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The Clancy Brothers: Will You Go, Lassie
The Braes o’ Balquhidder /
Wild Mountain Thyme (Will You Go Lassie, Go?)
[
Roud 541
; G/D 4:862
; Ballad Index FSWB141A
, SmHa084
; Bodleian
Roud 541
; Folkinfo 751
, 752
; DT WILDMTHY
; Mudcat 3417
, 167177
; Robert Tannahill / Francis McPeake]
Norman Buchan: 101 Scottish Songs Alasdair Clayre: 100 Folk Songs and New Songs Dáibhí Ó Cróinín: The Songs of Elizabeth Cronin Elizabeth Stewart, Alison McMorland: Up Yon Wide and Lonely Glen
Wild Mountain Thyme (also known as Purple Heather and Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?) is a Scottish/Irish folk song. The lyrics and melody are a variant of the song The Braes of Balquhither by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810) and Scottish composer Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829), but were adapted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake (1885–1971) into Wild Mountain Thyme and first recorded by his family in the 1950s. [Wikipedia]
Francis McPeake of Belfast and son sang Will You Go Lassie, Go? on 7 July 1952 for the BBC recording 18290 made by Peter Kennedy and Sean O Boyle. This was included in 1955 on the HMV anthology of Kennedy recordings, Folk Song Today. Another Peter Kennedy recording of the McPeake Trio in London in 1961 was included in 1995 on the Saydisc anthology of Traditional Songs of Ireland. The whole McPeake family sang this song as the title track of on their 1963 Topic EP Wild Mountain Thyme; it was recorded by Bill Leader in 1962. Francis McPeake (son) accompanied on the uilleann pipes and sang with Francis (father), Francis (grandson), Tommy McCrudden, Kathleen McPeake and James McPeake, who also accompanied on the harp.
Francis McPeake’s tune of Wild Mountain Thyme is reckoned to be totally original. However, there was some debate as to whether McPeake heard it from an ‘uncle’, or some such source—as in the 1952 recording he makes a mention of this, but not having written it—and the interpretation is ambiguous. [Mudcat]
Sandy Paton sang Wild Mountain Thyme in 1959 on his Elektra album The Many Sides of Sandy Paton. Kenneth S. Goldstein noted:
A beautiful song knows no national boundaries, as witness this hauntingly lovely Irish variant of an eighteenth century Scottish ballad.
Jeannie Robertson sang Braes o’ Balquidder in a recording made by Hamish Henderson on her 1960 Collector album Lord Donald. Hamish Henderson noted:
A number of composed songs by such writers as Burns, Hogg and Tannahill are found in the repertoire of Scottish folksingers, most of them reduced to a sort of “singer’s digest”. Typical examples are Hogg’s Birnie Bouzle and Tannahill’s Braes o’ Balquidder. In Jeannie’s two stanza digest of the latter, Tannahill’s appeal to the ‘lassie’ to go with him to a sort of Highland weekend jaunt has been transformed into a lover’s meeting song of breath-taking loveliness.
Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor sang The Wild Mountain Thyme in 1962 on their album Two Heids Are Better Than Yin! (also released with the title Tonight and Every Night, and in 1997 on CD as Scotland My Scotland). The uncredited sleeve notes commented:
At a folk music festival in Russia, Jimmie learned this song from the singing McPeake family of Belfast. Their title was Will You Go Lassie, Go. It is an Irish version of a beautiful Scottish song called The Braes o’ Balquhidder, written by Robert Tannahill, a Paisley weaver born in 1774. Both the melody and the text have been altered, but the basic structure of the two songs remains the same.
Ewan MacColl sang The Braes o’ Balquither in 1964 on his and Peggy Seeger’s Folkways album Traditional Songs and Ballads. The album’s booklet noted:
Written by Robert Tannahill, the Paisley weaver and poet, The Braes o’ Balquither has passed into the Scots country singer’s repertoire. A song known as Wild Mountain Thyme is a favourite with singers in Northern Ireland and appears to be a version of Tannahill’s song.
Learned from Betsy Henry of Auchterarder.
Glen Tomasetti, Martyn Wyndham-Read and/or Brian Mooney sang Will Ye Go Lassie Go? in 1965 as the title track of their Australian W&G album Will Ye Go Lassie Go?.
