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PENNYWORTH OF PINS

1.
I'll gie you a pennyworth o' preens,
That's aye the way that love begins;
If ye'll walk with me, leddy, leddy,
If ye'll walk with me, leddy.

I'll no hae your pennyworth o' preens,
That's no the way that love begins;
And I'll no walk with you, with you,
And I'll no walk with you.

O Johnie, O Johnie, what can the matter be,
That I love this leddy, and she loves na me?
And for he sake I must die, must die,
And for her sake I must die!

I'll gie you a bonny silver box,
With seven silver hinges, and seven silver locks,
If ye'll walk, &c.

I'll no hae your bonny silver box,
With seven silver hinges, and seven silver locks,
And I'll no walk, &c.

O Johnie, O Johnie [as in 3rd verse].

But I'll gie you a bonnier silver box,
With seven golden hinges, and seven golden locks,
If ye'll walk, &c.

I'll no hae [as in 5th verse].

O Johnie [as in 3rd verse].

I'll gie you a pair o' bonny shoon,
The tane made in Sodom, the tother in Rome,
If ye'll walk, &c.

I'll no hae [as in 5th verse].

O Johnie [as in 3rd verse].

I'll gie you the half o' Bristol town,
With coaches rolling up and down,
If ye'll walk, &c.

I'll no hae [as in 5th verse].

O Johnie [as in 3rd verse].

I'll gie you the hale o' Bristol town,
With coaches rolling up and down,
If ye'll walk with me, leddy, leddy,
If ye'll walk with me, leddy.

If ye'll gie me the hale o' Bristol town,
With coaches rolling up and down,
I will walk with you, with you,
And I will walk with you.

2.
Oh, I'll gie you a dress o' red,
A' stitched roon wi' a silver thread,
If you will marry, arry arry arry,
If you will marry me.

Oh I'll no' tak your dress o' red,
Aw stitched roon wi' a silver thread,
An' I'll no marry, arry, arry, arry,
An' I'll no marry you.

Well, I'll gie you a silver spoon,
Tae feed the wean in the efternoon,
If you, etc.

Oh I'll no' tak your silver spoon,
Tae feed the wean in the efternoon,
An' I'll no' marry, etc.

Well I'll gie you the keys o' my chest,
An' aw the money that I possess,
If you, etc.

Oh yes I'll tak the keys o' your chest,
An' aw the money that you possess,
An' I will marry, arry, arry, arry,
An' I will marry you.

Oh ma Goad, ye're helluva' funny,
Ye dinna love me but ye love my money,
An I'll no marry, arry, arry, arry,
An' I'll no marry you!
________________________________________________________

(1) Chambers PRS (1847), 213 (1870), 61, titled "The
Tempted Lady"; whence Montgomerie SNR 74 (no. 86) [cf. "Dig
for silver"]. In Moffat 50 TSNR (1933), 15, with music
(st. 1,2,4,5,16,17).
R.C. introduces it thus (the old nurse speaks):
"Noo, lasses, ye should never be owre proud; for ye see
there was ance a leddy, and she was aye fond o' being
brawer than other folk; so she gaed awa' to take a walk
ae day, her and her brother: so she met wi' a gentleman-
-but it was nae gentleman in reality, but Auld Nick
himsel', who can change himsel' brawly into a gentleman-
-a' but the cloven feet; but he keepit them out o'
sight. So he began to make love to the young leddy"
[rhyme follows; then] And aff he flew wi' her! Noo,
lasses, ye see ye maun aye mind that."
(2) Glasgow street song, coll. by ed. 1957; Buchan 101
SS (1962), 143, with music. Disc: Hall-MacGregor. With
slight variations in Fraser Dae Ye Min' Langsyne?
(1975), 116.
Cf. Opies Singing Game (1985), 140 (with a tune from
1863); and Delia Murphy's Irish version, "If you will marry
me", in Walton's New Treasury of Irish Songs and Ballads part
2 (Dublin, 1966), 80. MS

@Scottish @courtship
filename[ PAPRPIN2
MS

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In Mudcat MIDIs:
Pennyworth of Pins (Example 1 of 3 cites Alfred Moffat's Fifty Traditional Scottish Nursery Rhymes (1933) for tune; midi made from notation in that book. In Moffat it is called I'll Gie You A Pennyworth O' Preens; the text differs just slightly from the DT file, and for the sake of understanding how the tune fits should be indicated here: I'll gie you a penny-worth o' preens, That's aye the way that love begins; If you'll walk wi' me, ladye, If you'll walk wi' me, ladye. N.B. The two other examples have different tunes, to be found in Opie, The Singing Game and Buchan, 101 Scottish Songs respectively; these still need to be found and added. )



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