By yon pure crystal fountain...

[GeneD]

There is an Irish/Scottish folk song named "Will Ye Go Lassie Go" (lyrics is here) I like very much, but I have a place I don't quite understand in it. What does the word "fountain" mean in the context?

I will build my love a bower
By yon pure crystal fountain
And around it I will pile
All the flowers of the mountain.

The dictionaries I looked up the word in suggest that a fountain is an artificial structure. But could it be a natural fountain? For some reason I've pictured in my head a place somewhere outside urban area. Maybe that's because I don't remember seeing thyme in towns or villages, or maybe partially because they sing about "wild mountain thyme"... Anyways... What do you think of the nature of that fountain?

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, it's a natural fountain. In the wild mountains of Scotland.

 

[GeneD]

Thanks, Frank. Then I have to ask another question. Should the water in a fountain necessarily move upwards? I've just looked at some pictures google suggested and found waterfalls there as well. How would you describe that fountain from the song?

 

[jutfrank]

I have a vague image of a beautiful little mountain spring in mind. A source of pure water coming from the Earth, perhaps pouring into a little stream.

What a lovely song, by the way. I listened just once but now the melody is truly stuck in my head.

 

[Tdol]

I thought of a mountain spring too.