I came upon a reference to an old Scottish ballad called, Always Room For One More. When I couldn't find it in Mudcat, I went searching farther, and found the lyrics below. Here's what I found about the source:

Written down from oral tradition by Sorche Nic Leodhas, in his childrens' book, "Always Room for One More." The author explains "....ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE is one of the many Scottish popular songs which have been preserved by oral tradition, being handed down by one generation to the next, but never appearing in print. My father sang it to us when we were children. He had been taught it by his father when he was a little boy, and my grandfather remembered it from his own early childhood. Because the Scottish words in which this merry little tune was written are somewhat difficult to understand, it was necessary to change many of them into others more familiar to American boys and girls. However, some of the Scottish words were left in the song because they sounded better than any new ones I might choose...."

Does anyone know another version of this song, or how it went before it was anglicized? Can anyone provide a link to the melody?


Always Room For One More

1. There was a wee house in the heather--
'Twas a bit o' a but and a ben--
And in it there lived all together
Lachie MacLachlan And his good wife,
And his bairns to the number of ten.
"There's a fire on the hearthstone to warm me,
And porridge to spare in the pot,"
Said Lachie. "The weather is stormy,
So me and my wife
And our ten bairns,
Will be sharing whatever we've got."

So he hailed every traveler that passed by his door.
Said Lachie MacLachlan, "There's room galore.
Och, come awa' in!
There's room for one more,
Always room for one more!"

A tinker came first, then a tailor,
And a sailor with line and lead;
A gallowglass and a fishing lass,
With a creel o' fish on her head;
A merry auld wife full o' banter,
Four peat-cutters up from the bog,
Piping Rury the Ranter, and a sheperd laddie
Down from the brae,
With his canny wee sheperd dog.

He hailed them all as he stood at the door.
Said Lachie MacLachlan, "There's room galore.
Och, come awa' in!
There's room for one more,
Always room for one more!"

2. Rury's pipes set the rafters a-ringing
Till the clock danced a reel on the shelf,
And they all fell to dancing and singing,
And the little dog danced by himself.
Och, the walls they bulged out and bulged in then,
The walls they bulged in and out.
There will never be heard such a din, then,
As came from the folks In the wee little house
While they rollicked and frolicked about.

They filled all the house up from door to door,
But Lachie cried out, "There's room galore.
'Twould be a tight fit, but there's room for one more,
Always room for one more!"

Then the rafters they clappit like thunder,
And folks in the nearby town
Stood stock-still to listen and wonder,
When the wee little house
With its but and its ben
And its walls and its roof DINGED DOWN!
Then the tinker and the tailor,
And the sailor with line and lead;
The gallowglass, and the fishing lass,
With the creel o' fish on her head;
The auld wife full o' banter,
The four peat-cutters up from the bog,

3. Piping Rury the Ranter,
And the sheperd laddie down from the brae,
With his canny wee sheperd dog,
AND Lachie MachLachlan,
His good wife,
And his bairns to the number of ten,
They all tumbled out again!

And they gowked at the place where the house stood before.
"Och, Lachie," they cried, "there was room galore,
But worry and woe, there's no room no more,
Never no room no more!"

They wailed for a while in the heather,
As glum as a grumpetie grouse,
Then they shouted, "Have done with this blether!
For Lachie MacLachlan,
His wife and his bairns,
We'll raise up a bonny new house."
The house that they raised from the auld one
Was double as wide and as high.
Should an army come by it could hauld one,
With Lachie MacLachlan,
His wife and his bairns,
And whoever else happened by.

And then the whole lot of them stood at the door,
And merrily shouted, "There's room galore!
Now there will always be room for one more,
Always room for one more!"