Paul McNeill sang Wild Mountain Thyme at a concert at The Troubadour, London that was released in 1966 on his Decca album Traditionally at The Troubadour. He noted:
Bob Davenport used to sing this in the days of the King & Queen. I’ve been singing it since then, and it never seems to pall.
The Halliard (Nic Jones, Dave Moran, Nigel Patterson) sang The Wild Mountain Thyme in 1967 on their first album, It’s the Irish in Me.
Fotheringay recorded Wild Mountain Thyme at Sound Techniques in autumn 1970 for their aborted second album. It was finally released in 2008 by Fledg’ling records as Fotheringay 2. A live performance on BBC Radio “Sound of the Seventies”, hosted by Bob Harris, recorded on 15 November 1970 and broadcast on 21 December, was included in 2015 on their Universal anthology Nothing More.
The Clancy Brothers with Louis Killen sang Will You Go, Lassie live at the Bushnell Auditorium in Hartford, Connecticut in 1972. This concert recording was released a year later on their album Live on St. Patrick’s Day.
John MacDonald sang The Braes o’ Balquhidder on his 1975 Topic album The Singing Molecatcher of Morayshire. Hamish Henderson noted:
A song by the Paisley weaver-poet Robert Tannahill (1774-1810), to an old air The Three Carles o’ Buchanan. This exquisite song became very popular in the 19th century throughout Scotland and Ireland. It was in the repertoire of the celebrated ballad-singer Mrs Elizabeth Cronin of Macroom, Co. Cork, and the version recorded by the McPeake family of Belfast—now known throughout the modern folk revival as The Wild Mountain Thyme—continues to enjoy widespread popularity. It belongs to a well-known class of courtship songs in which the lover appeals to his girl to leave the city and enjoy the pleasures of country life. These songs gained added pathos in the period of the Industrial Revolution, when so many of the Lowland towns turned into smokey hell-holes.
Sandy Paton and The Golden Ring sang Wild Mountain Thyme in 1975 on the Fox Hollow Festival’s 10th anniversary album A Place to Be.
Max Boyce sang Will Ye Go Lassie, Go? in 1977 on his EMI album The Road and the Miles….
Woodbine Lizzie sang Wild Mountain Thyme in 1979 on their Fellside album Woodbine Lizzie By Numbers.
Bert Jansch sang Wild Mountain Thyme on his 1982 album Heartbreak. This track was included in 1996 on the anthology New Electric Muse: The Story of Folk Into Rock.
Jock Tamson’s Bairns sang The Braes o’ Balquhidder in 1982 on their Topic album The Lasses Fashion. They noted:
All the songs on this album reflect some aspect of courtship or love, and this song of Robert Tannahill’s is one of the best examples from the more sentimental and pastoral side of Scottish music.
Tannahill was a Paisley weaver who believed himself to be the natural successor to Robert Burns as Scotland’s foremost poet and composer of national songs. A melancholic character, he eventually committed suicide by drowning himself in the Maxwelton Burn in 1810. His body was recovered from the water by a black American called Peter Burnet.
The Irish version of this song is usually called The Wild Mountain Thyme.
Philadelphia group Broadside Electric sang Wild Mountain Thyme on their 1993 album Black-Edged Visiting Card. They noted:
One of the many thinly disguised folk songs about outdoor sex. Melissa [Demian] had attributed the herbal setting to poetic license until she wound up in a field of it in Medusa, New York.
Jim Reid sang The Braes o’ Balquhidder on 1996 on his Greylag CD The Better o’ a Sang.
Swan Arcade sang Wild Mountain Thyme in 1990 on their CD Full Circle.
Alison McMorland and Geordie McIntyre sang Braes o’ Balquidder in 2001 on their Tradition Bearers CD Rowan in the Rock. They noted:
This lyric gem was originally from the pen of Robert Tannahill, weaver-poet of Paisley, Renfrewshire (1774-1810). Many fine variants, in text and tune, are extant in Scotland as well as Ireland. We heard a fine Tennessee version recently! Geordie was privileged to learn this particular way of it, in the early 1960’s, from Andrew Tannahill, poet and playwright, a descendent of Robert Tannahill.
This video put on YouTube in 2013 gives no information on the recording’s time and place:
John Croall sang The Braes o Balquhither in 2006 on the Brechin All Records anthology The Complete Songs of Robert Tannahill Volume I.
