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01
[AD]
There stauns a wee shack at the back o that hoose
And I used to go at a trot
And sit at my ease, wi ma briks roon ma knees
While I studied the Northern Scot.
There's nae modern loo could ever compare
I sat there and says to masel
Sae cosy and snug and the only humbug
Wis the torment o teemin the pail.
But I hear aul Grannie's singin
Fen I hear a low jet plane
An I mine on Grannie's stovies
Fin my bellie's got a pain.
As roon the world I wander
I picture thee aul glen
An it's really affa fine tae think
I'll niver be there again.
[TM] Well that's a different version eh?
[AD] [Laughs] At's a wee bittie different.
[TM] When did you make that?
[AD] Oh a lot o years ago.
[TM] Why? What made you?
[AD] Well, there wis, de ye mine on Galway Bay,
and there wis some Irish group made a parody o it, which I
used to sing. And I was jist singin Grannie's Hielan Hame
and I says it could be turned on its heid as weel ye see....
Turned it roon aboot
[TM] Reverse everything.
[AD] Aye.
[TM] Now you're a better guitar player than
you let on.
[AD] Well I just kinda get through wi simple
stuff like that.
[TM] It was fine, well ahead o me
[AD] Well you're nae bein modest. They said
at Elvis Presley only used three chords. So
[TM] He did alright
[AD] He did ok, aye. A great favourite of mine,
Burl Ives, he wisnae jist a tremendous player, a good enough
player, but he admitted it himsel he wisnae jist a crack guitar
player, I like Burl Ives though.
02
[TM] Do you remember the very first song you ever sang
[AD] at takes me back to some o this western
kind o stuff. Nobody's Darlin but Mine, would have been one.
[TM] Heard a few people singin me, Can I Sleep
in the Barn Tonight Mister, and Red River Valley
[AD] I dinna ken..... [Break in interview.]
Like Jimmy Rogers stuff. An eh, aboot at time there wis a
lot of fit we ca'd 'weepers', Will the Angels Play Their Harps
For Me, and, The Wanderers Warning? Mine on em?
[TM] Well I min' them, but I don't sing them.
Sing a couple of weepies myself.
03
[AD] De ye know the Six Feet of Earth Makes us All the One
Size.
I will sing you a song of the world and its
ways and the many strange people you'll meet
From the rich man who rolls in his millions of wells, to the
poor struggling wretch on the street
Though a man may be poor and in tatters and
rags we know that we must not despise
But remember the adage we've all got to die and six feet of
earth makes us all of one size.
[AD] I niver did at een now, wi the guitar,
I wisnae gettin the richt chords ere. And there wis, well
getting awa fae folks songs a the gither.
04
It's Frank Croment that I used to like a lot, The Song o the
Prune.
Nowadays we often gaze on women over fifty,
but at the slightest trace of wrinkles on their face
Doctors go and take their dough to make them young and nifty
But the doctors I defy to tell me just why
No matter how young a prune may be it's always
full of wrinkles
We may get them on oor face, prunes get them every place
The breathalyser worries us but prunes don't sit and brood
For no matter how young a prune may be its always getting
stewed
[AD] I changed that, it's 'the prohibition
worries us' goes back to prohibition times at.
05
A lot of the stuff that I make up, like Grannie's Hielan Hame
are inclined to be on the rude side. Tattie Soup for instance.
In distant days the bible says God got the inclination
Tae mak a kind of universe and viewed it with elation
But finer far than moon or star the peak o his creation
Was the tattie soup o Scotland lads, o Scotland's tattie soup.
The caviar o Russia's jist a sticky fishy mess
The yankees' famous pumpkin pie is a pretty hopeless case
O Robbie's neeps and haggis, min jist take second place
To the tattie soup o Scotland lads, o Scotland's tattie soup.
It's soothin tae the tummy and tae the intestine
It maks the need for epsom salts and beechams peels decline
There's nithin frae the chemist's shop can gar ye pull the
chain
Like the tattie soup o Scotland lads, o Scotland's tattie
soup.
