I always liked the song Wild Mountain Thyme. Like many folk songs it has a long and complex history. Its modern form is a mid-20th-century adaptation by Belfast musician Francis McPeake of an earlier Scottish song, The Braes of Balquidder, by the Paisley weaver-poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810). In traditional Scots etymology ‘qu’ is pronounced ‘wh’ and ‘dd’ is pronounced ‘th’ so the pronunciation is ‘Balwhither’.
Tannahill was a contemporary of Robert Burns wrote The Braes of Balquhidder in the early 19th century. It celebrates the hills (braes) around Balquhidder near Lochearnhead in Perthshire. Like Burns, Tannahill collected and adapted traditional material drawing on an older traditional air The Braes o’ Bowhether. It appears in Smith’s Scottish Minstrel published in volumes in 1821.
Tannahill’s lyrics include lines that survive in the modern song, such as references to “wild mountain thyme” and the invitation “Let us go, lassie, go.”
There isn’t a recording of the original Braes of Bowhether so I’ve played it here on the whistle to give you an idea. I’m afraid my musical abilities are somewhat limited!
The picture was taken by me in Perthshire. It isn’t me, I used AI to add the figures.
