Aye, 'Tis a Shame tae Be a Lassie

Aye, ‘Tis a Shame tae Be a Lassie

 

Aye, ‘tis a shame tae be born for a lassie 

like me 

For I’m doomed tae a life of scorn

that ne’er could I flee

 

Och, lassie with no voice

Your cries draw near

In a world full of much noise

no man would ever hear

The lamenting and the suffering

of a poor lady’s soul

Pine ye in sorrow

For a life that’s grown old

 

Aye, ‘tis a shame tae be born for a lassie 

like me 

For I’m doomed tae a life of scorn

that ne’er could I flee

 

Och, daughters of fathers

who’ll leave when you’re wed

Bear ye many sons

or your husband will wish you dead

From the life of a wife

you can never away

Your little girl

will one day surely say

 

Aye, ‘tis a shame tae be born for a lassie 

like me 

For I’m doomed tae a life of scorn

that ne’er could I flee

 

Och, old women who’ve toiled

all your years on earth

For your children and the merchants

who bleed you of your worth

 

Your pulsing heart

Your thinking mind

Being alive is not living life

Your pulsing heart

Your thinking mind

Being alive is not living life

 

Rugadh mi lassie

Tha mòran bròin air mo bheatha

A-nis, feumaidh mi a bhith nam 

boireannach  

 

(Scottish Gaelic to English translation: I was born a lassie. There is much sorrow in my life. Now, I must be a woman.)