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The Minister and his Wether

Date 1956
Track ID 3141
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1956.45.A21

Original Tape ID

SA1956.045

Summary

A recited fragment of the song 'The Minister and his Wether', in which a boy tells us:

The minister has a fine fat wether,
He was fed on corn and hay,
And I'll go doon wi some corn in ma pooch
And wyle the wether away.

The contributor heard the song from Travellers.

Item Notes

1 verse of 4 lines. This comic song was printed as a cante-fable (a narrative containing sections of song) by many broadside publishers all across Britain in the early 19th century. The song tells of a little boy who outwits a minister or parson, and in doing so secures the minister's sheep to feed his family over Christmas.

See:
Greig-Duncan vol. 2, pp. 417-419
'Tocher' 4 (1971) pp. 118-121
'Folk Music Journal' 3:1 (1975) pp. 48-49
'Scottish Studies' 14 (A. Bruford, 1970) pp. 88-93
'Secret Songs of Silence' (P. Buchan, 1832) pp. 166-168

Recording Location

County - Banffshire

Parish - Inveravon

Village/Place - Glenlivet

Language

English, Scots

Collection

SoSS

Classification

AT1833 R2498 GD309

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good