Wild Mountain Thyme - wikipedia Wild Mountain Thyme `` Purple Heather '' redirects here. For the European plant, see Calluna. For the American plant, see Krameria erecta. `` Wild Mountain Thyme '' ( also known as `` Purple Heather '' and `` Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go ? '' ) is an Irish / Scottish 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 into `` Wild Mountain Thyme '' and first recorded by his family in the 1950s. Tannahill 's original song, first published in Robert Archibald Smith 's Scottish Minstrel ( 1821 -- 24 ), is about the hills ( braes ) around Balquhidder near Lochearnhead. Like Robert Burns, Tannahill collected and adapted traditional songs, and `` The Braes of Balquhither '' may have been based on the traditional song `` The Braes o ' Bowhether ''. Contents 1 History 2 Lyrics 3 Recordings 4 References 5 External links History The Wild Mountain Thyme `` Wild Mountain Thyme '' performed by Christoph Nolte Problems playing this file ? See media help. The existing tune from the travelling community of `` Wild Mountain Thyme '' is significantly different from Tannahill 's `` The Braes of Balquhither '', which was most likely based on a traditional air. In an 1854 publication, George Farquhar Graham notes that Tannahill 's song was set to the air `` Bochuiddar '' ( Balquidder ), as found in Captain Simon Fraser 's Collection of Melodies of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland ( 1816 ). Other scholars suggest the melody is based on an old Scottish traditional tune `` The Three Carls o ' Buchanan ''. Despite the claims of McPeake 's dedication of `` Wild Mountain Thyme '' to his first wife his son wrote an additional verse to the song in a triumphant endeavor to support the composition of his father and to celebrate the remarriage of his father. `` Wild Mountain Thyme '' was first recorded by McPeake 's nephew, also named Francis McPeake, in 1957 for the BBC series As I Roved Out. While Francis McPeake holds the copyright to the song, it is generally believed that rather than writing the song, he arranged an already - existent travelling folk version and popularised the song as his father 's. When interviewed on radio, Francis McPeake said it was based on a song he heard whilst travelling in Scotland, and he rewrote it later. Bob Dylan 's recording of the song cited it as traditional, with the arranger unknown, though Dylan 's copyright records indicate that the song is sometimes `` attributed to '' McPeake. Lyrics The original version of the song, published in 1957, closely paraphrases the Tannahill version, which was published posthumously in 1822. Tannahill 's original lyrics include a number of phrases that McPeake carried over into his song, including the lines `` Let us go, lassie, go '' and `` And the wild mountain thyme '' as he rewrote the song. Recordings The following is a chronological list of recordings of the song. Francis McPeake for the BBC series As I Roved Out ( 1957 ) David Hammond on I Am the Wee Falorie Man ( 1958 ) Sandy Paton on Many Sides of Sandy Paton ( 1959 ) The McPeake Family on McPeake Family of Belfast ( 1961 ) Judy Collins on A Maid of Constant Sorrow ( 1961 ) The Clancy Brothers ( as `` Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go ? '' ) on The Boys Wo n't Leave the Girls Alone ( 1962 ), Live on St. Patrick 's Day ( 1973 ), and Reunion ( 1984 ), and the video / DVD Farewell to Ireland ( 1996 ) The Courriers on Carry On ( 1963 ) Paul Clayton on Folk Singer ( 1965 ) Joan Baez on Farewell, Angelina ( 