“It’s Braw to Ride Round and Follow the Camp” The Linguistic Journey of a Scots Song, with an Irish Soldier, through Space and Time Valentina Bold

Abstract

This article considers one song, “The Bonny Lass o Fyvie”, in examples from Scotland, England, and North America. As it moves between language areas – from Scots language into English, Ulster-Scots and American English – there are significant shifts in audiences’ understanding of its subtexts. The song was originally about women’s rights to assert independence from men’s desires, and the vulnerability of men in love. It ends as being about women’s vulnerabilities, dislocated from its indigenous culture.