1) Emily Smith… Read Full Bio ↴There is more than one artist with this name, including:
1) Emily Smith (born 25 March 1981 in Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway) is a Scottish folk singer;
2) Emily Smith is an American R&B/soul singer from Paso Robles, CA.
1) Emily Smith (born 25 March 1981 in Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway) is a Scottish folk singer. She won the BBC Radio Scotland's Young Traditional Music of the Year Award in 2002. She is a member of Scotland’s ‘folk orchestra’, The Unusual Suspects, and was named ‘Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year 2008'. She also records as Emily Smith & Jamie McClennan with New Zealand-born fiddle player and guitarist Jamie McClennan.
Smith has always held a passion for local history and a keen sense of belonging, which shines through in her music and the enthusiasm she displays when talking of her home region. “Dumfries and Galloway is often a forgotten part of Scotland and through my material, whether traditional or my own songs, I try to portray the beauty and diversity of where I come from. I love being able to sing a song and picture the exact setting of where the event took place, or to sing some of Robert Burns’ material and know that he travelled the same roads and admired the same landscapes as I do today.”
Since winning the 2002 ‘BBC Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award’ she has released several critically-acclaimed albums, toured extensively with her band on the international folk circuit and is recognised not only as one of Scotland’s finest interpreters of traditional song but also as a talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Smith spent six years living in Glasgow, during which time she gained an Honours degree in Scottish Music from The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, graduating in 2003. Now, living back in her home area of Dumfries & Galloway in South West Scotland, Smith has found her niche drawing on the rich local history and ever changing landscape as the source and inspiration for her music. She has an affection (and growing reputation!) for collecting dusty old poetry and song books in search of new material. The results are re-worked ballads which seamlessly interweave with Smith’s own descriptive songs, often confusing the listener as to which material is old and which is new.
She became the first ever winner from Scotland in the USA Song-writing Competition in 2005 after winning the folk section with her song ‘Edward of Morton’. Another of her songs, ‘Always a Smile’, about the life of her Polish grandmother, was short-listed in the final ten. Both songs are found on her second album, "A Different Life".
Alongside her solo career Smith has written, recorded and toured with artists from the folk scene and beyond including Eddi Reader, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Karine Polwart, John McCusker, David Scott and Phil Cunningham. She has also been included in the acclaimed ‘Scottish Women’ group, featuring Scotland’s top female vocalists, is a member of Scotland’s ‘folk orchestra’, The Unusual Suspects, and was named ‘Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year 2008'.
She has recorded live sessions for BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris, Aled Jones and Mike Harding alongside receiving regular play on BBC Radio Scotland. Recent television work includes performing on BBC 1 Scotland’s Hogmanay show and she will be featured in a series of Transatlantic Sessions.
Her official website can be found at www.emilysmith.org.
2) Emily Smith is an American R&B/soul singer from Paso Robles, CA. She released her eponymous album in 2018.
Sweet Lover of Mine
Emily Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Every rose grows bonny in time
I met a wee lass, and they ca’ed her Nell
Longing to be a sweet lover o mine
It’s questions three I’ll ask o thee
Every rose grows bonny in time
And it’s questions three you maun answer me
You maun mak me a cambric shirt
Every rose grows bonny in time
Withoot one stitch o your needlework
Before you are a sweet lover o mine
You maun wash it in yonder well
Every rose grows bonny in time
Where water ne’er ran and rain never fell
Before you are a sweet lover o mine
Then dry it oot on yonder thorn
Every rose grows bonny in time
Where blossom ne’er bloomed since Adam was born
Before you are a sweet lover o mine
It’s questions three you’ve asked o me
Every rose grows bonny in time
And it’s questions three you’ll noo answer me
Before you are a sweet lover o mine
You maun get me an acre of land
Every rose grows bonny in time
Atween the saut sea and sea water strand
Before you are a sweet lover o mine
Then plough it aa wi an auld ram’s horn
Every rose grows bonny in time
And then sow it o’er wi one grain of corn
Before you are a sweet lover o mine
You maun sheer it with a sickle of leather
Every rose grows bonny in time
And bind it up wi a peacock’s feather
Before you are a sweet lover o mine
Then stook it o’er on yonder sea
Every rose grows bonny in time
And bring the shell sheaf dry unto me
Before you are a sweet lover o mine
When you’ve done and finished your work
Every rose grows bonny in time
You may call untae me for your cambric shirt
And you shall be a sweet lover o mine
The lyrics of Emily Smith's "Sweet Lover of Mine" talk about a man's quest for love with a woman named Nell. He asks her three questions that she needs to answer before becoming his lover. The first is to make him a cambric shirt without using a needle. The second question involves washing the shirt in a well where there has been no water, and drying it on a thorn. The third and final question involves getting an acre of land between the salt sea and the sea water strand, plowing it with an old ram's horn, and sowing it with a grain of corn before reaping it with a sickle of leather and binding it up with a peacock feather. If Nell completes all these tasks, she can become his sweet lover.
The song’s lyrics delve into the idea of courtship and the lengths that people might go to impress or win over their love. The man is asking Nell to perform seemingly impossible tasks, a way of testing her love for him. It is possible that these tasks could be metaphors for something more profound, but it seems that the song’s primary purpose is to explore the lengths that people will go to have their love returned.
Overall, Emily Smith's "Sweet Lover of Mine" is a charming song with a cute story behind it. It captures the essence of courtship and love, bringing to life the lengths people might go to win the heart of their beloved.
Line by Line Meaning
As I cam o’er by Bonny Moor Hill*
As I walked over the hill called Bonny Moor
Every rose grows bonny in time
Everything gets more beautiful over time
I met a wee lass, and they ca’ed her Nell
I met a young woman, and her name was Nell
Longing to be a sweet lover o mine
Wishing to be my sweetheart
It’s questions three I’ll ask o thee
I will ask you three questions
And it’s questions three you maun answer me
You must answer my three questions
You maun mak me a cambric shirt
You must make me a shirt from fine linen
Withoot one stitch o your needlework
Without using your needle and thread
Before you are a sweet lover o mine
Before you become my sweetheart
You maun wash it in yonder well
You must wash it in the nearby well
Where water ne’er ran and rain never fell
Where there has never been water flowing or rain falling
Then dry it oot on yonder thorn
Then dry it out on that thorn over there
Where blossom ne’er bloomed since Adam was born
Where no flower has ever grown since the beginning of time
It’s questions three you’ve asked o me
You have asked me three questions
And it’s questions three you’ll noo answer me
And now you will answer my three questions
You maun get me an acre of land
You must obtain an acre of land
Atween the saut sea and sea water strand
Between the salt sea and the shore
Then plough it aa wi an auld ram’s horn
Then plow it with an old ram's horn
And then sow it o’er wi one grain of corn
And then sow it with just one grain of corn
You maun sheer it with a sickle of leather
You must harvest it with a leather sickle
And bind it up wi a peacock’s feather
And tie it up with a peacock feather
Then stook it o’er on yonder sea
Then stack it over there, close to the sea
And bring the shell sheaf dry unto me
And bring the dry sheaf of grains to me
When you’ve done and finished your work
When you have completed your tasks
You may call untae me for your cambric shirt
You may call out to me to receive your linen shirt
And you shall be a sweet lover o mine
And then you will be my sweetheart
Contributed by Bella A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.