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Archive for the 'Scottish Children's Songs' Category
Contents
Posts
Can Someone Help with a Scottish Song with the Line, “My Own Wee House”?
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009Joan’s looking for help with a Scottish song. Here’s what she wrote to me in an email…
The only thing I can remember is the last line I think goes like this:
My own wee house, something something, so dear to me, so dear to me, something, something, so dear to me.
The something something are words I can’t remember.
Help, as I can’t get this out of my head.
Cheers
JoanIf you can help Joan, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Traditional Scottish Music Downloads
Thursday, February 12th, 2009Ashley wrote to me looking for some Scottish songs to download. Here’s what she wrote…
Hi Lisa,
I came across your website while I was looking for some traditional Scottish songs for my primary two class, your website is great!
I was just wondering if you knew of anywhere I could download music to go with the lyrics?
I’m looking for music for;
Three Wee Craws
Ally Bally
Murder Murder Polis
The Big Ship Sails
My Girl’s a Corker
I’ve a Laddie in America
Dance to your DaddieIf you know of any websites to download traditional Scottish music, please let me know!
Thanks,
Ashley
We have lyrics to traditional Scottish songs on Mama Lisa’s World. a couple of them have mp3’s to download.
I’ve been able to find the following songs to download from Amazon (clicking the link will bring you to the download page – most downloads are .99 cents per song):
Ally Bally – MP3 Downloads
The Big Ship Sails – MP3 Downloads
My Girl’s a Corker – MP3 DownloadIf anyone knows where you can download the other songs, or if you’d like to sing any of them for us, please comment below or email me.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Song with the Line, “”Darling swine will you be mine?”"
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007I received this email recently:
Hi,
I’m looking for a children’s ditty and have had no luck so far. I think it may be British, because I got it from my mother, who although American herself, had Scottish parents. Here’s what I know of the song:
Once a lady had a pig, “Honey” said she, “Darling swine will you be mine?”
“Oink” (here the singer snorts, piggy-fashion), said he.
“You shall have a silver sty, Honey” said she, “and a piece of pumpkin pie.”
“Oink” said he.I’d love the rest of lyrics to this silly song. Pumpkin pie . . .
maybe it’s American. I don’t think Brits have pumpkin pie.Thanks.
SGCIf anyone knows anything about this song, please comment below.
Thanks!
Lisa
Scottish Gaelic Nursery Rhymes or Songs
Friday, September 22nd, 2006Monique, of Mama Lisa’s World en français, was nice enough to send me this lovely photo of the Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland, which she visited this past summer.
Monique asked me to post the photo with a request for Scottish Gallic nursery rhymes or songs. If anyone knows of any, please send them to us. We’d be happy to post them!
-Lisa
“Three Craws”, a Children’s Song from Scotland
Friday, August 4th, 2006Shona sent me this nice Scottish song a couple of days ago. Here’s the song and what Shona said about it…
Here is a song that my grandma sang to me when I was small. She was from Glasgow:
Three Craws (Crows)….
Three craws sat upon a waa (wall)
sat upon a waa
sat upon a waa-a-a-aa
Three craws sat upon a waa on a cal (cold) an frosty mornin’‘i (pronounced as in sit – meaning the) first craw wiz (was) greetin (crying) for is (his) ma (mother)
greetin for is ma
greetin for is ma-a-a-aa
‘i first craw wiz greetin for is ma on a cal an frosty mornin’‘i second craw wiz greetin for is da (father)
greetin for is da
greetin for is da-a-a-aa
‘i second craw wiz greetin for is da on a cal an frosty mornin’‘i third craw cudna (couldn’t) flee (fly) ata (at all)
cudna flee ata
cudna flee ata-a-a-aa
‘i third craw cudna flee ata on a cal and frosty mornin’If I can figure out how to record it I’ll sing it and send it to you.
Shona
Thanks for sharing your grandma’s song with us! If you’re able to record it, of course we’d love to hear this song too.
-Lisa
Come visit The Mama Lisa’s World Great Britain Page for more Songs from Scotland.
Looking for a Scottish Lullaby that goes “Shhh, shhh, over the glen”
Thursday, June 29th, 2006Lori wrote to me looking for help with a Scottish song. Here’s what she wrote…
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for such a wonderful site. I’ve had fun looking through it.
My question is whether you have come across a Scottish lullaby with the following words:
Shhh, Shhh, over the glen
Mom’s little goose and Dad’s little henMy grandmother sang this to my mother (who is now 73) when she was little wee. My mother cannot remember all the words to the song and it would be neat to find them for her.
Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Yours truly,
Lori
Please comment below if you know the words to this song.
Thanks!
Lisa
The Scottish Song “The Thirteen Days of Yule”
Wednesday, December 7th, 2005The 13 Days of Yule was sung in Scotland as far back as the early 1800’s, to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas.
“Yule” was originally a heathen feast that lasted for 12-13 days. Eventually it came to represent the midwinter season of December and January. Later it became synonymous with Christmas.
The Thirteen Days of Yule
The King sent his Lady on the first Yule day,
A papingoe*, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the second Yule day,
Two partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the third Yule day,
Three plovers**, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the fourth Yule day,
A goose that was grey,
Three plovers, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the fifth Yule day,
Three starlings, a goose that was grey,
Three plovers, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the sixth Yule day,
Three goldspinks, three starlings, a goose that was grey,
Three plovers, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the seventh Yule day,
A bull that was brown,
Three goldspinks, three starlings, a goose that was grey,
Three plovers, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the eighth Yule day,
Three ducks a-merry laying, a bull that was brown,
Three goldspinks, three starlings, a goose that was grey,
Three plovers, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the ninth Yule day,
Three swans a-merry swimming, three ducks a-merry laying,
A bull that was brown,
Three goldspinks, three starlings, a goose that was grey,
Three plovers, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the tenth Yule day,
An Arabian baboon,
Three swans a-merry swimming, three ducks a-merry laying,
A bull that was brown,
Three goldspinks, three starlings, a goose that was grey,
Three plovers, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the eleventh Yule day,
Three hinds a-merry hunting, an Arabian baboon,
Three swans a-merry swimming, three ducks a-merry laying,
A bull that was brown,
Three goldspinks, three starlings, a goose that was grey,
Three plovers, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the twelfth Yule day,
Three maids a-merry dancing, three hinds a-merry hunting,
An Arabian baboon,
Three swans a-merry swimming, three ducks a-merry laying,
A bull that was brown,
Three goldspinks, three starlings, a goose that was grey,
Three plovers, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.The King sent his lady on the thirteenth Yule day,
Three stalks o merry corn, three maids a-merry dancing,
Three hinds a-merry hunting, an Arabian baboon,
Three swans a-merry swimming, three ducks a-merry laying,
A bull that was brown,
Three goldspinks, three starlings, a goose that was grey,
Three plovers, three partridges and a papingoe, aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away.*papingoe = a parrot (though some people think it’s a peacock)
**a plover is a type of birdThe illustration can be found in The Sleeping Beauty Picture Book, illustrated by Walter Crane.
Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World UK Page for more Scottish Songs.
St. Andrew’s Day
Tuesday, November 29th, 2005St. Andrew’s Day is celebrated in Scotland on November 30th. He’s the patron saint of Scotland (and Russia and Greece too). The Scottish flag is actually the cross of St. Andrew. The legend is that he went to Greece to spread Christianity and was crucified on a cross in the shape of an X.
It seems that nowadays, St. Andrew’s Day is celebrated more by Scottish people abroad, than in Scotland. They eat Scottish foods, sing Scottish songs and dance Scottish dances!
