Sheelicks

Pay attention to my sang and I'h teh ye' o' a waddin',
On the twenty-third of July in a town cahed Sleepy Steadin;
A' the countryside was there, though they didnae get a biddin
At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo, we a' come in to see.

cho: Hi, hi, went the drum! Diddle, diddle, went the fiddle,
And the jing-a-ring went up and doon and back and through the middle,
And the jing-a-ring went roond aboot like sheelicks in a riddle
At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see.

O, Miss M'Ginty run ben the hoose, the road was dark and crookit,
She fell helster-howdie ower a pig, for there she never lookit;
For she let oot a squeal that wad paralyse a teuchit,
At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see.

O, a tailor wi ' a timmer leg, he danced wi' a' was intae't,
In the middle o' a foursome reel, he brak it through and tint it
He gaed hame wi' a barra-shaft and he was quite contented,
At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see.

For there were a chiel cam ower the field, he min't ye on a arra'
He come there on a bicycle, was hurled hame on a barra;
And of a' the ball I ever was at, I never was at a marra,
O' M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see.

We had plenty to eat, we had frost-bitten liver
As sure as I'm here, and as sure as I never
And the taste o' the beef nearly gied us a' the feather
At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see.

Noo, there was a chiel come ower the field, his name was Butter Scotty
He was made up wi' a plaster and a potty;
He come there wi' a hundred pound, he gaed hame wi' but ae notie
At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see.

Glossary: sheelicks: husked grain

riddle: sieve

ben: in

helster-howdie:from "heels ower gowdie"; head-over-heels

teuchit: lapwing

tint:
lost

barra-shaft: handle of a wheelbarrow

chiel: man

min't: reminded

hurled: driven, carried, hauled

marra: equal

From Traveller's Songs, MacColl and Seeger
Collected from Maggie McPhee

note: George Bruce Thompson wrote both the original of this song, and
M'Ginty's Meal and Ale around the turn of the (last) century. The
singer has clearly muddled the two: second verse is taken directly
from the other song. RG

RG
apr96