Haud Awa’ Hame jig

This is Scottish and can be found in Kerr’s 4th Collection. I suspect it’s an old Highland pipe tune, but I wouldn’t swear to it.

It’s a Rabbie Burn’s Song

Here awa, there awa, wandering Willie,
Now tired with wandering, haud awa hame;
Come to my bosom, my ae only dearie,
And tell me thou bring’st me my Willie the same.
Loud blew the cauld winter winds at our parting;
It was na the blast brought the tear in my e’e:
Now welcome the Simmer, and welcome my Willie,
The Simmer to Nature, my Willie to me.

2. Ye hurricanes rest in the cave o’your slumbers,
O how your wild horrors a lover alarms!
Awaken ye breezes, row gently ye billows,
And waft my dear laddie ance mair to my arms.
But if he’s forgotten his faithfullest Nannie,
O still flow between us, thou wide roaring main;
May I never see it, may I never trow it,
But, dying, believe that my Willie’s my ain!

or Here awa, there awa, wandering Willie,
Here awa, there awa, haud awa hame;
Come to my bosom, my ain only dearie,
Tell me thou bring’st me my Willie the same.
Winter winds blew loud and cauld at our parting,
Fears for my Willie brought tears in my e’e,
Welcome nowhSimmer, and welcome, my Willie,
The Simmer to Nature, my Willie to me!

2. Rest, ye wild storms, in the cave of your slumbers,
How your dread howling a lover alarms!
Wauken, ye breezes, row gently, ye billows,
And waft my dear laddie ance mair to my arms.
But oh, if he’s faithless, and minds na his Nannie,
Flow still between us, thou wide roaring main!
May I never see it, may I never trow it,
But, dying, believe that my Willie’s my ain!

Thanks for that Dafydd. Of course, Burns didn’t actually write tunes for his songs, did he? He ‘borrowed’ them, or others did, without acknowledging where they came from. Much like Dylan, really.

“Now tired with wandering” … is this why the g is natural here?
A g# might make it that little bit more familiar-sounding.
A ‘strange’ tune anyhow.

Heard this more major-key-like version at a session

Many years ago, Gords said about Burns, “He ‘borrowed’ them, or others did, without acknowledging where they came from.”

I don’t believe that’s true in the slightest. Burns was a prolific letter-writer, and in these letters, particularly to George Thomson, he talked about his inspirations, traditional songs and tunes. He was fairly meticulous in his acknowledgements.

Regarding “Haud Awa‘ Hame” - that’s not the tune I associate with the song “Wandering Willie” - I wonder where it came from? On further examination, I found it in Aird’s Selection Book 1 (1782) under the title “Thro’ the Lang Muir” (and in E minor as opposed to the F#m of “Haud Awa‘ Hame”). The old Scots song “Wandering Willie” on which Burns based his lyrics contains the words “Thro’ the lang muir I have followed my Willie, Thro’ the lang muir I have followed him hame;” - so it’s possible it’s from the old song rather than the tune most associated with the Burns song.