Back in the stone age, before the internet, it was challenging to find the source of songs, even ones that were quite popular. Things have changed since then, and while the innernet is full of all kinds of misinformation it does make basic fact-checking a lot easier. Even so, it’s worth mentioning two songs which are still often referred to as ‘traditional’. So for the record;
- The Ballad of Glencoe was written by Jim McLean (Duart Music) around 1963
- Wild Mountain Thyme (Will Ye Go Lassie, Go) was written by Francis McPeake around 1957
Worth noting that Wild Mountain Thyme as we know it now is actually Irish if you really want to get down to it. No really. Although the words are pretty much pulled from a song called ‘The Braes of Balquidder’ by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774-1810), there’s been some significant re-working to come up with the simple lyrics we know today, and the melody is completely different from the original. So it’s really a new song in every meaningful sense of the word. And McPeake = Belfast = Irish (last I checked). (Although I did find one anecdotal reference to someone running a club in Belfast which McPeake played at back in the day. The person suggested the song was learned from Elizabeth Cronin of Cork, who also recorded it for Alan Lomax. The trail ends there as far as I can see. Let me know if you find out any more.)
So both of these songs are written in the tradition, absolutely. But ‘traditional’? Nope, not at all.
And while we’re here, if you’d like to have a look at some real historic material (as opposed to ‘traditional’, which is a term I’ve never really understood, does that mean it was written by a committee?), you might enjoy having a look at the Scottish National Library’s collection of Broadsides. Now there’s a beautiful use of the internet. Nice work. Thanks.