Lyr Req: The Dundee Weaver

Subject: The Dundee Weaver
From: Steve Jarvis
Date: 26 Nov 99 - 05:16 PM

I am trying to find the lyrics of a song entitled "The Dundee Weaver" - I have a recording on a tape by the Dubliners, but cannot make out all the words (the combination of Scottish dialect and strong Irish accents isn't the easiest thing to follow). Could anyone help?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dundee Weaver
From: SeanM
Date: 27 Nov 99 - 01:17 AM

Hmmm... There're a Piper and Cooper of Dundee in the DB... Sadly, I'm unfamiliar with the exact song you're asking for... but could one of the above be another version of what you're after?

Hope this helps.

m

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dundee Weaver
From:
Date: 27 Nov 99 - 01:36 AM

See the other thread!

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DUNDEE WEAVER
From: BEDLAM
Date: 27 Nov 99 - 12:15 PM

Lyrics of THE DUNDEE WEAVER" Have sung this song for many a year and always get a bit of a giggle from the crowd! Don't know who actually wrote it.

Oh 'am a Dundee Weaver and a' come frae bonnie Dundee
A' met a Glesga fella and he cam' courtin' me
He took me oot a walkin' doon by the Kelvin Ha'
And there the dirty wee rascall stole ma thingamyjig awa (repeat)

He took me doon the Broomielaw and by the Rouken Glen
He showed tae me a bonny wee bird and he showed me a bonnie wee hen
He showed tae me a bonnie wee bird frae a Lynnett tae a Craw
And then he showed me the bird that stole ma thingamyjig awa (repeat)

Noo I'll go back tae Dundee lookin' bonny brisk and fair
I'll put on ma bucklin' shoes and tie up ma bonny broon hair
I'll put on ma corset tight tae mak ma body look sma'
And wha wid ken wi' ma rosy cheeks ma thingamyjigs awa (repeat)

Noo a' ye Dundee weavers tak' this advice frae me
And never let a Glesga lad an inch above yer knee
Never stan' at the back o' a close or up against a wa'
For if ye dae ye can surely say yer thingamyjigs awa (repeat)

Hope you enjoy this

Regards

Bedlam

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 31-Jul-02.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dundee Weaver
From:
Date: 27 Nov 99 - 12:59 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dundee Weaver
From: allan S.
Date: 28 Nov 99 - 12:32 PM

Arthur sang it as Never lie in the long grass or up a gainst a wall

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dundee Weaver
From: BEDLAM
Date: 28 Nov 99 - 01:40 PM

Fair comment about the "long grass" could have been! However, round about the Kelvin Hall area of Glasgow the tenement "close" would also have been possible. That's the beauty of folk music lyrics.

Regards

Bedlam

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dundee Weaver
From: Steve Jarvis
Date: 28 Nov 99 - 02:47 PM

Many thanks for everyone's help on this one. Not being familiar with the locale of Glasgow, the place names in particular were a problem to make out on the tape, as were some of the dialect words.

Once again, many thanks.

Best wishes,

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dundee Weaver
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 28 Nov 99 - 06:08 PM

I suspect Arthur made the word change in deference to those audiences that might fail to understand "at the back o' yer close." Avoided a long-winded explanation.

Sandy

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DUNDEE WEAVER
From: Murray on Saltspring
Date: 29 Nov 99 - 02:06 AM

These are my "records" as Gavin Greig would say, as I have them in my long-in-transit project of an anthology of Scots bawdy songs.

THE DUNDEE WEAVER

(A)

1. O I'm a Dundee weaver, and I come fae bonnie Dundee,
One day a Glasgow fella came a-courtin me,
He took me oot a walkin doon by the Broomielaw,
And there the dirty wee rascal stole my thingamajig awa; Aye there the dirty wee rascal stole my thingamajig awa.

2. He took me oot a picnic doon by the Rouken Glen,
He showed to me the bonnie wee birds and he showed to me the hen;
He showed me every birdie frae a lintie tae a craw,
Aye and he showed to me the bird that stole my thingamajig awa. [bis]

3. Noo I'll gang back to Dundee lookin bonny, young and fair,
I'll put on my ribbons an' reels an' tie up my bonnie broon hair,
I'll put on my corsets tight to mak my body look sma',
And wha will think wi ma rosy cheeks, that my thingamajig's awa. [bis]

4. Now come all ye Dundee lassies, tak this advice fae me,
Never let a Glasgow lad an inch above yer knee,
Never stand in the long grass or up against a wa',
For if ye dae ye can safely say that your thingamajig's awa. [bis]
_____

From the singing of Hamish Imlach, Glasgow, c. 1963/4.
A variant version [learned from Robin Hall] sung by Arthur Argo on his record "A Wee Thread o' Blue" (Lyrica Erotica vol. 2), Prestige/International 13048. Differs as follows:

1.2 I met a Glesgy fella an he came coortin' me; 1.3 Kelvin Ha', 2.2 a bonnie wee hen, 2.3 the bonnie wee birds fae the lintie tae the craw, 2.4 Aye, he 3.1 But I'll gae 3.2 Oh I'll pit on my bucklin' shoes 3.3 An' I'll 3.4 An' fa will ken 4.1 Sae a' ye Dundee weavers, 4.2 Oh never let a fella 4.3 Oh never lie 4.3 'Cos [etc.]. Another variant of 4.3 I have heard is "Never stand at the back o' a close".

St. 4 has the cliché of the "inch above the knee", found in many songs of this type on both sides of the border (cf. "Robin was a Ploughboy", e.g.). 'Bird' in 2.4 of course = "penis", a common metaphor, probably from its mysterious ability to rise. Another variant line heard 1959 (Glasgow), has "cock" as a partner for "hen".
The tune appears to be a set of The Lincolnshire Poacher ("It's my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year"), also used for the teasing "Knock knock knock" song, expurgated slightly for Tin Pan Alley as "The Thing". The English tune was also plagiarised by Sir Harry Lauder for "It's Nice to Get Up in the Mornin'."

(B)

1. O I'm a Dundee weaver, I come frae bonnie Dundee
I fell in love wi a sodger lad, and he in love wi me;
He took me for a walk ae nicht aroon the back o' the Law,
An' what dae ye think o' ma sodger lad, for ma thingamajig's awa'.

2. Come all ye Dundee weavers, and tak advice frae me.
Never let a soldier lad an inch upon [!] yer knee,
Never let him back ye up against the wa',
For if ye dae ye may safely say ye're thingamajig's awa.

3. O I'll awa' hame tae Dundee while I'm sae young an' fair,
I'll pit on ma silken goon and comb ma golden hair,
I'll wind ma corset roond me tight tae mak my body look sma',
For wha's tae ken by ma rosy cheeks ma thingamajig's awa'.
__________

From R.H [maybe I'd better not identify him further], Salt Spring Island, B.C., April 1990; learned from two Dundee lads in 1942, in a prison camp (24D) at Posen (Poznañ), Poland. "The Law" has to be a local mountain, but its whereabouts are another thing. We have a "West Law" at Leslie in the middle of Fife, but it's too generic a name to specify.