1965 ) The New Christy Minstrels ( as `` Go, Lassie, Go '' ) on Wandering Minstrels ( 1965 ) Lee Mallory on unreleased recording with producer Curt Boettcher & The Ballroom ( 1966 ), later released on Mallory 's collections `` That 's the Way It 's Gonna Be '' and `` Many Are the Times '' ( 2003 ) The Byrds on Fifth Dimension ( 1966 ) Marianne Faithfull on North Country Maid ( 1966 ) Bob Dylan performed the song with The Band at the Isle of Wight festival on August 31, 1969. This performance was eventually released in 2013 on the De Luxe Edition of The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 : Another Self Portrait ( 1969 -- 1971 ). Nana Mouskouri on Turn on the Sun ( 1970 ) Long John Baldry on Everything Stops for Tea ( 1972 ) The Alexander Brothers on Married by the Bible ( 1972 ) Van Morrison ( as `` Purple Heather '' ) on Hard Nose the Highway ( 1973 ) Brenda Wootton and Robert Bartlett ( as Brenda and Robert ) on Tin In The Stream ( 1974 ) Thin Lizzy on Black Rose : A Rock Legend ( 1979 ) George Hamilton IV on Forever Young ( 1979 ) Bert Jansch on Heartbreak ( 1982 ) Marianne Faithfull on North Country Maid Faithfull Sings Folk Songs ( 1983 ) Rick Stanley on On English Hills ( 1983 ) Bernadette on Back on the Road Again ( 1984 ) Penelope Houston on Birdboys ( 1987 ) The Tannahill Weavers on Dancing Feet ( 1987 ) Nigel & the Crosses on Time Between -- A Tribute to The Byrds ( 1989 ) Meg Davis on Meg Davis Live at Dennos ( 1992 ) Strawbs ( as `` Will You Go '' ) on the B Side of the single Part of the Union, Bursting at the Seams ( Bonus Track ) and Halcyon Days Tommy Makem, Barley Bree, Cherish the Ladies, and Ronnie D'addario ( as `` Go Lassie Go '' ) on Tommy Makem and Friends in Concert ( 1992 ) Glenn Frey on Glenn Frey Live ( 1993 ) The Silencers on So Be It ( 1994 ) and Real ( 2008 ) Jim Diamond on Sugarolly Days ( 1994 ) Brother ( as `` Will You Go '' ) on Pipe Dreams ( 1994 ) The Corries on The Corries : In Concert ( 1995 ) Rod Stewart ( as `` Purple Heather '' ) on A Spanner in the Works ( 1995 ) The Silencers on So BE it ( 1995 ) The Irish Rovers on The Irish Rovers ' Gems ( 1996 ) John McDermott on When I Grow Too Old to Dream ( 1997 ) Lisa Lynne on Quiet Heart ( 1997 ) Big Country ( instrumental ) on `` Fields of Fire '' on the Final Fling Tour ( 1999 -- 2000 ) Real McKenzies on Clash of the Tartans ( 2000 ) The Masterless Men on Back on Track ( 2000 ) Mark Knopfler on A Shot at Glory ( 2001 ) Enter the Haggis on Live ! ( 2002 ) Papa M on Three ( 2003 ) The Chieftains on Further Down the Old Plank Road ( 2003 ) Emerald Rose on Celtic Crescent ( 2003 ) Jim McCann on Ireland 's Greatest Love Songs ( 2003 ) James Taylor on Telluride Bluegrass Festival : Reflections, Vol. 1 ( 2003 ) and Before This World ( 2015 ) Brian Kennedy ( as `` Will Ye Go Lassie Go '' ) on On Song ( 2003 ) Broadside Electric on Black - edged Visiting Card Albert Kuvezin and Yat - Kha on Re-Covers ( 2005 ) Keltik Elektrik with Jim Malcolm on Putumayo Presents Celtic Crossroads ( 2005 ) Kate Rusby ( as `` Blooming Heather '' ) on Awkward Annie ( 2007 ) Lucy Wainwright Roche on 8 Songs ( 2007 ) Moira Nelson on Echoes of Another Time ( 2007 ) Maggie Reilly on Rowan ( 2007 ) The High Kings ( as `` Will Ye Go, Lassie Go '' ) on their first, self - titled album ( 2008 ) Lauren Yason, Richard Fox, and Caroline Dale for the film Stone of Destiny ( 2008 ) Blake on And So it Goes ( 2008 ) Fotheringay on Fotheringay 2 ( 2008 ) Lark & Spur on Once in France ( 2008 ) Ronan Keating on Songs for My Mother ( 2009 ) Robin