He Widna Wint His Gruel
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1953.235.A5
Original Tape ID
Summary
In this comic song, a weaver "widna wint his gruel" [would not go without his porridge]. So adamant is he that when his new bride tells him there is not a pot in the house to cook his gruel, he says "O the washing pot, it'll dae wi me / For I maun hae [must have] ma gruel". Likewise, he will use a garden spade instead of a spoon. Even when his bride brings him cake and wine, he refuses them, wanting only his gruel. The singer closes with a warning to young women, never to marry a weaver. "The very first nicht that he got wed / He sat and grat for gruel".
Hamish Henderson remarks that he recently recorded a version of this song from a man in Castleton near Banff, in which each and every phrase was different.
Item Notes
5 verses of 8 lines; the 2nd half of each verse is a changing refrain.
See:
'Tocher' 12 (The School of Scottish Studies, 1973) pp. 149-150
'Come Gie's a Sang' (S. Douglas, 1995) pp. 82-83
'A Collection of Scots Songs' (A. Munro & H. Henderson, 1972) p. 25
'Folksongs of Britain & Ireland' (P. Kennedy, 1975) p. 459
Recording Location
County - Midlothian
Parish - Edinburgh
Village/Place - Edinburgh
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Classification
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Fair