Redpath was born in Edinburgh, to musical parents. Her mother knew many Scots songs and passed them on to all four of her daughters; her father played the hammer dulcimer. She was raised in Fife, Scotland, and later returned to Edinburgh, taking medieval studies at the university. Hamish Henderson was working in the School of Scottish Studies and Redpath took a keen interest in the archive of tapes and discs of music and songs. To help pay her way through her studies, she worked as a driving instructor and undertaker's assistant. She learned about 400 songs, together with the oral folklore that went with them.
In March 1961, at the age of 24, she went to the United States. Her first performance was in San Francisco. Later she met up with Rambling Jack Elliott and Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village. The natural warmth and power of her voice brought her to perform at Gerde's Folk City. In 1963, following a concert performance, she signed up with Elektra Records. In 1975 she switched to the Philo label. From 1972 to 1976 Jean was artist-in-residence at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She lectured in folklore and gave talks in schools.
In 1976 Redpath was embarked on a project to record all the songs of Robert Burns. Some being folk songs, some Burns' own compositions, and most a mixture of the two. Twenty-two volumes were planned, but when her collaborator, the composer Serge Hovey died after seven volumes, it came to a premature end. Hovey did the instrumental arrangements for 323 songs, and Redpath felt that no other musician could replace him. The albums won critical praise from around the world. In 1986 she recorded "Lady Nairne," a collection of songs written by Scottish women. She has sensitively reconstructed many songs that might otherwise have been lost.
Between 1974 and 1987, Redpath appeared regularly on Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" radio show from NPR. She has also appeared on Robert J. Lurtsema's "Morning Pro Musica" from WGBH in Boston.
She has toured throughout the U.S. and to Canada, and played venues in South America, Hong Kong, and Australia, including the Sydney Opera House, and has performed often at the Edinburgh Folk Festival. In 1977, Redpath appeared at a royal banquet at Edinburgh Castle for Queen Elizabeth II, during Royal Jubilee Year. In spite of all her musical success, she has never had formal musical training.
From 1979 Redpath was a lecturer at the University of Stirling, Scotland, occasionally making a sojourn to Wesleyan University. For ten years she gave courses in Scottish Song at the "Heritage of Scotland" Summer School at Stirling University.
She was awarded the MBE, as well as being named a "Kentucky Colonel" by the Governor of Kentucky. A portrait of Redpath by Alexander Fraser hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.
In 1996 she launched the Burns International Festival.
In 2009, Redpath made an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, singing "Some Kind of Love" by the late John Stewart of the Kingston Trio.
Behold My Love
Jean Redpath Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The primrose banks how fair;
The balmy gales awake the flowers,
And wave thy flowing hair.
The lav'rock shuns the palace gay,
And o'er the cottage sings:
For Nature smiles as sweet, I ween,
Let minstrels sweep the skilfu' string,
In lordly lighted ha':
The Shepherd stops his simple reed,
Blythe in the birken shaw.
The Princely revel may survey
Our rustic dance wi' scorn;
But are their hearts as light as ours,
Beneath the milk-white thorn!
The shepherd, in the flowery glen;
In shepherd's phrase, will woo:
The courtier tells a finer tale,
But is his heart as true!
These wild-wood flowers I've pu'd, to deck
That spotless breast o' thine:
The courtiers' gems may witness love,
But, 'tis na love like mine.
In "My Love She", Jean Redpath sings about the beauty of nature and the simplicity of love that is found within it. The singer is addressing their lover and pointing out the beauty around them. They describe the green groves and fair primrose banks, and the balmy gales that wake the flowers and wave their lover's hair. The lav'rock, or lark, sings over the cottage instead of the palace, showing that nature is just as beautiful for shepherds as it is for kings.
The singer then goes on to acknowledge the difference between the courtly life and the life of a shepherd. The courtly life is one of minstrels sweeping the "skilfu' string" in a lordly lighted ha', but the shepherd is blythe, or cheerful, in the birken shaw with their simple reed. The singer notes that even though the Princely revel may look down on their rustic dance, their hearts are just as light under the milk-white thorn.
The singer then points out the difference in the wooing traditions between a shepherd and a courtier. The shepherd will woo in their own shepherd's phrase in the flowery glen, while the courtier tells a finer tale. The final verse is a declaration of love, with the singer stating that they have picked the wild-wood flowers to deck their lover's spotless breast. They acknowledge that courtiers may use gems to witness their love, but their love is not like the singer's.
Overall, the song is a celebration of the beauty of nature and the simplicity found within the shepherd's life. The singer sees the courtly life as lacking the true and honest love found in the simple life of a shepherd.
Line by Line Meaning
Behold, my love, how green the groves,
Look, my love, at how lush and verdant the forests are
The primrose banks how fair;
The primrose-covered hillsides are especially lovely
The balmy gales awake the flowers,
The gentle breezes are stirring the flowers from their slumber
And wave thy flowing hair.
And your hair is being tousled in the process
The lav'rock shuns the palace gay,
The lark prefers to sing in humble cottages rather than grand palaces
And o'er the cottage sings:
And so he does, singing his heart out over the little houses
For Nature smiles as sweet, I ween,
Nature treats shepherds and kings with equal kindness, I think
To Shepherds as to Kings.
Granting the same beauty and bounty to humble shepherds as she does to mighty kings
Let minstrels sweep the skilfu' string,
Let the skilled musicians play their instruments in great mansions
In lordly lighted ha':
Among the chandeliers and in the company of the powerful lords
The Shepherd stops his simple reed,
The shepherd, content with his modest flute, has no need to play any more
Blythe in the birken shaw.
He is happy to sit in the birch wood and enjoy the light heartedness of life
The Princely revel may survey
The highborn may watch our simple dance from a distance
Our rustic dance wi' scorn;
And they may look down disapprovingly at us for it being so unrefined
But are their hearts as light as ours,
But do they possess the same lightness of heart that we do?
Beneath the milk-white thorn!
When sitting beneath the white hawthorn tree, enjoying the beauty of nature
The shepherd, in the flowery glen;
When the shepherd, surrounded by flowers in the lush valley
In shepherd's phrase, will woo:
Will speak sweet words of love in his rustic dialect
The courtier tells a finer tale,
The nobleman, with his refined education, may tell a more eloquent love story
But is his heart as true!
But can he honestly say that his love is as pure and genuine as mine?
These wild-wood flowers I've pu'd, to deck
I've gathered these flowers from the woods to adorn
That spotless breast o' thine:
Your pure, innocent heart
The courtiers' gems may witness love,
The jewels of the lords may attest to their love
But, 'tis na love like mine.
But it cannot compare to the depth and sincerity of the love I have for you.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ROBERT BURNS, SERGE HOVEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind