SING A SANG AT LEAST - THE BACK O' BENNACHIE

THE BACK O' BENNACHIE
Traditional

As I cam' roun' by Bennachie

A bonnie young lassie there I did see,

I gaed her a wink and she smiled tae me

At the back o' Bennachie.

Chorus :

Oh, there's meal and there's ale whaur the Gadie rins,

Wi' the yellow broom and the bonnie whins,

There's meal and there's ale whaur the Gadie rins,

At the back o' Bennachie.

Oh I took my lassie on my knee,

Her kilt was short abeen her knee,

I says, 'My lassie will ye come wi' me,

Tae the back o' Bennachie.

I says tae her, 'Pit on your kilt,

You're a gey bra' deem and you're gey weel built,

You can wear your plaidie alang wi' your kilt,

At the back o' Bennachie.

Oh when her mither comes tae ken,

We'll hae tae rin noo fae oor hame,

And sleep in the heather up in the glen,

At the back o' Bennachie.

Oh, here's tae the lassie o' Bennachie,

I'll never gang back for her tae see,

I'll bide wi' my mither until I dee,

At the back o' Bennachie.

Footnote : Although not especially high, the granite massif of Bennachie is visable from most places in Aberdeenshire and has become a focus of affection in the county - much climbed and celebrated in song and verse :-

But Bennachie! Faith yon's the hill

Tugs at the hairt when ye-re awa'!

- Charles Murray

Oxen Craig (1733 ft) is the highest peak but The Mither Tap (1698 ft) is the most distinctive. The Mither Tap is the site of a summit fort of the 1st millennium BC whose walls and traces of a parapet can be seen.