The Blast of a Wintry Day (live at Wairarapa TV, 2019)

from Poems & Lyrics (in the Scotch dialect) (1856) by John Collie (of Boyndie)

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lyrics

THE cauld blast of winter Is howling o'er the moor ; The groves which smiled in summer days , Seem cheerless , lone , and bare . The mellow warblers of the wood Nae langer chant their lay ; For , oh ! it's a bitter , biting blast , The blast of a wintry day .

Nae mair the wee wild flowers are seen Adown the woody vale , Nae mair we feel their balmy breath , Come floating on the gale ; Nor on the mossy mountain sides , Nae mair the lambkins play ; For they cower beneath the biting blast , The blast of a wintry day .

Nae mair upon the grassy bank The shepherd tunes his reed , But shuddering stands behind the bush , Wrapt in his rough - spun plaid . While round him winter wildly howls In terrible array ; And he shrinks to brave the biting blast , The blast of a wintry day .

Nae mair we hear the cushet's coo The waving woods amang ; Nae mair we hear the linnet's lay , Nor the milkmaid's simple sang ; Nae mair we meet the humming bee , Coming laden down the brae : For , oh ! it's a bitter , biting blast , The blast of a wintry day .

Nae mair the loving pair are seen Adown the hawthorn shade , The hawthorn now hath lost its charms , And the loving pair have fled ; For the howling blast o ' the angry north Has fill'd them with dismay ; And the hawthorn shakes its naked boughs To the blast of a wintry day .

Oh , give me back the summer days , The gaudy days of yore , That I may mix , with joysome glee , Mongst nature's harmless choir ; And let me muse adown the vale , And o'er the mountains stray ; For , oh ! it's a pure refreshing breeze , The breeze of a summer's day .

credits

from Poems & Lyrics (in the Scotch dialect) (1856), track released May 4, 2019
Dave Edwards - acoustic guitar, harmonica, vocal
John Collie (1834-1893) - lyrics

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fiffdimension Featherston, New Zealand

Outsider music from Aotearoa NZ and beyond, by Dave Edwards and collaborators (from 1856 to 2024).

Spans acoustic & electric noise, rock, folk, spoken word, postpunk, free jazz, gamelan, lo fi, electronica, & ethnomusicology.

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