Pecknold ( as White Antelope ) ( 2009 ) Denis Ryan on Denis Ryan Mist Covered Mountains Jean Redpath Amanda on Amanda : Tres ( 2005 ) Damh the Bard on Tales from the Crow Man ( 2009 ) Stuart Murdoch recorded the song with another set of lyrics, on the `` Dark Was the Night '' compilation ( 2009 ) The Real McKenzies on Shine Not Burn ( 2010 ) Chelsea House Orchestra on Crossing the Border ( 2010 ) Ben Folds on Download for Good ( 2011 ) Mudmen on Donegal Danny ( 2012 ) The Rumjacks on Crosses for Eyes ( 2012 ) The Dolmen on Whispering Winds ( 2012 ) Derek Ryan on The Simple Things ( 2014 ) Devin Townsend ( adaptation / new lyrics ) on Synchestra 2006 10,000 Maniacs, on the album Twice Told Tales ( 2015 ) James Taylor, on the album Before This World ( 2015 ) The Bombadils, on the album New Shoes ( 2016, Borealis Records ) Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band, on the album `` Adiós Señor Puddtytat '' ( 2017, Violette ) Angelo Kelly & Family, on the album `` Irish Heart '' ( 2018 ) References ^ Jump up to : Ferguson, Jim ( 2011 ). `` A weaver in wartime : a biographical study and the letters of Paisley weaver - poet Robert Tannahill ( 1774 -- 1810 ) '' ( PDF ). University of Glasgow. Jump up ^ `` The Braes o ' Balquhidder '' arr. J.T. Surrene, in The Songs of Scotland vol. 1 ( 1865 ) George Farquhar Graham ( ed. ) pp. 112 - 113 Jump up ^ `` Bochuiddar '' as performed by Major Logan. no. 77 in The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles Captain Simon Fraser ( ed. ) ^ Jump up to : Grant, Stewart. `` Wild Mountain Thyme ''. More Roots of Bob. Retrieved 27 December 2012. Jump up ^ Hickerson, Joe ( March 2008 ). `` New questions with answers ''. Sing Out !. Jump up ^ BBC Radio 2 program `` Folk on Two '', broadcast in the 1970s by Jim Lloyd Jump up ^ Dunn, Tim ( 2008 ). The Bob Dylan Copyright Files, 1962 -- 2007. AuthorHouse. p. 397. ISBN 1438915896. Jump up ^ Smith, R.A. ( 1821 ). Scottish Minstrel. Jump up ^ Graham, George Farquhar ( 1850 ). Scottish Songs. Jump up ^ `` Cantaria : Traditional : Wild Mountain Thyme ''. Chivalry. Retrieved 23 January 2008. Jump up ^ `` Renaissance Festival Lyrics : The Braes of Balquhidder ( Wild Mountain Thyme ) ''. Renaissance Festival Music. Retrieved 23 January 2008. Jump up ^ Tannahill, Robert ( 1877 ). Complete Songs and Poems of Robert Tannahill. Paisley : William Wilson. pp. 6 -- 7. OCLC 262462998. Jump up ^ `` Wild Mountain Thyme ''. Discogs. Retrieved 26 December 2012. Jump up ^ `` Fifth Dimension ''. AllMusic. Retrieved 10 December 2009. External links Wikisource has original text related to this article : The Braes of Balquhither Wild Mountain Thyme ( lyrics and MP3 file ) Hit singles recorded by the Scotland national football team `` Easy Easy '' ( 1974 ) `` Ole Ola ( Mulher Brasileira ) '' ( 1978 ) `` We Have a Dream '' ( 1982 ) `` Big Trip to Mexico '' ( 1986 ) `` Say It With Pride '' ( 1990 ) `` Purple Heather '' ( 1996 ) See also : All UK hit singles by footballers Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wild_Mountain_Thyme&oldid=863243338 '' Categories : 1957 songs Irish folk songs The Byrds songs Van Morrison songs Scotland national football team songs Hidden categories : EngvarB from October 2013 Use dmy dates from October 2013 Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Euskara Français 한국어 Norsk nynorsk Edit links This page was last edited on 9 October 2018, at 15 : 55 ( UTC ). 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Question: who wrote the song will you go lassie go
Answer: Francis McPeake