Maggie Reilly sang Wild Mountain Thyme in 2007 on her CD Rowan.
Kate Rusby sang Blooming Heather in 2007 on her CD Awkward Annie.
Robert Lawrence sang Wild Mountain Thyme on his 2010 CD The Journey Home. He noted:
Attributed to Francis McPeake
This song seems to create a lot of debate regarding its origins. The Irish claiming it as their own and the Scots doing the same. I believe it belongs to both. This song is a variant of an original song written by a Scottish weaver and poet named Robert Tannahill entitled The Braes of Balquhidder (pronounce “Bal-whither”). Robert Tannahill was born in Paisley in 1774. His death occurred in 1810, by suicide.The song that we know today, entitled Wild Mountain Thyme was written by Francis McPeake of Ireland who may have copied some of the words from The Braes of Balquhidder, but he changed most of the lyrics and the music, to create a new song that we recognise today. It is an Irish song and it’s a Scottish song, and most of all it is a great Celtic song.
Jon Boden sang Wild Mountain Thyme as the 13 June 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. He noted in his blog:
Sung a lot on Forest School Camps (and everywhere else of course). Recently heard a wonderful version by the McPeakes on the Topic re-release—a fair bit more bite than the Rod Stewart version that’s for sure.
Ron Kavana sang Wild Mountain Thyme on his 2011 album 40 Favourite Folk Songs.
Band of Burns sang Wild Mountain Thyme in January 2017 at Union Chapel in London. A concert recording was released in the following year on their CD Live at the Union Chapel.
Joshua Burnell sang Wild Mountain Thyme on 17 June 2017 in his “a folk song a week” song cycle. This was included in 2021 on his album Seasons Vol. 2 Spring. He noted:
Here’s one of those songs that everyone thinks is traditional but is actually younger than Bruce Willis. Ok, so perhaps that’s not entirely true—the basic gist of it was pinched from an 18th century Scottish song called The Braes of Balquhither by Robert Tannahill and Robert Archibald Smith, but the banging tune and sing-along-able words were written by Francis McPeake. It was first recorded in 1957 for the BBC series As I Roved Out, performed by his nephew. Since then, it has been sung so widely that most people assume it is one of those old folk songs that’s always been about.
Like many, I have very special memories associated with this song. When I was seventeen, some friends took me to Whitby Folk Week. I had never been to a folk festival before and, to be honest, didn’t really know what folk music was all about. That week literally changed my life.
I was welcomed into a community like no other; I discovered a musical heritage I didn’t realise I had been missing; I hung out in a holiday cottage with The Unthanks (completely ignorant of who they were at the time!); I danced my first ceilidh and was so terrible at it, one man kept picking me up and plonking me in the right place so I didn’t ruin the entire dance. I remember laughing until it hurt, which, during that confuddled period of teenage angst, was the perfect medicine.
At the end of the festival, everyone gathered in the pavilion around a huge mound of heather and sang Wild Mountain Thyme. No instruments, no microphones, just hundreds of voices singing together. Then, the heather is shared out and people exchange bunches, the legend being that if you keep the heather, you are destined to return.
As a teenager in search of what I wanted to do with my life, this had a profound effect on me. I wanted to be a part of that world and I distinctly remember looking at the stage thinking, “One day, I want to come back and perform on that stage”. You may have noticed that I’ve been playing quite a lot of folk music since.
At the end of that week, I took my bunch of ‘blooming heather’ with me but I also took the song with me too and it comes in handy whenever I need to summon that moment of togetherness. At our first pub gigs, Fe and I sang it with audiences to close our set; I have sung it with classes of children who still love it, despite it being nearly as old as Bruce Willis; when the power cut out half way through our set at The Great British Folk Festival, Fe and I pulled it out like a secret weapon and got the crowd singing it a capella … and we won the Introducing Stage; and in October 2021, myself and the band were booked to play at Musicport Festival, and we performed on the main stage … which was that same stage in that same room in the Whitby Pavilion where I’d first heard the song. Life goal achieved. I’m pleased I kept hold of that heather.
So it might be a bit overplayed, predictable and—dare I say—a bit twee, but I knew I had to record a version at some point and what better place than this project?
So thank you Mr McPeake for writing the perfect folk song. This one’s for you.
