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by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), as Fiona Macleod

The Kye‑Song of St. Bride
Language: English 
O sweet St. Bride of the
Yellow, yellow hair:
Paul said, and Peter said,
And all the saints alive or dead
Vowed she had the sweetest head,
Bonnie, sweet St. Bride of the
Yellow, yellow hair.

White may my milkin' be,
White as thee:
Thy face is white, thy neck is white,
Thy hands are white, thy feet are white,
For thy sweet soul is shinin' bright -- 
O dear to me,
O dear to see
St. Briget white!

Yellow may my butter be,
Firm, and round:
Thy breasts are sweet,
Firm, round and sweet,
So may my butter be:
So may my butter be O
Briget sweet!

Safe thy way is, safe, O
Safe, St. Bride:
May my kye come home at even,
None be fallin', none be leavin',
Dusky even, breath-sweet even,
Here, as there, where O
St. Bride thou
Keepest tryst with God in heav'n,
Seest the angels bow
And souls be shriven -- 
Here, as there, 'tis breath-sweet even
Far and wide -- 
Singeth thy little maid
Safe in thy shade
Briget, Bride!

Text Authorship:

  • by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), as Fiona Macleod, "The Kye-Song of St. Bride", appears in From the Hills of Dream, first published 1896 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Christopher Montague Edmunds (1899 - 1990), "The Kye-Song of St. Bride", published 1951 [ soprano, SATB chorus, and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-08-17
Line count: 37
Word count: 174

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