Here’s a Scottish song in honor of St. Andrew’s Day…
Aboot the Merry-Matanzie
(Scottish)Here we gae roon the jing-a-ring,
The jing-a-ring, the jing-a-ring;
Here we gae roon the jing-a-ring,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.Twice aboot, an than we fa,
Than we fa, than we fa,
Twice aboot, an than we fa,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.Guess y wha the guidman is,
The guidman is, the guidman is;
Guess ye wha the guidman is,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.Honey is sweet, an so is he,
So is he, so is he;
Honey is sweet, and so is he,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.He’s merried wi a gay gowd ring,
A gay gowd ring, a gay gowd ring;
He’s merried wi a gay gowd ring,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.A gay gowd ring’s a cankerous thing,
A cankerous thing, a cankerous thing;
A gay gowd ring’s a cankerous thing,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.Noo they’re merried, we’ll wish them joy,
Wish them joy, wish them joy,
Noo they’re merried, we’ll wish them joy,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.Faither an mither they maun obey,
Maun obey, maun obey,
Faither an mither they maun obey,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.Loving ilk ither like sister an brither,
Sister an brither, sister and brither;
Lovin ilk ither like sister an brither,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.We pray the couple tae kiss thegither,
Kiss thegither, kiss thegither;
We pray the couple tae kiss thegither,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.fa = fall
merry-matanzie = espression in girls’ singing game
maun = mustCome visit the Mama Lisa’s World U.K. Page for some children’s songs from Scotland.
Happy St. Andrew’s Day!
-Lisa
Connection between Irish folk song “I’ll Tell Me Ma” and Scottish rhyme “I’ll Tell Ma Mither”
Sunday, October 9th, 2005Several days ago, I asked if anyone knew the origin of I’ll Tell Ma Mither.
Yesterday, Dani pointed out that it’s very similar to the Irish folksong I’ll Tell Me Ma.
Here’s Dani’s letter:
I can’t tell you much about the I’ll Tell My Mither rhyme, but it does have several lines in common with the folk song I’ll Tell my Ma, which I gather is from the Belfast area:
I’ll Tell My Ma
I’ll tell my ma when I go home
the boys won’t leave the girls alone!
They pulled my hair, and they stole my comb
(but that’s all right, ’til I go home).It’s one of my favourites. :-)
For complete lyrics and a sound clip
Also, the Rankin Family did a very nice version a while back, I believe.
Hope this was of use! Dani
Thanks Dani!
For other Irish songs visit Mama Lisa’s Ireland Page. For Scottish songs and nursery rhymes visit Mama Lisa’s U.K. Page.
“A Frog He Would A-wooing Go”, “Georgie Porgie” and the Meaning of Roly-Poly
Friday, October 7th, 2005A Connection Between A Frog He Would A-wooing Go and Georgie Porgie, Which Involves the Meaning of Rowley Powley.
I’ve always been fond of the song A Frog He Would A-wooing Go, which seems to have originated in Scotland in the sixteenth century. There are countless variations of this old favorite – most Americans know it as Froggy Went A Courtin’, He Did Ride, which has been recorded by Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan, among others.
Here’s the best known British version:
A Frog He Would A-wooing Go
A frog he would a-wooing go,
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
A frog he would a-wooing go,
Whether his mother would let him or no.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.So off he set with his opera hat,
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
So off he set with his opera hat,
And on the road he met with a rat,
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.Pray, Mr. Rat will you go with me?
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
Pray, Mr. Rat will you go with me,
Kind Mrs. Mousey for to see…
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.They came to the door of Mousey’s hall,
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
They gave a loud knock, and they gave a loud call.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.Pray, Mrs. Mouse are you within?
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
Oh yes, kind sirs, I’m sitting to spin.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.Pray, Mrs. Mouse will you give us some beer?
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
For Froggy and I are fond of good cheer.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.Pray, Mr. Frog will you give us a song?
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
Let it be something that’s not very long.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.Indeed, Mrs. Mouse, replied Mr. Frog,
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
A cold has made me as hoarse as a dog.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.Since you have a cold, Mr. Frog, Mousey said,
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
I’ll sing you a song that I’ve just made.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.But while they were all a-merry-making
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
A cat and her kittens came tumbling in.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.The cat she seized the rat by the crown,
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
The kittens they pulled the little mouse down.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.This put Mr. Frog in a terrible fright,
Heigh ho! says Rowley.
He took up his hat and he wished them goodnight.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.But as Froggy was crossing over a brook,
Heigh ho! says Rowley.
A lily white duck came and gobbled him up.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.So there was the end of one, two, three,
Heigh ho! says Rowley.
The rat,
the mouse, and the little froggy.