Christine Kydd sang Braes o Balquhidder in 2019 on her Greentrax album of songs from Scotland, Shift and Change. She noted:
Irish musician Francis McPeake wrote The Wild Mountain Thyme, which is known to have been inspired by this song from the Scots tradition. I came across this when freelancing based at Timespan in Helmsdale. My version is based on the singing of Colin MacDonald (Strath Halladale, Kildonan, Sutherland) on Tobar an Dualchais and the words of the Paisley weaver poet, Robert Tannahill. A joy to sing with Innes [Watson] and Angus [Lyon] playing on this!
Ewan McLennan sang Wild Mountain Thyme on his 2020 album Borrowed Songs. He noted:
The album is brought to a close with that beautiful, well-worn traditional Scottish ‘finishing song’, Wild Mountain Thyme; quite possibly one of the first folk songs I ever learnt and still one of my favourites!
Anna Tam sang Braes of Balquhidder on her 2021 CD Anchoress. She noted:
Words by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774-1810) and set to what is most likely a traditional air, rather than a tune by Tannahill. This lovely song was the inspiration for Wild Mountain Thyme.
The Haar sang Wild Mountain Thyme on their 2022 album Where Old Ghosts Meet. They noted:
Wild Mountain Thyme is a variant of the Scottish song The Braes of Balquhither that was adapted by a Belfast musician, Francis McPeake, in the first half of the 20th century. This isn’t a story of love found and ‘lived happily ever after’, but of yearning, loss and desperation. There’s no way back.
Siobhan Miller sang Wild Mountain Thyme on her 2022 CD Bloom.
Mànran released Wild Mointain Thyme in November 2023 as a homeless shelter charity single and sang it on their 2025 album To the Wind. They noted:
We were invited to perform this classic on the BBC Scotland Hogmanay Show in 2022. At the time, we had no plans to record it—but the response after the show was overwhelming, with so many of you asking for our version, we felt it was only right to capture it properly.
So, here it is: our take on one of our country’s most cherished folk songs.
Adam Holmes sang Go Lassie Go on his 2024 album The Voice of Scotland.
Louise Rogan sang Wild Mountain Thyme on her 2025 album Give Me a Day.
Swedish quartet Woodlands Bäckafall sang Wild Mountain Thyme on their 2025 album Traditional Colours. They noted:
One of the most loved and well known Scottish/Irish songs of all time—here with an American bluegrass twist. A tune that speaks of love, nature and new beginnings, bringing a fresh transatlantic flavour while honouring its Celtic roots.
Woman of Folk sang Wild Mountain Thyme on a November 2025 download single.
Lyrics
Robert Tannahill’s poem The Braes o’ Balquhither
Let us go, lassie go
To the braes of Balquhither,
Where the blae-berries grow,
’Mang the bonnie Highland heather;
Where the deer and the rae,
Lightly bounding together,
Sport the lang summer day
On the braes o’ Balquhither.
I will twine thee a bower
By the clear siller fountain,
And I’ll cover it o’er
Wi’ the flow’rs o’ the mountain.
I will range through the wilds,
And the deep glens sae drearie,
And return wi’ the spoils
To the bower o’ my dearie.
When the rude wintry win’
Idly raves round our dwelling,
And the roar o’ the linn
On the night-breeze is swelling,
So merrily we’ll sing,
As the storm rattles o’er us,
Till the dear sheiling ring
Wi’ the light lilting chorus.
Now the summer is in prime,
Wi’ the flow’rs richly blooming,
An’ the wild mountain thyme
A’ the moorlands perfuming.
To our dear native scenes
Let us journey together,
Where glad Innocence reigns
’Mang the braes o’ Balquhither.
The McPeake Family sings Will Ye Go Lassie, Go
The summer time is coming
And the trees are sweetly blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?
Chorus (repeated after each verse):
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,
Will you go, lassie, go?
I will build my love a bower
By yon clear crystal fountain.
And on it I will build
All the flowers of the mountain.
Will you go, lassie, go?
If my true love she were gone,
I will surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?
Ewan MacColl sings The Braes o’ Balquither
Will ye go, lassie, go to the braes o’ Balquhither,
Whaur the blaeberries grow ’neath the bonnie bloomin’ heather;
Whaur the deer and the row, lightly bounding thegither,
Sport the lang simmer day on the braes o’ Balquhither?
I will mak’ thee a bower by the clear siller fountain,
Whaur the flowerets so gay deck the slopes o’ the mountain;
I will gang ower the bens and the valleys sae eerie,
And I’ll come back again tae the aims o’ my dearie.
Noo’s the high simmer-time and the flooers are a’ blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme on the breeses perfuming;
Let us go, lassie, go, and we’ll journey thegither
Whaur the blaeberries grow on the braes o’ Balquhither.
Fotheringay sings Wild Mountain Thyme
O the summer is in its prime
And the leaves are sweetly blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme
All the mountains is perfuming
Will you go, lassie, go?
Chorus (repeated after each verse):
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,
Will you go, lassie, go?
I will build my love a bower
By yon clear crystal fountain.
And on it I will pile
All the flowers of the mountain.
Will you go, lassie, go?
If my true love he were gone,
I will surely find no other
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?
John MacDonald sings The Braes o’ Balquhidder
Will ye go, lassie go,
To the braes o’ Balquhidder?
Where the blaeberries grow,
’Mangst the bonnie powerful heather;
Where the roe and the deer,
Lightly bounding together,
Sport the lang summer’s e’en
’Mang the braes o’ Balquhidder.
Will you go, lassie, go?
I will build thee a bower
By the clear silver fountain,
An’ I’ll cover it o’er
Wi’ the flowers o’ the mountain;
I will hunt o’er the hills,
An’ the deep glens sae dreary,
An’ return wi’ their spoils
To the bower o’ my deary
Will you go, lassie, go?
As the rude wintry win’
Idly hows round my dwellin’,
An’ the roar o’ the linn
On the night breeze is swellin’,
It is merrily we’ll sing,
As the storm rages o’er us,
And the dear sheeling ring
To’ the light liltin’ chorus.
Will you go, lassie, go?
Now the summer’s in its prime,
An’ the flowers highly bloomin’,
An’ the wild mountain thyme
A’ the hillsides perfumin’,-
To our dear native land
Let us journey together,
Where the blaeberries grow,
’Mang the braes o’ Balquhidder.
Will you go, lassie, go?
Alison McMorland and Geordie McIntyre sing Braes o’ Balquidder
I will build my love a bower
By yon clear siller fountain
An’ aroon it I will build
All the flooers o’ the mountain
Chorus (after each verse):
Will ye go lassie go
Tae the braes o’ Balquidder
Whaur the blaeberries grow
Amang the bonnie purple heather
I will roam o’er glens
And bens sae eerie
An’ I’ll bring back the spoils
Tae the airms o’ my dearie
Noo its high Simmertime
An’ the flooers are a-bloomin
An’ the wild mountain thyme
On the breezes perfumin’
Whaur the deer an’ the roe
Lichtly bound a’ the gither
Sport the lang simmer days
On the braes o’ Balquidder
Jon Boden sings Wild Mountain Thyme
O the summer time has come
And the trees are sweetly blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?
Chorus (after each verse):
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,
Will you go, lassie, go?
I will build my love a fountain
By yon clear crystal stream.
And my love will be the fairest
That the summer sun has seen.
Will you go, lassie, go?
I will build my love a bower
By yon clear crystal fountain.
And on it I shall plant
All the flowers of the mountain.
Will you go, lassie, go?
And if my true love won’t come,
I will surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?
Mànran sing Wild Mointain Thyme
O the summertime is coming
And the trees are sweetly blooming
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?
Chorus (after each verse):
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?
I will build my love a bower
By yon clear and crystal fountain
And on it, I will pile
All the flowers of the mountain
Will you go, lassie, go?
If my true love, he won’t come
I will surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?
Woodlands Bäckafall sing Wild Mountain Thyme
O the summertime is coming
And the trees are sweetly blooming
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather
Will ye go, Lassie go?
I will build my love a tower
Near yon’ pure crystal fountain
And on it I will build
All the flowers of the mountain
Will ye go, Lassie go?
Chorus:
And we’ll all go together
To pluck wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather
Will ye go, Lassie go?
If my true love she were gone
I would surely find another
Where wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather
Will ye go, Lassie go?
Links
I copied Robert Tannahill’s verses from The Scottish Songs, edited by Robert Chambers, Edinburgh: William Tait, 1829, as shown in the Mudcat Café thread Lyr Add: Braes o’ Balquidder.