Brown Haired Maiden

The Brown Haired Maiden draws its origins from the ancient Gaelic song Hó-ró mo Nighean donn Bhoidhearch — literally "Hó-ró, my beautiful brown-haired girl" — a love song whose central theme is "I will marry no one but you," known throughout the Gaelic diaspora from the Hebrides to Cape Breton.

The original melody likely derives from a Gaelic slow air, or possibly from the canntaireachd of Captain Neil MacLeod of Gesto. Sir Walter Scott wrote words to it in 1816, and toward the end of the nineteenth century the tune was adapted as a quick march for military pipers.

The bagpipe version, known as The Brown Haired Maiden, is built from the chorus of the song as it appears in the Scots Guards collection. A march in 2/4, it is today a favourite among pipe bands on parade and in competition, often paired with Mairi's Wedding or *The Barren Rocks of Aden in march medleys.