With a Rowley,
powley, gammon, and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.Monique, my colleague at Mama Lisa’s World en français, has been translating many old songs into French. When she came to A Frog He Would A-wooing Go she was unsure what to make of “rowley powley” and she asked me what it meant. Hum, good question I thought. I really didn’t know.
When I thought about it, at first it seemed “With a Rowley, powley, gammon, and spinach” was just a nonsense call or phrase. Was that all there was to it? I decided to investigate.
So, I looked up “gammon” which is also not a common word, at least not in the States. I found out it refers to meat from the hind leg of a pig, often cured. It seems this “nonsense phrase” is talking about food.
Next I took out my Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes by Iona and Peter Opie to see if they refer to “rowley powley”. That’s usually the first book I’ll refer to when there’s a question about a nursery rhyme. Here’s what it had to say:
A Notes and Queries correspondent remembered seeing ‘rowley powley’ given as a name for a plump fowl.
This fit in with the food theme. Next I wanted to see if I could verify what they said. I typed “rowley powley” into Google and found a surprising connection to another popular rhyme: Georgie Porgie
Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry;
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.It turns out Georgie Porgie was originally called Rowley Powley. (The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes confirms this.)
The rhyme was first recited as…
Rowley Powley, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry;
When the girls begin to cry,
Rowley Powley runs away.Interesting… I decided to go back to Google and type in “rowley powley” again. This time I found the quote…
“Here’s your large Rowley Powlies, no more than Six-pence a Peck . . . Rowley Powley, jolly Pease.” -Cries of London (1784)
The quote was on a site called Food Reference Website under food quotes for “peas”. I wrote to James T. Ehler, the publisher of the site, to see if he knew anything more about “rowley powley”. He sent me back the definitions given in the Oxford English Dictionary, pointing out that the quote on his website refers to peas. Peas could also fit into a food theme.
In the definitions of “rowley powley” in the OED I noticed another way to spell it, “roly-poly”, which is in use in modern English. That changed the way I thought of the phrase.
I had thought it rhymed with towel. But seeing it spelled as “roly-poly”, would make it rhyme with roll or bowl. This changes things a little since “roly-poly” can mean short and plump, usually referring to a child. I believe Georgie Porgie can also mean the same thing in modern day usage.
The OED is amazingly comprehensive! Here are some other definitions for “rowley powley” it has, which are interesting in the context of the song A Frog He Would A-wooing Go and the nursery rhyme Georgie Porgie:
1) A rascal (mentioned in the year 1601) – could work for Georgie Porgie – since he’s kissing the girls and running away.
2) The name of different games based on rolling a ball (referred to in 1713) – could work for Georgie Porgie, only because it’s a nursery rhyme and it’s based on playing. I find this interpretation unlikely.
3) Short and pudgy, usually referring to kids. This could fit Georgie Porgie too, seeing as the current day usage of both “roly-poly” and “Georgie Porgie” can refer to a plump child.
4) A funny name for a pea – again, it could work for A Frog He Would A-wooing Go since it’s in the context of other foods.
5) “A kind of pudding, consisting of a sheet of pastry covered with jam or preserves, formed into a roll and boiled or steamed.” (Quoted directly from the OED, they found it mentioned this way in print as early as 1841). This definition obviously fits “Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie” and here we go with a food reference again, so it would fit in with A Frog He Would A-wooing Go too.Starting with A Frog He Would A-wooing Go, let’s go back to the original context… “With a Rowley, powley, gammon, and spinach”. We’re left with the following choices:
1) A plump fowl
2) Peas
3) The pudding dishAnd for Georgie Porgie, we’re left with the following possibilities:
1) A rascal
2) A short, plump kid
3) A kind of puddingI’m not sure how we can determine which definition to use for A Frog He Would A-wooing Go, but for Georgie Porgie, “rowley, powley” could well be playing on words and mean all of the above.
In the end, as with so many nursery rhyme mysteries, we can only surmise. Maybe someday someone will invent a time machine and we’ll be able to travel back in time and find out for sure!
Many thanks to James T. Ehler from the Food Reference Site and Jason Pomerantz for help with this investigation.
Here’s a recipe for Roly-Poly Jam Pudding.
________
Copyright ©2009 by Lisa Yannucci. All rights reserved.
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