ADD: The Kirk Soiree / Swaree (from Redpath)

Subject: Lyr Req: kirk swaree-jean redpath sings it
From: GUEST,kaneact
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 02:04 PM

Hi- First time here. looking for lyrics to the 'Kirk Swaree', a song I have heard on a Jean Redpath album. I wrote to her but got not response, have searched every data base I know of with no success. If anyone could help me out it would be a great favor! Thanks, kaneact

Subject: Lyr Add: R. S. V. P.
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 02:50 PM

Is this the one?



R.S.V.P.
Maggie Macdonnell was a braw young lass,
    Aye, a braw, braw lass was she,
An' a prood, prood lass when the meenister asked her
    Wad she sing at the Kirk Soiree?
She was busy at her knittin' when the postie brocht the caird,
    "Oh, it's fine a' ken whit's on't," quoth he -
"But they Laitin' letters bate me, an' a' can make naething o't,"
    "Whit's the meanining o' R.S.V.P?"

Says Magie, "Stop yer speirin' an jist mind yer ain affairs,
    An' please ye leave ye mine tae me,"
An' awa' gaed the postie wi' a grumph an' wi' a growl,
    Was there ever sic a tirravee?

Maggie Macdonnell was a sad young lass,
    Aye, a sad, sad lass was she,
An' a wanert kin' o' lass when the meenister asked her
    Wad she sing at the Kirk Soiree?
She read through the post caird, frae the openin' tae the close,
    An syne - a heavy sigh gied she,
Till the beads o' perspiration they were rinin' doon her nose,
    Through the riddle o' R.S.V.P.

Says Maggie to her mither - "A'm fair bothered if a' ken,
    Whit's the message that they bring can be."
Says her mither, "He's a bachelor, he maybe sends his love,"
    An' she lauched wi' a high "he! he!"

Maggie Macdonnell was a fine young lass,
    Aye, a fine, fine lass was she,
But the wey the meenister an' her cairet on
    Wis the talk at the Kirk Soiree.
'Twas him that saw her hame an' when staunin' at the gate,
    In the shadow o' the auld yew-tree,
He gripped her roon' the waist - an' he kissed her wi' a will,
    An Maggie - she R.S.V.P!

She glanced at him sae coyly, he fairly lost his he'rt,
    'Twas a sicht richt guid tae see,
"Am ower young tae marry yet" was the sang that Meg had sung,
    Says the meenister tae himself - "Maybe."

Maggie Macdonnell's nae Macdonnell noo,
    She's the wife o' the gleg Wee Free!
For she readily consented when the meenister he asked her,
    On the nicht o' the Kirk Soiree.
The invitations tae the weddin', they were oot ower verra lang,
    An' the postie he said, "Whit's this I see -
If they hivna had the impidence tae send yin tae the Laird,
    An' they've pit on it - R.S.V.P!"

Subject: Lyr Add: THE KIRK SOIREE
From:
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 05:52 PM

This is my second go at sending this, hope it's not going to turn up twice.


THE KIRK SOIREE

When first tae the toon I cam for tae stop
Weel I started up in business in my side-street shop
Tae the kirk every Sunday I'd gae twice as a rule
And counted the collection for the Sunday school
For my greatest ambition it was you see
To tell a wee bit story at the kirk soiree

Noo ma chance came at last, but lord preserve us
A couldnae sae a word for a felt that nervous
A thocht upon a limerick and a thocht upon a riddle
A started on a story but a stoppit in the middle
For the story I had started it was not you see
The kind you can tell at a kirk soiree

After that evening men would stop
For the finish o' ma story in my side-street shop
My business grew so rapidly and so did my renown
That soon I was elected to the council o' the town
And they made me the convenor o' the sewerage committee
For the story I had started at the kirk soiree

When I became a magistrate promotion proved my ruin
For the first time that I sat upon the bench was my undoing
For objectionable conduct I'd to try a friend o' mine
And gie him seven days without the option o' a fine
For telling tae a bobby, a staunch wee free
The story I had started at the kirk soiree

So I retired from public life a disappointed man
Wi' ma mooth a twisted telling stories in ahint ma han
Noo many years have passed since fortune gave me such a knock
But just the other evening I received an awfy shock
For the minister's flapper daughter, at her faither's jubilee
Told the story I had started at the kirk soiree

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: kirk swaree-jean redpath sings it
From: Bill D
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 06:17 PM

Jacko...that's how I remember it! Nice job.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: kirk swaree-jean redpath sings it
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 06:09 PM

Oh I am beside myself, and tickled pink too!!! I am a true believer in Mudcat now! Thank you John M. and Jacko! As it turns out Jacko's was the one I was looking for but the one John M. sent is tantalizing as well;-0 The kitchen parties on the Bonavista peninsula, Newfoundland are in for a treat! Thank you SO much!-kaneact

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: kirk swaree-jean redpath sings it
From: BobKnight
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 06:31 PM

I think the second one - the story started at the kirk soiree was written by Harry Gordon, the great Aberdeen comedian and songwriter from the 1930's.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: kirk swaree-jean redpath sings it
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 08:21 PM

I have a membership card / programme of events for The Glasgow Ploughman's Association (? - from 'way back when my grandfather was a Glesca polis, having left the country and farming life)- on this document is Harry Gordon's autograph.
NB one of the rules of the association was that members could not participate in ploughing matches until they had been '10 years away from the farm' (I think - need to dig it out to check!)
I actually remember attending these ploughing matches when I was a wean, watching my Grandad and his friends carefully examining and commenting on the straightness of the lines of ploughing and the quality of the -? whatever you call the turned-over soil! (Clydesdale horse drawn ploughs of course)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Kirk Soiree (from Jean Redpath)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Nov 10 - 01:32 PM

The Jack Sinclair Showband performs THE STORY THAT I STARTIT AT THE KIRK SOIREE on their album "Live at His Majesty's Theatre," recorded in 1974-75.

Alastair McDonald performed THE KIRK SOIREE on "Scottish Laughlines."

Jimmy Logan performed THE KIRK SOIREE on his eponymous album on the Beltona label.

Harry Gordon performed THE STORY THAT I STARTIT (THE KIRK SOIREE) on "The Laird o' Inversnecky: Volume One," also on the Beltona label.

I can't find any confirmation that Jean Redpath recorded it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Kirk Soiree (from Jean Redpath)
From: GUEST,Murray on Saltspring
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 07:58 PM

Jean Redpath did record it - on a CD "Now and Then" (1999) on her own label, Jean Redpath Records (JR-110). She recorded it first on her 1964 album "Love, Lilt and Laughter". She spells it "The Kirk Swaree".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvu6d_psQ-k

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Kirk Soiree (from Jean Redpath)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 03 Jan 11 - 10:18 PM

Ah, yes, the unexpected spelling is probably why I failed to find it.

I see THE KIRK SWAREE also on an album called "First Flight" (Rounder, 1989).

Subject: RE: ADD: The Kirk Soiree / Swaree (from Redpath)
From: GUEST,Margaret
Date: 08 Jan 22 - 08:38 AM

I got it from her "First Flight" album. I listened to it so often that I nearly memorised it. And nearly blew out my lungs from the laughing.

What a pity that she'd to leave us so early.

Subject: RE: ADD: The Kirk Soiree / Swaree (from Redpath)
From: GUEST,Andy Watson
Date: 06 Oct 22 - 04:29 AM

https://youtu.be/FZ1uLi7BGr4
"Jean Redpath at St Andrews Folk Club circa 1970"

Subject: RE: ADD: The Kirk Soiree / Swaree (from Redpath)
From: Dave Rado
Date: 07 Aug 23 - 09:50 AM

Does anyone know who wrote it and when? I tried googling but no luck.

Dave