There is more than one artist with this name, including:
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.

The Cruel Mother
Emily Smith Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

In Logan′s woods, aye in Logan's braes
I helped ma bonnie lassie on wi′ her claithes
First her hoes and then her shune
She gart me the slip when she was done

She's leaned her back against a thorn
And there she has twa bonnie babes born
There she has twa bonnie babes born

Doon by the greenwood sidie o

She's dug a hole baith lang and deep
And buried them where nane might see
She′s buried them where nane might see
Doon by the greenwood sidie o

She′s ta'en a ribbon frae aff her hair
An′ she's chokit them though they grat sair
She′s chokit them though they grat sair
Doon by the greenwood sidie o

Richt wanley has she gaed hame
Sae nane might meddle wi' her fair fame
Sae nane might meddle wi′ her fair fame
Doon by the greenwood sidie o

For days an' weeks she was pale an' wan
What she thoucht o′ there′s nane could tell
What she thoucht o' there′s nane could tell
Doon by the greenwood sidie o

As she was lookin' o′er yon castle wa'
She saw twa bonnie bairnies playin′ at a ba'
She saw twa bonnie bairnies playin at a ba'
Doon by the greenwood sidie o

Oh bairns, bairns, gin ye were mine
I′d gie ye coo′s milk, I'd gie ye reid wine
I′d gie ye coo's milk and reid wine
Doon by the greenwood sidie o

Oh mother, mother we once were thine
Ye didna gie us coo′s milk or reid wine
Ye didna gie us coo's milk or reid wine
Doon by the greenwood sidie o

You took a ribbon frae aff yer hair
An′ ye chokit us though we grat sair
Ye chokit us though we grat sair
Doon by the greenwood sidie o

Oh bairns, bairns come tell me true
What the future holds for you
What the future holds for you
Doon by the greenwood sidie o

Oh mother, cruel mother we ken richt weel
Tis we in heaven, in heaven must dwell

While ye maun dreg the fierce fires o' hell
Doon by the greenwood sidie o

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Emily Smith's song "The Cruel Mother" tell the story of a young woman who becomes pregnant out of wedlock and subsequently murders her children to protect her reputation. The first verse sets the scene in Logan's woods, where the young woman takes off her clothes with the help of her lover. The second verse reveals that she has given birth to two children, whom she buries deep in the woods to hide her wrongdoing. The third verse describes how she chokes the babies with a ribbon from her hair. In the fourth verse, the woman returns home pale and weak, and nobody knows what happened in the woods. In the fifth verse, she sees two children playing and wishes they were hers, only to find out that they are the very children she murdered. In the final verse, the children tell their mother that while they have found peace in heaven, she will suffer in hell for her cruel actions.

"The Cruel Mother" is a traditional Scottish ballad, and variations of the story can be found throughout many cultures. It is also known by several other names, including "The Bonny Boy," "The Greenwood Sidey," and "The Maid and the Palmer." In fact, versions of the ballad have been collected in Scotland, Ireland, England, and America.

Line by Line Meaning

In Logan's woods, aye in Logan's braes
In the woods and hills of Logan, the story takes place

I helped ma bonnie lassie on wi' her claithes
I assisted my lovely girl with getting dressed

First her hoes and then her shune
First her stockings and then her shoes

She gart me the slip when she was done
She slipped away from me once she had finished

She's leaned her back against a thorn
She rested against a thorn bush

And there she has twa bonnie babes born
There, she gave birth to two beautiful babies

There she has twa bonnie babes born
Once again, she gave birth to two beautiful babies