young man having his way with a young maiden and then not being willing to face up to his responsibilities. Robert Burns played out this situation in real life making plans to travel to Jamaica in an ultimately unsuccesful attempt to avoid marrying Jean Armour, who had twice become pregnant by him.