I think we ought to have the whole song here. This is how I hear it:


JOCK THE CAN
Written by Alan Reid
As sung by The Battlefield Band on "Celtic Hotel" and "Recollection"

1. Now the wind is howlin' along the shore,
And there's an old man that shuffles along:
Jock the Can, him that knocks on the old wives' doors,
And he tells them he'll gie them a song.
Noo Jock was a fine young lad
Before he went tae the war,
But when he came back frae the fightin',
He wisnae the same lad.
Noo he's just an old man that's wandert an' gone.
Aye, he carries the can and he's wandert an' gone.

2. Jock the Can would sing ye an old song,
And when he'd done, he'd reveal his hand.
He would stand, just waitin' for somethin'
Like a drink or a copper or two in his hand.
There's them that ignored old John,
And other yins chased him tae hell.
And some took him in for a bit o' a meal:
"Sit doon by the fire, John,
For you're just an old man that's wandert an' gone.
Aye, you carry the can and you're wandert an' gone."

3. Noo the children they all laughed at John,
For they thought him a silly old man,
And they knew he was diff'rent frae other folk:
He'd nothin' at a' except for his can.
Sometimes he'd a drink in him,
And he staggered aboot in the rain,
And people would say: "What a hell o' a shame!
He's naebody tae help him,
But he's just an old man that's wandert an' gone.
Aye he carries the can and he's wandert an' gone."

4. In the parish there's still a few old yins
Can remember Jock the Can,
And they smile when they talk o' the old days,
And that daft old chiel o' a man.
But they say it's a' diff'rent now;
Ev'rybody's the same,
And they tell you they think it's a hell o' a shame
There's naebody like him now:
Him that carried the can, he's dead and he's gone.
Old Jock the Can, him and his kind they are gone.