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There Wis an Auld Wifie/Doon i the Howe/Tak the Buckles/The Dog in the Midden/Oh Gin I were Hame/Hackie is a Bonny Beast/Jockie Raa/Cockabendie/Ma Mither Sent Me/Katie Bairdie/Though my Een/Boddamers

Date March 1960
Track ID 55282
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1960.163.B13

Original Tape ID

SA1960.163

Summary

A miscellany of songs, chants, rhymes and folklore.

There wis an auld wifie, she clippit her cattie
For takin a moosie on Christmas Day.

Doon i the howe [hollow] I heard a coo lowe like a deid man seeking a drink.

Tak the buckles fae yer sheen [shoes], bonnie lassie o,
For yer dancing days are deen, bonnie lassie o,
Tak the flounces fae yer goon, mak a frockie fir yer loon [boy],
For yer dancing days are deen, bonnie lassie o.

The dog in the midden he lay, he lay,
The dog in the midden he lay, he lay,
He lookit abuin and he saw the muin sheen [shine]
An he cocked his tail an away, away.

O gin I were hame an bedded,
O gin I were hame an doon,
O gin I were hame an bedded,
I wid sleep wi little room.

Hackie is a bonnie beast,
But Hackie widna wyde the water,
But I'll tak aff my hose an sheen,
An I'll guide Hackie through the water.

Come awa, Jockie Raa, come awa, ye look sae braw
Wi yer bawbee [halfpenny] watch an yer fardin [farthing] chine,
Ah wish ma grannie saa ye!
Jockie Raa shot a craa, took it hame tae his mamma,
His mamma et it an left the bones tae Johnnie Raa.

Cockabendie's lyin seik, what the Devil ails him?
Tak a stick an brak his back an that'll surely mend him.
Peter Dick upon a stick, Sandy on a soo,
Ride awa tae Aiberdein tae buy a pund o woo.

Ma mither sent me tae the well, better she hid gaen hersel,
Ah fell in an tint [lost] the pail, an whistlet ower the lave [remainder] o't.
Mither sent me tae the sea for tae gether buckies [whelks] three,
A sailor lad fell in wi me an whistlet ower the lave o't.

Katie Bairdie hid a coo,
Black an fite aboot the moo.
Wisnae that a dainty coo
That danced dillum dergie?

"Though my een were green, young man," she said,
"What metters that tae you?"

The date of Easter, or Pesse, can, without a calendar, be reckoned thus:

First comes Cannlemas, an syne the new muin,
An the neist Tiesday efter that, that's Fester's Even [Shrove Tuesday],
That muin oot an the neist at its hicht,
An the neist Sunday efter that, that's Pesse richt.

Hame, dearie, hame, it's hame that I maun be,
Hame, dearie, hame, tae my ain countrie
Whaur the oak and the ash and the bonny elm tree
Are aa growin green in my ain countrie.

A pedlar come tae oor toon, an faith he was a jolly loon [lad]
An ay fin he gaed by the door he fussled [whistled] an come in o.

Ye talk aboot yer fistling chaps but listen for a wee,
I'll tell ye o a fistling chap that lives next door tae me.
He fistles awa the hale o the day an he never taks a breath,
Ah'd be happy tae gang tae his funeral if he fistled himself tae death!
He fistles when he's eating, he fistles when he sleeps
He fistles 'Comin through the Rye' an comin through the streets!
He fistles awa the hale o the day an he never taks a breath,
Ah'd be happy tae gang tae his funeral if he fistled himself tae death!

Oor soo swallied an auld brandy bottle, ach butan tidily tot o,
The moo o the bottle stuck in its throttle, ach butan tidily tot o.

There was a ship went roon the coast
An aa the hands on board was lost
Except a monkey climbt the post,
An the Boddamers hanged the monkey o.

I met her on the country road, the truth I winna hide,
She said she came fae Rora, three miles ayont Longside.
The lassie said she was terrified and she began tae cry,
But Charlie never minded her, but homeward he did fly.

Pit yer finger in corbie [crow]'s hole, but corbie's no at hame,
He's awa at the back o the barn door eatin an auld horse bane.

Far'll Bonnie Annie lie, Annie lie, Annie lie,
Far'll Bonnie Annie lie, in the cauld, cauld nichts o winter o?
She'll lie in Johnnie's bosie [bosom], bosie, bosie,
She'll lie in Johnnie's bosie,
In the cauld, cauld nichts o winter o.

The auld cat's kittled [had kittens] in Charlie's weeg [wig],
The auld cat's kittled in Charlie's weeg,
There's fower o them livin an five o them deid,
The auld cat's kittled in Charlie's weeg.

Charles Reid says that he has given Kenneth Goldstein all he can remember of what Sir Walter Scott called "fragments of an earlier world" and he hopes they will have the pleasure of meeting in the near future.













Item Notes

For 'There Wis an Auld Wifie' (Roud Folk Song Index no. 6112) see:
Greig-Duncan vol. 3, p. 583

For 'Tak The Buckles' (Roud 4845) see:
Greig-Duncan vol. 7, pp. 411-412

For 'Dog in the Midden' (Roud 13042) see:
Greig-Duncan vol. 8, p. 197
'Sandy Candy' (Montgomerie, 1948) p. 62

For 'Katie Bairdie' (Roud 8945) see:
Greig-Duncan vol. 8, pp. 193-194
'Scottish Nursery Rhymes' (Montgomerie, 1946) p. 99

For 'Hame Dearie Hame' (Roud 269) see:
Greig-Duncan vol. 5, pp. 545-552

For 'The Boddamers Hingit the Monkey' see:
'Awa wi the Rovin Sailor' (The Gaugers, CD)

Non Scottish Recording Location

England, Surrey, Epsom

Non Scottish Recording Location

Sasainn, Surrey, Epsom

Language

Scots

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good