Amongst all the politics, murder ballads, and songs about work, the Scots do find time for singing a wee bit about old fashioned romance in their mither tongue!

Here's Barbara Dymock and Maureen Jelks singing Mary Brooksbank's Love and Freedom, also known as Hey Donal:

The late Tony Cuffe sings Braw Sailin on the Sea, a song found in Ord's Bothy Songs and Ballads, in this recording from the Raretunes.org archive:

Traveller Jane Turriff of Mintlaw sings the lover's test song The Rigs o Rye, from the album Singin is Ma Life on Springthyme Records: 

Jane Turriff: Rigs O Rye by springthyme

Of course, love is not always an easy match. The girl in this song complains about having to marry a "feckless auld man". This is Malinky's version of Why Should I?,  a 17th-century melody from the Skene manuscript with 19th-century lyrics, from their album Flower and Iron, : 

- CDTRAX330, Greentrax Recordings, used by permission. 

For some folk, love comes late, as in the case of dear old Auntie Madie, who hooks up with Sherriffmuir veteran piper Pawkie Adam Glen. Lyrics by Brechin poet Alexander Laing (1787-1857), to an Angus pipe tune of the same name: 

- sung by Steve Byrne from the album 'Songs from Home', CDTRAX275, used by permission.