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Oh But I’m Weary

[ Roud 5555 ; G/D 7:1332 ; Ballad Index Ord150 ; trad.]

Katherine Campbell: Songs From North-East Scotland John Ord: Bothy Songs and Ballads

Violet Manson sang I’m Weary Night and Day in a 1970 field recording made by Alan Bruford that was included in 2004 on the Greentrax anthology Orkney: Land, Sea & Community (Scottish Tradition 21).

Sinsheen sang Weary Waiting on their 2009 album Lift.

The Spiers Family sang O But I’m Weary in ca 2012 on their album Plenty Brass and a Bonny Lass. They noted:

Maggie [Spiers] learned this from the singing of Lottie Buchan of Peterhead, recorded by Peter Hall in the 1960s. It’s a common tale of a girl, afraid of being ‘left on the shelf’, asking her mother’s help in finding her ideal man.

Lyrics

The Spiers Family sing O But I’m Weary

Chorus (after each verse):
O but I’m weary weary waitin,
O but I’m weary nicht and day.
O mither gae me a man
Tae taak this weary life away.

“O daughter dear wid ye marry a man
That maaks his living by the ploo?”
“O no mitheri,” she says,
“The smell o muck wid gar me spew.”
“O daughter dear wid ye marry a man
That maaks his living by the mill?”
“O no mitheri,” she says,
“The smell o dust wid maak me ill.”

“O daughter dear wid ye marry a man
That maaks his living building stones?”
“O no mitheri,” she says,
“He may fall tae the earth and brak his bones.”
“O daughter dear wid ye marry a man
That maaks his living by the gun?”
“O no mitheri,” she says,
“He might gae oot and ne’er come in.”

“O daughter dear wid ye marry a man
That maaks his living by the sea?”
“O no mitheri,” she says,
“The ship might sink and ruin me.”
“O daughter dear wid ye marry a man
That maaks his living by the pen?”
“O no mitheri,” she says,
“My heart delights in gentlemen.”