Wild Mountain Thyme

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Wild Mountain Thyme. also known as "Will You Go Lassie, Go", is based on a traditional Scottish folk song. It was first recorded by Francis McPeake, a native of Ulster, Ireland, in 1957, and has been attributed to him, though it is commonly described as a variant of "The Braes of Balquidder" by Robert Tannahill.^[1]^[2] The chorus goes:

Will ye go, lassie, go,

And we’ll all go together

To pick wild mountain thyme

All around the blooming heather,

Will ye go, lassie, go.

The copyright (1962 & 1967) is attributed to E.F.D.S.S. Publications.^[3]

"The Braes of Balquidder" by Robert Tannahill (1774-1810) was named after the braes, or hills, of Balquidder near Lochearnhead, and has similar lyrics and tune.^[2]^[4] For example, the first two verses of this song are:

Let us go, lassie, go

Tae the braes o' Balquhidder

Where the blaeberries grow

'Mang the bonnie bloomin' heather

Whar the deer and the rae

Lichtly bounding thegither

Sport the lang summer day

On the braes o' Balquhidder

I will twine thee a bower

By the clear silver fountain

And I'll cover it o'er

Wi' the flowers o' the mountain

I will range through the wilds

And the deep glens sae dreary

And return wi' their spoils

To the bower o' my dearie

[edit] Recordings

There have been numerous recordings of this song, including:

Francis McPeake - for the BBC series As I Roved Out (1957)
Sandy Paton - Many Sides of Sandy Paton (1959)
The McPeake Family - McPeake Family of Belfast (1961)
Bob Dylan- The Minnesota tapes
Jean Redpath
The Irish Rovers
The Chieftans
Judy Collins - Maid of Constant Sorrow (1961)
The Clancy Brothers - The Boys Won’t Leave the Girls Alone (1962)
Paul Clayton (1964)
Joan Baez - Farewell, Angelina (1965)
The Byrds - 5th Dimension
The Corries - The Corries: In Concert
Meg Davis - Meg Davis Live At Dennos (1992)
The Strawbs - as 'Will You Go' - B side to Part of the union and on Halcyon Days (Strawbs album)
Van Morrison - as 'Purple Heather' on Hard Nose the Highway (1973)
Rod Stewart - as 'Purple Heather' on A Spanner in the Works (1995)
Mark Knopfler - at A shot of glory (2001)
James Taylor - on Telluride Bluegrass Festival: Reflections, Vol. 1 [LIVE] (2003)
Broadside Electric on Black-edged Visiting Card
Real McKenzies - Clash of the Tartans
Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha - Re-Covers (2005)
The Doonan Family Band - Manna from Hebburn
Keltik Elektrik with Jim Malcolm performed it on Putumayo Presents Celtic Crossroads (2005)
Kate Rusby - as 'Blooming Heather' on Awkward Annie (2007)
Lucy Wainwright Roche - 8 Seconds (2007)
Enter the Haggis from their first live album
The High Kings - as 'Will ye go, Lassie go' on The High Kings (2008)
Lauren Yason, Richard Fox and Caroline Dale - for the film Stone of Destiny (2008)