This thread having aroused me sufficiently to make use of the links Joe so thoughtfully provided, I was surprised not to find the following song in the DT - 'The Steggie', as sung by Rod Paterson. Maybe the Mudcatters can actually help me. I took the words down from the LP 'Two Hats', and I think I got it all - except for the line with the question marks. I've been trying to work it out for years, but no idea would come. Could it be a Freudian thing?
I'm awfully sorry I still can't provide tunes, for this one is absolutely sweet. Actually, I took down the words at the request of a Hamburg folk group who were thinking of doing the song because they liked the tune so much. When they saw the words written down they were literally rendered speechless. I haven't heard them do the song yet...
The lines marked >>> are repeated in the other verses. (Do you call this a refrain? a burden? certainly not a chorus?) Any further translation required? - Susanne
Oh there is an auld wifie at the top o' yon hill
>>> The green leaves sae green o
And she keeps her hoosie whaur ye get yer fill
>>> And ye ken pretty weel what I mean o
She keeps her hoose o' the braw guid ale
>>> The green leaves sae green o
And a bonnie serving lassie fir tae carry it ben
>>> And ye ken pretty weel what I mean o
A sodger laddie gae'd there ae nicht
And he's ca'd fir a beaker o' her braw guid ale
He's ca'd fir a beaker, an' ca'd fir anither
An' the lassie an' the sodger they got bedded doon taegither
Noo she's put her hand oot ower his wame (wame - belly)
Sayin', What is that like the dreg hard time (???)
It is my steggie that I ride on (steggie - stallion)
An' my wallet fir keeping a' my confidences in
Oh he's put his hand oot ower her wame
Sayin', What is that like the brists on a swine
It is my wellie that I draw frae
Ye can water yer steggie in it if ye may
What if my steggie it should fall in
You can aye grab a hand o' the breadth roond the brim
He's put in his steggie sae plump and fat
And he's pu'd it oot again like a half-drooned rat
[1981:] Arthur Argo got [this] (text only) from an elderly relative, and himself put a tune to [it]. (Hamish Henderson, Alias MacAlias 148)