It raises up yer spirits when ye've really got
the hump
It's grand tae grease a squeaky wheel or prime a thra'n pump
It maks a perfect poultice for sookin a blin lump
The tattie soup o Scotland lads, o Scotland's tattie soup.
It really is a marvel, it's the saviour o the
nation
Its even cheap enough tae mak a difference tae inflation
It gies ye back the notion tae increase the population
O the tattie soup o Scotland lads, o Scotland's tattie soup.
06
[TM] How do you go about making these, is that based on another
song as well
[AD] Oh no, at's, no at's jist a song on its
own at really. Well the story o that wis, I made up a song,
that's 'Deveronside in Spring', but I thocht on something,
I wanted something funny and I said to ma sister what subject
could I get. Well now in the younger days we used to attend
thrashin mills at the local fairms, and there wis Northern
Burradales, ca'd Northies, and they'd a famous diet at at
time, at wis Northerns Tattie Soup, it wis famous in the district.
Ye kid trot a horse across ??? ye ken. So she says, well mak
up a song aboot Northern's tattie soup, so I didnae like tae
dae that so I called it Scotland's Tattie Soup.
07
[TM] So is this, you used to go round various different thrashing
mills helping out?
[AD] Aye, the neighbours all githered together
at one farm tae ye see, tae help wi the thrashin, cause ye'd
no big staff wi them, so it wis, and then ye repaid each other
with work, there wis nae money entered intil it, it wis jist
repaid wi work. An a rotten dusty work it wis, the thrashin
mill
[TM] Was this a petrol driven one
[AD] Well I can remember the steam engines,
the steam traction engines. At wis at the start.
[TM] They must have been noisy things
[AD] They were affa ponderous things, they were
forever getting stuck in boggy kinda land an at, they'd a
big iron wheels of course and used to sink in. At wis during
the war that the bigger tractors come in. And eh, they hid
whit they ca the government contractors at went roon the fairms
wi this big tractors and mills, took the place o the big traction
engine.
08
[TM] But the traction engines would go from farm to farm then.
[AD] Aye, one o the jobs wi that wis cerryin
water, because in that took a lot o water ye see, and there
wisnae usually water on the spot, so the loon, it wis usually
the loon, hid tae cerry pails o water tae cowp intae a tub,
an eh then they sookit oot at wi the engine tae keep the steam
up. Later on they hid a condensing kinda arrangement that
ye didnae need sey much water. They were a tremendous power
o things, but affa akward.
[TM] When did that stop with the steam ones
[AD] Steam ones, well I would a said it stoppit,
jist aboot at the beginnin o the war, maybe 42, 43, something
like that. Certainly there wis the Fordie tractors come in,
they werenae quite powerful enough, but they did use them
for thrashin. An a lot of the fairms hid their own mill built
intae the steadin and eh, up until then worked usually wi
a water wheel, they'd a dams at the fairms an at, and a wheel
tae ca the mill. But when they got is tractors in they found
it wis easier jist tae hitch the tractor onto the mill. The
little grey ??? I think it wis used, it wis hardly powerful
enough, but the Fordie tractors wis used for at, until they
got bigger still, International and so forth.
[TM] So was it your first job, when you were
younger, to carry the water.
[AD] Carry the water, or scrape oot fit we ca'd
the yavens, at wis the rubbish, the calf and the chaff oot
below the mill. Later on they got fit they ca the calf blast,
they blew oot a sign, jist aboot a six inch spoot, sput,
[TM] There'd be a fan inside the machine
[AD] At wis a great improvement at, at wis a
filthy job scrapin is stuff oot below the mill
[TM] Was it falling on top of you
[AD] Well, it wis ony win, it was puffin oot
on yer face. It was affa, fen ye wis thrashin barley, there
wis is, barley beard, it wis affa coorse stuff tae get in
yer eyes.
09
[TM] Did ye have caaf mattresses when you were young
[AD] Aye, oh aye, at wis the oat calf, I wouldnae
likit the barley, it would a been ?? jobbie.
[TM] I was just at a thrash yesterday, yes the
caaf seemed very soft. Did you have mouses, mice in the mattresses
[AD] Oh it did happen aye, could happen
[TM] There was a man over in Banff telling me
about the mice crawling about in the mattresses and you caught
them in your hand, and squeezed them
[AD] Aye at the thrashing mill the worst thing
is if ye got a moose up the leg o yer breeks, worse if it
wis a rat.
[TM] Coming oot o the ruck.
[AD] Oh aye, sometimes the ruck wis searin wi
them. They creept their wey doon till they reached the foundation
and fin ye wis workin the last twa three shears, rats flyin
in a directions, which was fine if ye'd a good rattin dog.
[TM] I suppose one or two might have gone through
the mill
[AD] Oh aye, there's nae doot, that woulda happened
tae aye
[TM] Did ye wear yer wull tams, so they wouldn't
run up
[AD] No, fit we used tae, well wellingtons wis
on the go ye see, and if ye put yer breeks ootside yer wellingtons
instead o inside at kept things in order really. Well that
didnae stop the rats running up yer leg, but it stopped yer
wellingtons fillin wi yavens. No, no the nicky tams would
hae fairly stopped the rats, they wouldnae even got tae the
maist vital parts.
10
[TM] That's right. Was it horse-drawn binders they used
[AD] Aye, tae begin wi aye,
[TM] Did you ever see anybody threshing by hand
[AD] By hand, o flail? No, no. I sa an old mill
being crank driven, a little thing, I dinna ken it would be
possible tae really thrash wi it or no, I dinna ken.
[TM] Maybe that's just for the winnowing at
the end, after you had the grain with still a few things in
it.
[AD] Aye, well, of course they hid these machines
aye, but this looked tae be a little mill
[TM] It would take some power to crank it.
[AD] Ye would hae tae feed it very very slow,
I think a flail would be superior really. But eh, there wis
the water power and afore that, or maybe at the same time
even, there wis the horse power, there wis a arrangement that
the horse walkit roon pushing a shaft in front of it.
[TM] Oh yes in one of those round sheds, I've
seen those, well the remains of the sheds anyway.
[AD] Aye, no, but I niver sa it, but ma mither
spoke aboot it.
11
Ma mither of course spoke aboot the times fin even afore the
binders at a', that the scythes, a team o men wi scythes and
a team o women followin on gaitherin. I think the system wis
that the men scythed and the women gaithered, and made the
bands and left the shaves oot on top o the bands, and then
the men came roon aifter and bound them up. I suppose they
thought the men could bind them tighter than the women. And
then the men stookit. Aye.
[TM] What did you call the bottom of the sheaf?
[AD] Oh it wis usually jist ca'd the arse a
sheaf. Ye'll hae heard the story, an old chestnut, there wis
an outbreak of flu at a hairst time and a lot of folk was
bedded up wi the flu, so this whole family was bedded wi the
flu and a neighbour come past on the other side o the fence,
and the old man he'd gotten a wee bittie better and he wis
lookin oot the door and eh, it wis a bad hairst, and this
boy shouts across 'Fit like's yer folks?' and the old man
he thocht he says 'Fit like's yer stooks' and ' Oh they'd
be better wi their erses turned up tae the weather for a file'.
They set up the stooks ye see, and if they were beginning
tae dry oot a bit they turned them over ye see, at wis turning
their erses up tae the weather and dry oot the bottom side.
[TM] Did you ever hear the bottom end called
the gavel? The gavel end.
[AD] No, no.
[TM] Just thinking in the song 'Johnny Sangster'
it's called the gavel end of the sheaf. But maybe the song's
from somewhere else, don't know.
[AD] Oh ye dinna hae tae ging far afore ye get
a change in the words, we've folks, ma braither's family are
doon in Angus and o there's a lot o different words at they
use. Fin workin wi aul spinnin gear, there's a tattie harvester
gan across here jist noo....
12
[TM] Do you still sing McGinty's.
[AD] Oh I could still sing it, I suppose, aye,
it's a lang time since I daen it. At's een o this eens that
taks a bit o memory, memorising. No, I would need a whiley
tae learn that though, aye. We hid it on a record, at's a
Willie Kemp.
[Sings a first couple of choruses of McGinty's.]
[AD] Noo, I doot I'd hae tae swat it up a bittie.
I niver did at wi the guitar, at's kind o a minor key.
13
[AD]
Fan I wis only ten year auld I left the pairish skweel,
Ma faither fee'd me tae the Mains to chaw his milk and meal.
First I put on ma nether breeks ti hap ma spinnel trams,
An happit roon ma knappin knees a pair o' Nicky Tams.
It's first I gaed on for baillie loon an' syne
I gaed on for third.
An syne of course I had to get the horseman's grip and word.
A loaf o' breid to be ma piece, a bottle for drinking drams.
Bit ye canna ging through the cauf-hoose door withoot yer
Nicky Tams.
Oh the fairmer I am wi' aye noo, he's wealthy
but he's mean,
Tho' corn's chep his horse's thin, his harnesss nearly deen.
He gars us load oor cairts ower fu', his conscience has nae
qualms,
But fan breist-straps brak, there's naething like a pair o'
Nicky Tams.
I'm coortin' bonnie Annie noo, Rob Tamson's
kitchie deem,
She is five-an'-forty and I am seventeen.
She clorts a muckle piece to me wi' different kinds o' jams,
An' tells me ilka nicht that she admires ma Nicky Tams.
A started oot ae Sunday till the kirkie for
to gang,
My collar it wis unco ticht, ma breeks were neen owre lang;
I had ma Bible in ma pooch, likewise ma buik o' Psalms,
Fan Annie roars, "Ye muckle gype, tak aff yer Nicky Tams!"
So unco sweir, I took them aff, the lassie for
to please,
But aye ma breeks they lurkit up aroon aboot ma knees.
An a wasp gaed crawlin' up ma leg in the middle o' the Psalms,
Oh niver again will I rig the kirk without ma Nicky Tams.
I've aften thocht I'd like to be a bobbie on
the Force,
Or maybe I'll get on the carts tae drive a pair o' horse,
But fitever it's ma fate to be, a bobbie or on the trams,
I'll never forget the happy days I wore ma Nicky Tams.
[AD] I dinnae ken if that's it a' or no.
[TM] Yes I think so.
[AD] Aye.
[TM] Did you learn that from one of the records?
[AD] Aye, I suppose I must of deen aye, I think
so.
[Mrs AD] It wis een o our original gramophone
records.
14
[AD] At I try tae mak a tune tae il't, if I can mind. It's
?? Murray I think.
Noo I was sayin last nicht tae Jock, I cannae
billie that
There's heaps o queer things happen noo tae gang ye winner
at
Oh Godly thochts and kindly deeds the Lord gie us increase
For the deals o busy Bishop in his ane diocese
For a the world's sotterin like tatties in a
pot
An man's chief end is knitting bit tae cut his brither's throat
Oh Godly thochts and kindly deeds the Lord gie us increase
For the deals o busy Bishop in his ane diocese
The politicians promisin a future bricht and
sunny
That may be true but only for the few that's got the money
Oh Godly thochts and kindly deeds the Lord gie us increase
For the deals o busy Bishop in his ane diocese
If ye canna loo yer neighbour try and let the
craiter be
And dinna start the whistlin when ye hear he's gan tae dae
Oh Godly thochts and kindly deeds the Lord gie us increase
For the deals o busy Bishop in his ane diocese
[TM] Is that George Morris who played that
[AD] Murray I think, Charles Murray. I think
but Im nae sure
[TM] And you set the tune to it yourself
[AD] Well I thocht it wis a promisin little
bittie
[TM] And did it have a chorus in the poem, or
did you make that
[AD] No it had the chorus
[TM] That works well
[TM] Well I should probably let you get on with
your life
[AD] Well I've enjoyed your visit very much
[TM] So I have I very much. Thank you.
15
Took the little baggie o coal and jist thumped it onto the
fire, bag and a ye ken. And then he'd the great roar o a fire
and ye'd be toastin loaf wi a pitchfork ye ken, huddin it
like at. There wis a wid, and there wis nae shortage of fuel
ye see, so they jist chucked on the ration o coal at one go.
[TM] Good heavens that must have made quite
a fire.
It wis quite a fire aye, but it was a gey little
ration that they hid, I dinna hink it coulda been meant tae
dae a week or onything like at, because for the rest o the
wik it used tae be sticks.
16
[TM] So you were in a chaumer
Aye, jist visitin, aye. Of an evenin, tae pass
the evening.
[TM] Rough life and rough language eh
Oh aye, but eh, but nooadays, I began tae hear
these rough stories that was telt in the chaumer on the radio
puttin into English or changed a wee bittie, but equally as
rough as they were then ye ken, on the BBC. Lord Reith wouldnae
hae likit that
[TM] What was rough then is not rough now I
suppose.
No, no. I min eh, at amin Blairie Arms, comes
up tae, a wee pubbie up the road there, it's closed noo, but
Norman Robertson the ??? is er and Norman wis spikkin aboot
is, aboot bein shocked at the language at some o this boys
that come in. And I says, michty I would niver be shocked,
I was brocht up in fairm chaumers. And eh, couldnae been the
rougher than that. And he says, o they can be a lot rougher
than that. So
[TM] They must have been funny though as well,
the chaumer lads.
Oh aye, that's right. It wis a, it wis a hard
life, and you said it, cheer themselves up wi their singin.
Because a this, a this rude stories just ???
[TM] Did a lot of them make up songs
Nae that ever, no,no I never come across anybody
that actually made up songs no. But aye jist seemed tae be
a generation back the song writers some wey or ither. But
some o them might o been writing songs, but must o been, but
nae that particular lot.
17
[MJ] …the ??? as it
is sung these days. Just the way it used to be, OK? [each
section a different tune].
Hally, bally, hally bally bee,
Sittin on yer mammie's knee,
Greetin for a wee bawbie,
Tae buy sugar candy wi.
Fa sa the Gamrie boaties,
Fa sa them at a'?
Fa sa the Gamrie boaties,
Comin hame fae Stornowa.
Sana he hid neeps and tatties,
Murray he hid naen at a',
Fairmer he hid ice cream hatties
Comin hame fae Stornowa
Tingaling, tingaling, fa's is at's deid,
Little pussy badderlock wi a sair heid,
An a' them that kent her fan she wis alive,
Is biddan tae her funeral atween fower and five.
Nanny, nanny goatie, ten pound ten,
If ye gie me a bawbie, I'll hae you hame.
John Prott an his man,
Tae the market they ran,
They bocht and they sold,
Till it cam tae a groat,
Stick yer nev, and that's John Prott.
I'll tell the bobbie, I'll tell the bobbie,
I'll tell the bobbie, if ye lay a hand on me.
Come up and see ma garrett, come up and see ma garrett,
Come up and see ma garrett, it's a furnished noo.
A broken cup and sacer, a chair withoot a leg,
A humpy-backit dresser and an auld iron bed.
Twa fite horses gan awa tae Byth,
Comin hame on Monday wi a deid wife.
At een broke the barn, at een steals the corn,
At een rin awa, at een telt a',
And peerie-weerie winkle paid for't a'.
There's a mannie in yer lobby, Mary Ann,
There's a mannie in yer lobby, Mary Ann,
There's a mannie in yer lobby,
He's affa like the bobbie,
There's a mannie in yer lobby, Mary Ann.
Strap yer guns across yer shoulder,
A bag o leed and the sailor's pooder,
We're awa tae fecht the Germans,
Ower the hills o Mormon.
Showdy powdie pair o new sheen,
Up e gallus and doon the green.
Me and ma granny and a great lot mair,
Picket up a row on the wash-hoose stair,
The bobbie come along and he said, who's there,
Me and ma granny and a great lot mair.
Skinny-malinky lang-legs, big banana feet,
Went tae the picters and couldnae get a seat,
When the picter started skinny-malinky farted,
Skinny-malinky lang-legs, big banana feet.
Tinky tinky tarry-bags, yer name's nae yer ain,
Ye got it fae a sailor-man a-comin aff the train.
Hey Maggie Cockalee will ye come and sleep wi
me?
Throw your leggie ower me, and keep yer belly warm.
We're a' awa tae war, wir baggies full o tar,
We gaed ower a dyke, and fell amon ___,
We're a' awa tae war
Taratara, far sorra ither.
Poppin Jenny Lynn, a' the boats o Buckie's in.
[TM] That was good. Very good.
18
[MJ] Right, the rest o them?
Ye'll jist hae it at that? Mhm.
Eenie, meenie, minie, mo,
Catch the baby by the toe,
When he squeals let him go,
Eenie, meenie, minie, mo.
Eenie, meenie, minie, mo,
Put the baby on the po,
When she's done, dicht her bum,
And pit the paper up the lum.
Eetle ottle black bottle,
Eetle ottle out,
Back fish, fite troot,
Eerie
Dae that again! Will I just start again. Ye'll
jist take it in?
Eetle ottle black bottle,
Eetle ottle out,
Back fish, fite troot,
Eerie, orrie e're oot.
Nivvy-nivvy knick-knack,
Fit hand'll ye tak?
Tak een, tak twa,
Tak the best amon them a'.
19-20
As I gaed ower the brig o
Banff,
I sa a mannie staunin,
I took aff his heid and drank his bluid,
And left his body staunin.
Fan I gaed ower the Brig o Banff,
I met my uncle Tammy,
Wi a the wardle on his back,
Wasn't he a clever mannie?
[TM] Was that from your mother as well, or was
that when you were a girl?
[MJ] Oh, no. That one, I heard my mother that
one, but I never actually [faint signal on tape]. We used
to just sit, you know before TV came on. We used to. They
would, my mother and father they would play things like, oh
we'd play, you know riddles and things like that.
[TM] Do you have any other riddles?
[MJ] I do….
21
[MJ] It's just the same as
what I said. Do you want it? A different tune.
Fa wid be a fisherman's wife,
Tae gang wi a creel, a scrubber and a knife,
A deid oot fire and a raivelled bed,
And awa tae the mussels in the mornin?
Ye wint that again?
Fa wid be a fisherman's wife,
Tae gang wi a creel, a scrubber and a knife,
A deid oot fire and a raivelled bed,
And awa tae the mussels in the mornin?
22
Roon the back o the nibe,
Wi a guid slack tide,
In amon the warry rocks,
The codlins bide.
23
Knock at the doorie, [gently taps forehead]
Peep in, [lifts eye lid]
Lift the sneckie, [lifts nose up]
And walk in, [pretend to walk in mouth with fingers]
[TM] Is that again for a baby.
[MJ] That's for a baby. Yes. You know that one?
Never done that one.
24
Here's another one, and I'm
not sure if I've got it all here.
Tae tappie, fit broadie, knee nappie,
Chin cherry, moo merry, nose nappie,
Ee blinkie, broo brinkie,
And ower the hill tae puddle stinkie.
[TM] [Laughs] That's another good one.
25
[MJ] [faint]
Scotty Molotty, the king of the Jews,
Sold his wife for a pair of new shoes,
And when the shoes began to wear,
Scotty Molotty began tae square.
Och, swear [laughs]. Do you want to rub it oot?
[TM] Well it's fine, it's just easier to keep
it going.
26
[MJ]
My mither and your mither were hanging out the clothes,
My mither gave your mither a punch on the nose.
What colour was the blood?
These are skipping ones.
Snakey, snakey on your back,
Which finger poked it?
Remember playing that one.
[TM] And you do this with skipping ropes.
[MJ] That one was played when we were sort of
playing hide and seek.
