Adelina Patti sings 'Within a Mile of Edinboro' Town' in 1905

Описание: This is one of the series of recordings that Patti made at her home in Wales in the first two weeks of December 1905. She was 62 at the time, and had been singing for close to half a century but - in Michael Scott's opinion - 'her singing remains more affecting in itself than anyone else's on record. In her recordings, we can hear so many of the ancient graces of singing; here are the real portamento style, the elegant turns and mordents, the trill free of any suggestion of mechanical contrivance.'

For those who are not familiar with the song and find the words troublesome at times, I set out the lyrics below. There are several slightly variant versions, so I have tried to reproduce what Patti actually sings - but one word (that seems to follow none of the versions) defeats me, and help would be appreciated.

'Twas within a mile of Edinburgh toon,
In the rosy time of the year;
Sweet flowers bloomed, and the grass was doon,
And each shepherd wooed his dear.
Bonnie Jockie, blithe and gay,
Kissed sweet Jenny, making hay,
The lassie blushed and, frowning, cried, ‘No, no, it will not do;
I cannot, cannot, wonnot, wonnot, mannot buckle to!’

Jockie was a wag that never would wed,
Though long he had followed the lass:
Contented she earned and ate her brown bread,
And merrily turned up the grass.
Bonnie Jockie, blithe and free,
Kissed his ………….. merrily:
Yet still she blushed and, frowning, cried, ‘No, no, it will not do;
I cannot, cannot, wonnot, wonnot, mannot buckle to!’

But when he vowed he would make her his bride,
Though his flocks and herds were so few,
She gave him her hand, and a kiss beside,
And vowed she'd for ever be true.
Bonnie Jockie, blithe and free,
Won her heart right merrily:
At kirk she no more frowning cried, ‘No, no, it will not do;
I cannot, cannot, wonnot, wonnot, mannot buckle to!’

Patti was clearly not concerned to attempt a Scottish accent or even to achieve a consistency in relation to Scottish forms of contraction - thus she used 'wonnot' but sings 'will not' rather than 'winna.' But who cares? It's a wonderful piece of singing! Incidentally, whilst the Scottish contractions are quite obvious, it is possibly the English expression 'buckle to' which will not be understood by many nowadays. It simply means 'give in' - a modern day colloquialism, which will probably be equally unintelligible to readers a century or two hence!

The transfer was made from HMV 03064.