Ding Dong the Catholic Bells

Contributors

Higgins, Lizzie Ann, 1929-1993 (2900)

Fieldworkers

Henderson, Hamish, 1919-2002 (10) Kent, Fred E., 1932-1998 (3989)

Date 1974

Track ID 28765

Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1974.67.A4a

Original Tape ID

SA1974.067

Summary

Children's song:

Ding dong, the Catholic bells,
Mary is my mother,
Bury me in the old churchyard
Beside my eldest brother.

My coffin shall be black,
Six little angels at my back,
Two tae preach an two tae pray
And two to tae carry my soul away.

Ding dong, the Catholic bells,
Mary is my mother,
Bury me in the old churchyard
Beside my eldest brother.

Item Notes

2 verse of 4 lines, plus repeat of first verse. For a discussion of this song by Hamish Henderson, including Jeannie Robertson's version, see his essay 'An Aberdeen White Paternoster' in 'Scottish Studies' vol. 6 (1962) pp. 223-228.

See:
'Games a Bogie' (M. Sinclair, 1989) p. 16
'Golden City' (J. T. Ritchie, 1965) pp. 117, 124-125
'Doh Ray Me, When Ah Wis Wee' (E. McVicar, 2007) p. 216
'Alias MacAlias' (H. Henderson, A. Finlay, 1992, 2004) pp. 110-114

Recording Location

County - Midlothian

Parish - Edinburgh

Village/Place - Edinburgh

Language

English

Source Type

Disc

Audio Quality

Good