27
The snake one. Right then.
A sailor went to sea, sea, sea,
To see what he could see, see, see,
And all that he could see, see, see,
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea.
[TM] Was that a skipping one as well?
[MJ] Uh huh.
Eetle ottle black bottle. I've done that one.
28
One, two, three a-learie,
I spy Mary Peerie,
Sittin on a bumbeleerie,
Eating chocolate biscuits.
29
Come a riddle, come a riddle,
come a rot-tot-tot
I met a man wi a reid, reid coat,
A staff in his hand, and a stane in his throat,
Come a riddle, come a riddle, come a rot-tot-tot.
At's a cherry. This is another one
30
My back and ma belly stick,
My sides is padded wi leather,
A hole in my doup and a copper stroup,
And I'm always used in cold weather.
That's a bellows.
31
It hings high, and it cries
sair,
It his a heid, but it wints the hair,
That's a kirk bell.
32
Roon and roon the ragged
rock the ragged rascal ran,
If ye can tell me foo mony Rs in that, I'll ca ye a clever
man.
Got that one?
33
High, low Dolly Piper, keep
the pottie bilin.
That's anither skipping games.
This is for playin wi ba.
34
Capie, clappie, rollie ower backie,
Right hand, left hand, touch your toe,
And through you go,
And a big birlie-o.
[TM] Did you turn round at the end of that.
[MJ] Mhm. Did I do the fisherman's wife again?
35
[TM] How bout John Prott.
[MJ] I've done it, done it already.
John Prott and his man [explains] (That's John
Prott and his servant, farmer and servant)
To the market they ran
They bocht and they sold (They bought and sold)
Till it come tae a groat (The bargain came tae a groat, which
is an old-fashioned coin, I think it's maybe a quarter of
a penny, I'm not sure.)
And steek yer nev. (That means, clench your fist, to make
the bargain
Steek yer nev.)
And that's John Prott. (And that was the bargain sealed.)
[TM] And is that the word you use for fist?
[MJ] Nev. Mhm.
[TM] You use it in conversation?
[MJ] Oh aye, steek yer nev. People used tae
say, dinna shak yer nev at me! If someone was angry at you,
they shook their nev. It's not used by the young ones, but
it's common to me.
36
[TM] Scotty Molotty?
[MJ] Scotty Molotty? I've no idea. I don't
know much about him. I just remember saying it to skipping.
[TM] How does it go again?
[MJ]
Scotty Molotty, the king of the Jews,
Sold his wife for a pair of new shoes,
When the shoes began to wear,
Scotty Molotty began tae swear.
I think there's another verse to that one. You'll
maybe get somebody else….
Scotty Molotty, the king of the Jews,
Sold his wife for a pair of new shoes,
And when the shoes began to wear,
Scotty Molotty began tae swear.
Now, got that one. Ye've got knock
at the doorie, peep in.
37
In ??? there were one or
two people who, they were like local worthies, and they'd
say things like, If abody wis bankers and druggists, there'd
be naebody left tae byaav the bows. Now.
[TM] Yes, you can say that again.
[MJ]
If abody wis bankers and druggists,
They'd be naebody left tae byaav the bows.
And that meant that if, that one was said at
a time when fishermen, if they were in charge of a boat they
had to go for their Mate's ticket and their Skipper's ticket.
And somebody said this, one of the local worthies said, if
abody wis bankers and druggists. But there's some, there's
some confusion about this. It was said that, 'if abody wis
skippers and mates, there'd be naebody left tae byav the bows.'
Which meant there would be nobody left the blow up the buoys
that they used at sea. And they actually blew them up with
their mouths at that time.
[TM] They were maybe made of sheep.
[MJ] No, not that I know of, they used to make
them with dogs up North didn't they?
[TM] I don't know.
[MJ] Yes, they used to make them with dogs skins.
But eh, I remember the buoys being made of canvas, and they
were dark brown and made watertight I suppose with creosote
or something. Now wait till we see if we can get another one
for ye. We used to play, a sort of game, the English.
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