My Love's in Germany

"My Love’s in Germany" (My Luve's in Germanie) is a poem written by Scottish poet Hector Macneill.[1][2] It was first printed in 1794 and is the lament of a Scottish woman for her lover.[3]

The song was re-published in 1885 by Colonel David Balfour as an Orkney melody composed by Colonel Thomas Traill around 1630. Traill (from Holland Farm, that is "the farm on the high land", in Papa Westray), was a soldier in the army of Gustavus Adolphus, also known as Germany Thomas, during the Thirty Years' War.[4]

The tune was later used by Robert Burns for his song "Ye Jacobites by Name".

Recordings

• Four to the Bar on their live album Craic on the Road
• Silly Wizard on their debut album Silly Wizard
• Tannahill Weavers on their first album Are ye sleaping Maggie
• MacReel on their first album Step it out
• Vin Garbutt on his live album The Young Tin Whistle Pest
• Anna Prohaska on her album Behind the Lines
• The Trials Of Cato on their first album Hide And Hair

References

1. My Love’s in Germany from The Modern Scottish Minstrel
2. Hector Macneill from The Modern Scottish Minstrel Archived 2011-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
3. The Modern Scottish Minstrel Archived 2011-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
4. Germany Thomas