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The Band o' Shearers

[ Roud 1524 ; G/D 3:406 ; Ballad Index FVS196 ; trad.]

The shearers in this bothy ballad are not working with sheep, but cutting the grain crops with a sickle.

The Band o' Shearers is printed in Ewan MacColl's book Folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland (New York: Oak Publications, 1965), in Norman Buchan's The Scottish Folksinger (Glasgow: Collins, 1973) and in Alison McMorland's book on Willy Scott, Herd Laddie o' the Glen (Selkirk: Scottish Border Council, 2006).

Barbara Dickson sang The Band o' Shearers at folk clubs in between 1969 and 1973. This recording was included in 2013 on her CD B4 Seventy-Four: The Folkclub Tapes.

Gordon McIntyre sang The Band o' Shearers, with his wife Kate Delaney joining in on the chorus, in 1978 on his and Danny Spooner's album Revived and Relieved!.

Isla St Clair sang Band o' Shearers on the BBC Radio 2 series Tatties & Herrin', transmitted in 1995. It was issued two years later on her Greentrax CD Tatties & Herrin': The Land.

Norman Kennedy sang The Band o Shearers at a live concert in Aberdeen in 1996 that was released in 2002 on his Tradition Bearers CD Live in Scotland.

Carnival of Souls sang Band o' Shearers on their 1999 CD No Scone Unburned.

Jack Beck sang Band o' Shearers in 2001 on his Tradition Bearers album Half Ower, Half Ower tae Aberdour. He noted:

I honestly cannot remember where I first heard this song, although it must have been someplace like Dumfernline's Howff or the Blairgowrie Festival. Two versions can be found in Ord's Bothy Songs and Ballads.

Jim Reid sang The Band o' Shearers in 2005 on his Greentrax CD Yont the Tay. He noted:

As I once told a folk band in Ullapool, this is not a song about shearing sheep. It is another love song in the fields amidst the cutting of the corn.

Emily Smith sang The Band o' Shearers on a digital download bonus track of her 2014 CD Echoes and on her 2014 EP A Winter's Night.

Lyrics

The Band o' Shearers in Folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland	Gordon McIntyre sings The Band o' Shearers
Noo summer days and heather bells Come reakin owre yon hieland hills, There's yellow corn in yonder fields, And autumn brings the shearin'.	Summer days and heather bells Are creeping owre yon high, high hills. Corn is high in yonder fields, Autumn brings the shearin'.
Chorus (after each verse): O, bonnie lassie, will ye gang And shear wi' me the hale day lang? And love will cheer us as we gang To join yon band o' shearers.	Chorus (after each verse): Bonnie lassie, will ye gang And shear wi' me the hale day lang? Love will cheer us as we gang To join the band o' shearers.
And if the thistle it be strang, And if it jags your milk-white hand, It's wi' my hook I'll cut it doon, When we join yon band o' shearers.
And if the weather it be hot I'll cast my waistcoat and my coat And shear wi' ye amang the lot, When we join yon band o' shearers.	And if the weather it be hot I'll cast my waistcoat and my coat And shear wi' ye amang the lot, When we join the band o' shearers.
	If the thistle it be strang, And if it cuts your milk-white hand, It's wi' my hook I'll cut it doon, When we join the band o' shearers.
And if the weather it be dry, They'll say there's love 'tween you and I But we'll slyly pass each other by, When we join the band o' shearers.	If the weather it be dry, They'll say there's love twixt you and I But we'll slyly pass each other by, When we join the band o' shearers.
And when the harvest is all done We'll have some rantin' roarin' fun, We'll have some rantin' roarin' fun, And forget the tolls o' shearin'.	When the harvest it's all done Then we'll gi'e us some rare old fun, We'll sat to watch the setting sun When we leave the band o' shearers.