Annotation:My Boy Tammie
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MY BOY TAMMIE/TAMMY. AKA - "Lammie (The)." Scottish, Air or Highland Schottische. D Dorian (Hardings, Johnson): E Dorian/Minor (Kerr). Standard tuning (fiddle). AA (Harding, Johnson): AABB (Kerr). "My Boy Tammy" is a 18th century song that appears in several anthologies, including James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum (1803) and David Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, vol. 2 (1776, where is appears as "The Lammie"). The lyric is credited to Hector MacNeill (1746-1818), a prolific author now almost forgotten. Bayard states this tune is a variation of "Muirland Willie" (and suggests that it should also be compared with "Kitty Alone"), while Glen asserts "My Boy Tammie" is derivative of that same tune. The lyric is thought to be the precursor of the more familiar "Billy Boy" ("Where have you gone, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?").
The song begins:
Whar hae ye been a' day, my boy Tammy?
Whar hae ye been a' day, my boy Tammy?
I've been by burn and flowery brae,
Meadow green and mountain grey,
Courting o' this young thing just come frae her Mammy.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Hardings All-Round Collection, 1905; No. 139, p. 44. Johnson (Scots Musical Museum, vol. VI), 1803; No. 502, p. 518. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 3), c. 1880’s; No. 205, p. 24.
Recorded sources: