Here's a small selection of favourite tracks. Wishing all friends, musicians and folk enthusiasts a merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year 2018.

Christmas 2017 and a Guid New Year

song sketch... 
video: http://vimeo.com/27674040



Tall Tall Tales

Sitting in the Stern of a Boat (Mi 'm shuidh' an Deireadh Bata)
From the album Ossian - Ossian on Springthyme (SPRCD 1004).

This beautiful slow air was composed in the 18th century by the Rev. William McLeod and represents his thoughts as he sailed away from his native Bracadale in the Isle of Skye to take up a parish in Argyll. Taken from Captain Simon Fraser’s Knockie Collection of 1816. 

Ossian - named after the legendary 3rd century Celtic Bard and folk hero, was formed in 1976, and this was their first album of Scottish/Celtic music - released in 1997 on CD. The band went on to record a series of albums on their own 'Iona' label.

This song is from the Springthyme CD Ossian: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1004/" target="_parent">OSSIAN</a>.

Ossian: Sitting in the Stern of a Boat

Gordon Easton is from the Blackhills of Tyrie near Fraserburgh, where his family has crofted for generations. He learned many of his old songs from his mother and grandmother and is well-known for his fiddle, jew’s harp and ‘moothie’ playing, not to mention his considerable skills as a ‘diddler’. 

At the age of 84, he recorded this his first CD (www.springthyme.co.uk/ah05). In recent years he has become a fixture on the festival competition scene, sometimes entering as many as five competitions. In 2004 he was made an honorary life member of the TMSA. In 2007 he was a guest at the Whitby Folk Week.

The farm of Barnyards on the Delgaty castle estate a mile from Turriff gave rise to one of the most famous of the old bothy ballads. Greig opens his Buchan Observer article on Ploughman Songs with Barnyards (FSNE 4, GD 3: 347).

Scots Words 
The song is rich in the Buchan or Doric dialect of the Scots language. As with any language, the Scots tongue has its regional dialects. Click on the following link to discover more about Scots and get direct access to the online Scots Language dictionary: www.springthyme.co.uk/scotslanguage

The Barnyards o Delgaty

1: As I gaed doun tae Turra market,
Turra market for tae fee,
I met in wi a fairmer chiel,
Fae the barnyards o Delgaty.

Chorus:
Lilten adie touran adie, lilten adie touran ae,
O lilten lourin lourin lourin, the barnyards o Delgaty.

2: He promised me the twa best horse,
That ever gaed in iron sheen;
Fan I gaed hame tae the barnyards,
There wis naething there but skin and bane.

3: Noo the auld black horse sat on his hunkers,
The auld dun meer lay on her wime, [i.e. belly
And aa that I could up and cry,
They widna rise at yokin time.

4: Noo Lang Meg Scot she maks ma brose,
It's wi her I canna agree,
First a knot an syne a mote and then a knot, [i.e. a lump then a little
And aye the ither jilp o bree. [i.e. spill the rest

5: Noo Jean MacPherson maks ma bed,
You should see the marks upon ma shins,
Jean, the coorse illtrickit jaud, [i.e. mischievous girl
She fills ma bed wi prickly whins.

6: Fin I gang tae the kirk on Sunday,
Mony a bonnie lass I see,
Sittin by her faither's side,
An winkin o'er the pews at me.

7: Noo some can drink and nae get drunk,
Some can fecht and nae get slain,
I can coort anither chiel's lass,
An aye gang welcome tae ma ain.

8: Ma cannle nearly burnt oot, [i.e. candle
The snotter's fairly on the wane, [i.e. the wick burnt down
So fare ye weel ye barnyards,
Ye'll niver catch me here again.

Chorus:
Lilten adie touran adie, lilten adie touran ae,
O lilten lourin lourin lourin, the barnyards o Delgaty.

Gordon Easton: Barnyards o Delgaty

The Wassail celebration involves Christmas revellers taking a Wassail bowl, usually a large wooden vessel from house to house to distribute good cheer. This version was recorded in 1972 from Lemmie Brazil - a member of a large Gypsy traveller family in Gloucester. A near complete collection of the songs and music of the family is available as a 3CD set on the Musical Traditions label: The Brazil Family: Down by the Old Riverside - although this song was not included. But here it is sung by the 82 year old Lemmie:

Wassail Song
From the singing of Lemmy Brazil, Gloucester 26 December 1972.  Collected by Peter Shepheard  (Springthyme 67.8.3). 

He said I ain’t come here not to beg or not to borrow,
I have come here just to drive away my sorrow,
A bit of your good cake an’ a drop of your strong beer,
An’ I hope you merry Chrissemas an’ a happy New Year.

Come all you lucky gentlemen that sits around the fire,
Remember us poor wassailers who walks through muddy mire,
A bit o’ your good cake and a drop o’ your strong beer,
An’ I hope you merry Chrissemas an’ a happy New Year.


Lemmie Brazil: Wassail Song

Tattie Jock is a song dating from the 1820s and tells of the transportation to Botany Bay of several men from the farm of Craigie in Fife, Scotland. The farmer had caught the farmworkers - horse ploughmen - stealing potatoes. He called in the police and this resulted in a fight between the police and the men. The men were taken to court and transported for 14 years to the hardships of slavery in Australia.
  
Recorded by Peter Shepheard from the singing of Archie Webster, Strathkinness. Recorded 17 June 1968 (68.2.34) & 14 Sep 1971 at Peat Inn (71.3). Transcribed and adapted Peter Shepheard. © Springthyme Music 1968. Published in the Scottish Folksinger. Collins (1973). Also recorded from Eck Harley of Cupar 16 May 1968 (68.2.29). 

The Sound Cloud track here starts with a recording of Pete Shepheard leading the song with chorus made at the FifeSing Traditional Singing Festival in May 2011. This is followed by the archive recordings of Eck Harley and Archie Webster edited together.

1: Ye aa hae heard o Tattie Jock,
Likewise o Mutton Peggie,
They had a fairm in the North o Fife,
An the name o it wis Craigie.

Chorus:
	Singin ah riddle aye, roo rum di do,
	Ah riddle aye, roo rum day.

2: There were ten pair upon that place,
Likewise ten able men;
It’s five they gaed tae kinnle the fire,
An the ither five oot tae scran.

3: Three month we saired wi Tattie Jock
An weel did we agree,
Till we fund oot that the tattie shed,
Could be opened wi the bothy key.

4: We aa gaed in tae the tattie shed,
Oor bags were hardly full,
When Tattie Jock in ahint the door,
Cries, “Aye, ma lads, stand still!”

5: The first he got wis Jimmy Marr,
The next wis Willie Doo;
There wis Jimmy Grey an Wull Moncur,
An Jimmy Pethrie flew.

6: Next day some o us were drivin dung,
An some were at the mill;
But better we’d been at the ploo,
Upon Pitlootie Hill.

7: They sent for ten big policemen,
But nine there only cam;
It dinged them for tae tak’s that nicht,
Us bein ten able men.

8: Johnny Grey wis the hemaist lad,
The best lad o us aa;
He jined a man o war ship at Leith,
So’s he need na stand the law.

9: When we were gettin oor sentences,
We aa stood roond and roond;
But when we heard o the fourteen years,
Oor tears cam rollin doon.

10: When Tattie Jock he heard o this,
He cried an grat fu sore;
A thousand guineas he wad pay,
If that wad clear oor score.

11: A bag o gold he did produce,
Tae pay it there an then;
But the lawyer only told him, 
Money wouldna clear his men.

12: As we were bein mairched up through Perth,
We heard the news boys say,
“It’s hard tae see sic able men,
Rade aff tae Botany Bay.”

13: When we arrive in Botany Bay,
Some letters we will send,
Tae tell oor friends the hardships,
We endure in a foreign land.
	Singin ah riddle aye, roo rum di do,
	Ah riddle aye, roo rum day.

Archie Webster: This is a story which happened quite a number of years ago when the Clydesdales used to draw the ploughs - the swing plough, steered by the skill o the ploomen o Fife. On Craigie fairm there were ten pair of these animals, the ploughman’s pride. These ten men worked these horses with skill but they were subject tae the failings of all flesh and, as wages wasnae very big, they used tae help their selves a bit fae the fairm produce. One day they were caught. Theft was a terrible crime at that time – a man could be hanged for stealing a sheep. Well, the ploomen o Craigie were caught stealing tatties be the fairmer, a man who boasted the nickname Tattie Jock. This is the ballad of Craigie.

Research at the Scottish Records Office reveals that the farms of Craigie and Pusk beside Leuchars were farmed by two brothers in the 1820s. They grew and dealt in potatoes - hence the byname of Tattie Jock. The potatoes were carted to Tayport for distribution to Edinburgh and Dundee by sea. They also rented a shed at St Andrews harbour.

Links:
Springthyme Records: www.springthyme.co.uk
FifeSing Traditional Singing Festival: www.springthyme.co.uk/fifesing/

Tattie Jock

OH DEAR ME/ THE JUTE MILL SONG

Of all the poems and songs that are associated with Mary Brooksbank, the Jute Mill Song or Oh Dear Me is probably the best known. Based on a single traditional verse which she adapted as the chorus, she managed to capture a lot more about life than just the hardships of the jute mill lassies. As Jim says, 'two lines of Mary's song say more than many a politician can say in a lifetime - but I'll leave you to guess which two I mean!' Mary Brooksbank worked all her working life in the jute mills of Dundee and the song tells of the hard life. Mary was a member of the communist party and a social activist. She self-published a book of her poems and an autobiography.

Shiftins, piecing and spinning were three of the jobs on the flett - the floor on which the spinning machinery stood. The shifter was the person who removed full bobbins from the spinning frames and replaced them with empty ones. Ten and nine was the weekly wage of the mill lassies at the turn of the century - ten shillings (paid as a gold half sovereign) and nine pence.

1: Oh dear me the mills gaein fast,
And the pair wee shifters canna get nae rest;
Shiftin bobbins, coorse and fine, 
They fairly mak ye wark for your ten and nine.

2: Oh dear me I wish the day wis done,
Rinnin up an doun the pass is nae fun;
Shiftin, piecin, spinnin - warp, weft and twine,
Tae feed an claith ma bairnies affen ten and nine.

Chorus: 
Oh dear me the mills gaein fast,
And the pair wee shifters canna get nae rest;
Shiftin bobbins coorse and fine,
 They fairly mak ye wark for your ten and nine.

3: O dear me, the warld's ill divided,
Them that works the hardest are the least provided;
But I maun bide contented, dark days or fine,
There's no much pleisure livin affen ten and nine.

Chorus: 
Oh dear me the mills gaein fast,
And the pair wee shifters canna get nae rest;
Shiftin bobbins coorse and fine,
They fairly mak ye wark for your ten and nine.

From the album Jim Reid & John Huband: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1030/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Freewheeling Now</a>.

Here's a link to a site about <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Brooksbank/49120541063/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mary Brooksbank</a> and another: <a href="http://www.dundeewomenstrail.org.uk/stories.php?id=18 " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dundee Womens Trail</a>.

The origins of the song are made clear in an interview held in the archives of the Scool of Scottish Studies. An Interview with Mary Brooksbank by Hamish Henderson - SA 1968.317. School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh.

Mary Brooksbank: And then inside work (in the mills), they used to sing the Jute Mill song you know and when I grew up I put the verses to it. They used to go aroond (singing): 'the mill's gaen fest, the puir wee shifters canna get a rest .

Hamish Henderson: And how much of that was what they were singing in the mill and how much did you add to it?

Mary Brooksbank: Only the ditty, 'Oh dear me, the mill's gaen fest, the puir wee shifters…' . The verses are all mine. And that verse, 'to feed and cled my bairnie' was brought to me by a lassie who was worried. It wis hard lines if ye hid an illigitimate child and you had to pay for it aff that meagre wage, you know what I mean, and she used to say, oh I wish the day was done. And eh, tell me her troubles, her trachles, what she hid tae dae for her bairn and that, nae help that sort o' thing, and that brought that tae mind. And then I used to think on my own aboot how ill divided the world wis. My mother put me into service for a period; tried to make me genteel you know. She gave me a lovely outfit but it didna suit me, it was the worst thing she could have did because I saw right away the contrast between their homes and ours, you know, thons o the gentry and ours.

Oh Dear Me/ Jute Mill Song

BONNIE SHIP THE DIAMOND

On Springthyme SPRCD 1042
Shepheard, Spiers & Watson - They Smiled as We Cam In

Tom Spiers: This version of the well known whaling song was learnt from the singing of Peter Hall who may have taken it from the Greig-Duncan manuscripts where there are eight texts with tunes although none is quite the same as this. 

The Diamond was built in Québec in 1801 and brought into the Aberdeen fleet in 1812. The Aberdeen Journal of 18 March 1812 reports: “The fine new Ship Diamond, Gibbon (that is, with Captain Gibbon in command) sailed on Thursday last, for the Davis’ Straits Whale Fishery.” When she arrived back in August she had a catch of eleven fish (that is, whales). The ship went on a yearly voyage until 1819 when she was caught in the early autumn ice and lost while staying too late in the season. Fortunately the crew were all saved. (GD 1:11; Roud 2172)

Tom (vocal) with Pete (melodeon and vocal) and Arthur (whistle and vocal)

1: The Diamond it’s a ship ma lads, for Davis Straits she’s bound,
The quay it is aa garnished wi bonnie lassies roon;
Captain Gibbon gives command, tae sail the ocean wide,
Far the sun it niver sets ma lads, nor darkness dim the sky. [far=where

Chorus:
Sae be cheerful ma lads and let yer herts niver fail,
For the bonnie ship the Diamond goes a-fishin for the whale.

2: Alang the quay at Aiberdeen the lassies stan aroon,
Their shawls aa pued aboot them, their saut tears rinnin doun;
“Dinna greet ma bonnie lassie, though ye’ve been left behind,
The rose’ll grow on Greenland’s ice afore I change ma mind.”

3: Best wishes tae the Greenland fleet and aa the whalin trade,
And likewise tae the sailor lads fa earn their daily breid; [fa=who
They wear the trousers o the white and the jackets o the blue,
Fan they get back tae Aiberdeen they’ll find sweetherts a-new. [fan=when

4: Sae jovial it will be the day, fan the Greenland men come hame,
Wi ships that’s full o oil ma lads, and money tae their names;
They’ll mak the cradle for tae rock and the blankets for tae teer,
And ilka lass in Aiberdeen cry, “Hish-a-ba ma dear.”

5: Here’s a health untae the Hercules and anither tae the Jane,
A health untae the Bon-accord and the Diamond ship o fame;
A health to Captain Gibbon, and aa the Diamond’s crew,
A health tae every bonnie lass that’s got a hert that’s true.

6: Here’s a health untae the Hercules and anither tae the Jane,
A health untae the Bon-accord and the Diamond ship o fame;
A health to Captain Gibbon, and aa the Diamond’s crew,
A health tae every bonnie lass that’s got a hert that’s true.

Chorus:
Sae be cheerful ma lads and let yer herts niver fail,
For the bonnie ship the Diamond goes a-fishin for the whale.

This is a track on their album Shepheard, Spiers & Watson: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1042/" target="_self">They Smiled As We Cam In</a>.

c p 2006 Springthyme Records • Springthyme Music

Bonnie Ship The Diamond

Iain McLachlan: An Island Heritage

Iain McLachlan's music comes as fresh as the sea breezes wafting over the Uist machair - Highland and Gaelic as his island heritage. I recall two wonderful music sessions with Iain at a ceilidh and dance in Daliburgh in South Uist back in 1976 and again at one of the famous Kinross Festivals where he played about a dozen pipe marches off the cuff with the unbroken link up that comes of playing at a thousand dances.

Iain, from Benbecula, is best known as an accordionist, but on this recording he also plays fiddle and melodeon, and is joined by Calum Iain MacCorquodale of Bayhead, North Uist on accordion and fiddle and by Calum Campbell of Balivanich on goose and jaws harp. His Highland Harry using the trill grace note which was a favourite ornament with the old Highland fiddlers, and the two pipe reels of Drummond and The Sheepwife on accordion with Calum on the goose, are truly inspiring.
[from sleeve notes by Aonghas Grant, Lochaber].

Here he plays a set of reels on the single row melodeon: MRS MacLEOD OF RAASAY
and HIGH ROAD TO LINTON. The set was recorded at the Kinross Festival in September 1976.

This is a track from the album Iain McLachlan: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1022/" target="_self">An Island Heritage</a>.

Iain McLachlan: Mrs MacLeod Of Raasay/ High Road To Linton

Bill Black: Reels: ITCHY FINGERS/ WICKED WILLY/ DINKY'S REEL/ MISS JANE OF VIOLET BANK

Based in Perthshire, this is the fourth album on Springthyme from Bill Black and the band: Scottish dance music played with a rich style and a solid enthusiasm that has ensured the popularity of Bill and the band at ceilidhs and dances for over 30 years. The band are: Bill Black: button box; Kathryn Nicoll: fiddle; Niel Caul: piano accordion; Mabel Gray: piano; Robert McFadyen: drums.

The album includes dance sets for the Barn Dance, Polkas, Reels, St Bernard's Waltz, Postie's Jig and a Virginia Reel. Fiddler Kathryn Nicoll plays a superb slow air Fyvie Castle by Scott Skinner followed by a reel Mary Claire by the Canadian fiddle composer J. Holland.

This is a track from the album Bill Black Scottish Dance Band: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1037/" target="_self">The Dawning</a>.

Bill Black: Itchy Fingers/ Wicked Willy &c

RHYNIE

On Springthyme SPRCD 1039
Jock Duncan - Ye Shine Whar Ye Stan!

Jock Duncan learned this Aberdeenshire masterpiece from the singing of the great John Strachan (farmer at the farm of Crichie the other side of Fyvie from Jock's parents family farm) - who sang it accompanying himself on concertina. The song was included in Norman Buchan's influential 101 Scottish Songs published in 1962 and is in the Greig-Duncan Folk-Song Collection (GD 343) under the title Jock o Rhynie. An old man, William Forsyth, told Greig thet he 'remembered as a boy his mother sing Jock o Rhynie and this would take the song back to say 1830.' The farmer at Mains o Rhynie (in the high glens of Auchindoir in Strathbogie about 8 miles south of Huntly) from 1830 until his death in 1851 was John Gordon and he was known as 'Jock o Rhynie' but there may have been earlier Jocks at Rhynie and the song could well be earlier. He is said to have denied his work was 'ill to work' although he admitted that Rhynie's work was 'very hard.'

1: At Rhynie I sheared my first hairst,
Doun by the fit o Benachie,
Ma maister there was ill tae fit, [hard to please
But laith wis I tae loss my fee.
 Linten ourin ourin addie,
 Linten ourin ourin ee.

2: Rhynie's wark is ill tae work,
An Rhynie's wauges is bit sma,
Rhynie's laws are double strick, [i.e. very strict
And that's fit grieves me warst of aa.
 Linten ourin ourin addie,
 Linten ourin ourin ee.

3: Rhynie is a cauld clay hole,
It's nane een like ma father's toun,
Rhynie is a hungry place,
And it disnae suit a Lawland loon.
 Linten ourin ourin addie,
 Linten ourin ourin ee.

4: Sair I've focht and sair I've vrocht, [i.e. worked
Until I won my penny fee,
And I'll ging back tae the gate I cam, [i.e. the way I came
And a better bairnie I will be.
 Linten ourin ourin addie,
 Linten ourin ourin ee.

Jock: John Strachan was never bettered at this song about the hand shearin days before the reaper made short work of it. This young man's first shearin wis an unhappy experience, wages were sma and it wis a hungry place and the farmer's laws were double strict. Folk think o Rhynie as being 'My God, thats a wild place, there canna be much growin up there.' It's hilly and there's a lot a sheepie grun, but it's (also) some o the finest corn growin country that ever wis.

Jock never worked on Rhynie, but not long ago he and his wife Frances climbed the nearby hill Tap o Noth to look down over the lands of Rhynie.

Jock: Whit drew me to Tap o Noth wis the fine walk through the whin and up through the breem. You're gaun back 4, 5000 year because ye'd the vitrified fort on the top. And here's me standin on the top o the vitrified fort singin Rhynie, lookin doun, a beautiful sunny day, on the hairst parks o Rhynie away in the distance. And I wis thinkin o Jock –

This song is from the Springthyme CD Jock Duncan: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1039/" target="_self">Ye Shine Whar Ye Stan!</a>.

Jock Duncan: Rhynie

PIRN-TAED JOCKIE

Sung by Jock Duncan of Pitlochry on Autumn Harvest ah007: Old Songs & Bothy Ballads 5: Grand to Be a Working Man. Recorded at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival May 2008.

A tongue-twister in the broad Scots from the pen of George Bruce Thomson, one time trainee chemist in New Deer, Aberdeenshire and a prolific composer of songs. George clearly loved to make full use of the local broad Scots vocabulary — the Doric. According to Jock's mother, he sometimes tested out his songs on the customers for approval. Jock is sure most of his songs were lost or given away. Gavin Greig included several of George Thomson's songs in his weekly Buchan Observer articles around 1910. This songs is number 1220 in the Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection published by Mercat Press (Volume 6, 1995). The tune is given by Thomson as The Girl I Left Behind Me for the verse and The White Cockade for the chorus.

1: Oh fin I wis a little wee pirn-taed loonie, [pigeon-toed lad
I was aye caad silly little Jockie, [called
Ae nicht I wis sittin on my grannie's window sill
Eatin sweeties oot a broon paper pyockie; [poke/bag
By cam a lassie an she offered me a kiss,
A thing I wid never think o scornin,
But she bolted wi ma sweeties, dang my heid through the windae,
An ma grannie tellt me that neist mornin: [next
Oh never tie a kettle tull a big dog's tail,
Nor tak a drink o water oot a bucket or a pail,
For it's plain tae unnerstan as a bawbee for a bap, [halfpenny; bread roll
That the reidest cheekit aipples aye are gotten at the tap;
A laddie aince pit snuff in his aul grannie's tea,
But he drunk it up himsel 'fore he noticed, so they say,
But I'll wager tuppence happeny, though it's aa I caa ma ain, [call, own
The nickum never tigget wi her sneeshin mill again. [rogue; tampered; snuff mill

2: Oh it's a sair thing love fen it hits ye on the weskit, [waistcoat
Fen ye think ye're getting on sae fine man,
But och hon-a-rie, tae fin oot that ye've been coortin, [alas
Anidder man's lassie aa the time man;
Love is like a jujube covered ower wi sugar, 
Anidder lad changes it tae sooricks aa thegidder, [sorrel, ie sourness
For it's on ae side like the hantle o a jug, [handle of
An it's caul kail early in the mornin. [cold cabbage
If ye ever get a smack fae Cupid's little arra,
It's like hurlin in a prambulator doon the hill o Barra,
An if she winnae hae ye, it's like lyin on the rack,
Wi a thoosan maggie-mony-feets a-crawlin doon yer back; [centipedes
It's aye the best sheep that gets smoored among the snaw, [smothered
Fin ye're fishing it's the best troot that aye wins awa,
An if ye see a lassie that ye think ye'd like tae pet,
That's jist the very een ye may be sure ye winnae get.

3: Oh I aince went a ball in the aul toon o Ribble,
An I never saw sae mony bonnie dawties, [darlings
Hooch! up tae yer een among marmalade an treacle,
It was happy as a craw among the tatties;
Big lassies, sma lassies, short lassies, tall lassies,
Aa kin o lassies fit tae blin ye,
Bit the flooer o them aa wis little Polly Proctor,
The lassie I was forced tae leave behind me.
For I aince went tae my auntie's wi a bag o yallow haddocks,
The idder loonies laiddert me an full'd the bag wi puddocks, [beat; frogs
It was sair, sair tae thole, I wad say withoot a doot, [endure; doubt
But this time I thocht that I wid greet heech oot; [cry right out
For Polly said she'd mairry me an nae anidder body,
An' fin I kissed Polly well she didna gie a cheep, [sound
Noo she's ran awa wi a lantern-chaftit sodger, [long-jawed
Wi a face that wis as yalla as a bilt Swaddish neep. [yellow; boiled; turnip

4: Oh ye never saw a rickle like my aul horse Dobbin, [bag of bones
Ye could hing up yer jecket on his hurdies, [haunches
He wis broke in the win an fin he began tae rin, [breathless
He made a racket like a dizzen hurdy-gurdies; 
I took him tae the market and I swappit fair ower, [swapped
Wi a Balaclava chairger fae the sooth man,
But I didnae wait the blockan-ale though I wis unco dry, [the drink to seal the deal
For fear they mebbe finin oot the truth man.
For here I thocht I'd really deen a smairt trick noo, [done
But sic a coupin ower the tailie I never did expeck, [overturning, inheritance
Fae a fraisy aul mannie wi a roly-poly facie, [talkative
Like a ginger-breid rabbitie wi a clootie roon its neck; 
I took it tae the market, an I swappit, dae ye see,
My ain horse Dobbin that was blin upon ae ee, [blind in one eye
Oh I cam hame fae the market jist as drouthy as a saith, [coalfish
Wi a fiddle-heedit jigger that was blin upon them baith. [oddity, blind in both eyes

This a track on the album Old Songs & Bothy Ballads 5: <a href="http://www.springthyme.co.uk/ah07/" target="_self">Grand to Be a Working Man</a>.

Jock Duncan: Pirn-Taed Jockie

Koo Nimo is one of the last true veterans of highlife roots and palm-wine music, which dominated Ghana’s popular music scene throughout much of the twentieth century. Recorded in his backyard at home in Accra, expect acoustic guitars and rolling percussion all topped off with his gentle story-teller singing style.

Koo Nimo: Old Man Plants A Coconut Tree

"Paddy McInerney" sung by Hugh Doyle, Co Offaly. Recorded by Lewis Barfoot and Danielle Oxenham on 31.1.18.

Hugh met with the song collectors in early 2018. We met him with his family at their home in County Offaly and he shared a wide range of songs. Now in his 80’s he been travelling all his life. Had 14 children. Born Kinnetty, Co Offaly. He spend much of his life singing songs around the campfire, learning songs from his Uncles. We were lucky enough to hear him share a good many with us.

www.songcollectors.org 
www.lewisbarfoot.com

LYRICS
Oh my name it is Pad McInarny
For a strange County Down man was I
In the search of a wife I went travelling 
To the old fairs of old Taramee

Oh the first man I met was red Danny
He invited me down for my tea
He invited me up in his wagon
Where I knew there was welcome for me

Oh the first they drew down it was Daelins
And the second t’was due unto me
For you know she can hawk of a basket
And can sell her tarpaulin as well

For the first week of marriage was lovely 
And the second we could not agree
The third week she wore on old trousers
Oh and then came the bus over me

All ye young fellas looking for a booking
Let ye all go to old Taramee
There’ll be swapping their piebalds and wagons
There’ll be flashing their daughters to thee

What is really special about song collecting is that the old songs are handed down by different families with slightly different lyrics and melody’s and it’s lovely to capture the variety of these old songs. Keeping the legacy of a strong oral tradition alive.

KEEP TRADITIONAL MUSIC ALIVE

Paddy McInerney sung by Hugh Doyle

Taken from Sam Lee's debut album, Ground of Its Own. Released June 2012.

Sam’s Mercury Award nominated 2012 debut album is a work several years in conception which brought together a multitude of experiences and influences for a musician who has cut an unique course in his artistic development. This 8-track release mixed by the legendary John Wood (of Nick Drake fame) comprises material gleaned from years of research and exploration into the forgotten songs and sounds of the British Isles.

Goodbye My Darling

Springthyme is a record label dedicated to presenting Scotland's living tradition in song and music. Founded in 1974 by musician and singer Pete Shepheard, the label has introduced many fine singers, musicians to the world of recorded music. The very first album was recorded during the weekend traditional music festival held in Kinross in 1973 with musicians including Aly Bain and Tom Anderson and the Shetland Fiddlers and the first recording of ballad singer Stanley Robertson of Aberdeen. Other artistes on Springthyme include Jim Reid, The Foundry Bar Band, Ossian, Jock Duncan, Bill Black, Duncan Williamson, Lizzie Higgins, Jim Crawford, Tom Hughes, John Watt & Davey Stewart, Iain McLachlan and many more including a CD from Pete's own band Shepheard, Spiers & Watson. Springthyme has also issued recordings from their field recordings archive in cooperation with the Musical Traditions label.

Bonnie Ship The Diamond

springthyme

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