blithe

blithe [blaɪð, blaɪθ] a.

1.) Heedless, careless.
2.) Exhibiting gladness: jocund, merry, sprightly, gay, mirthful. In ballads frequently coupled with gay. Rare in modern English prose or speech.
3.) Of men, their heart, spirit, etc.: Joyous, gladsome, cheerful; glad, happy, well pleased. Rare in English prose since 16th c., but frequent in poetry; still in spoken use in Scotland (Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition).

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English blythe.

From Bolton's old monastic tower
The bells ring loud with gladsome power;
The sun shines bright; the fields are gay
With people in their best array
Of stole and doublet, hood and scarf,
Along the banks of crystal Wharf,
Through the Vale retired and lowly,
Trooping to that summons holy.
And, up among the moorlands, see
What sprinklings of blithe company!
Of lasses and of shepherd grooms,
That down the steep hills force their way,
Like cattle through the budded brooms;
Path, or no path, what care they?
And thus in joyous mood they hie
To Bolton's mouldering Priory (The White Doe of Rylstone, William Wordsworth, 1815).

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