The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #93683   Message #1805665
Posted By: Joe Offer
09-Aug-06 - 06:51 PM
Thread Name: ADD: The Cameronians (from Kenneth McKellar)
Subject: ADD: THE TAM O' SHANTER HAT
Could this be it, Dave?

THE TAM O' SHANTER HAT

1. Cameronians leal and true,
Attention I will crave frae you,
To spin a rhyme on something new,
I never stick at trifles O.

2. To sing aboot John Bull or Pat,
Is naething new, but what o' that?
I'll sing on the Tam o' Shanter's hat
For the Cameronian Rifles O.

3. Let Bill and Paddy dance wi' glee,
Let Donald blaw his chanter free,
When we hand them owre the auld Glenhee
And do the Tam o' Shanter O.

4. In years gone by wi' sword in hand,
We read aboot the Cameronian clan,
How they fought and perished to a man
To the tune o' Rab the Ranter O.

5. But John Bull, Pat, and Sandy true,
Are a' amalgamated noo,
And we'd face Auld Clootie black or blue,
Crooned wi' a Tam o' Shanter O.

6. Ye talk aboot your guid reviews,
Your Life Guards and your Royal Blues,
But see us in our tartan trews
We'll lick them in a cantie O.

7. The ladies too are sure to slip,
Their notion o' the spur and whip,
And come and cock their upper lip,
For a kiss neath the Tam o' Shanter O.

8. Tho' we lose the Cameronian name,
We ne'er can lose the Cameron fame,
The glorious deeds we can reclaim,
We'll stand as her enchanter O.

9. And many a sturdy British son,
We'll boast the laurels he hath won,
For doing deeds will yet be done,
Beneath the Tam o' Shanter O.

Auld clootie - the Devil
Lick them in a cantie - beat them easily
Ladies too are sure to slip their notion 'o the spur and whip - abandon their fancy for the cavalry



Notes: the song refers to the amalgamation in 1881 of the 90th Light Infantry and the 26th Regiment of Foot to form the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). The new uniform consisted of dark green doublet, tartan trews, and Tam 'o Shanter (a flat woollen bonnet)
To the tune of "Tinker's Weddin'"

Source: Greig-Duncan Collection 1 p.172