Lyr Add: Be Kind te me Dowter

Subject: Be Kind te me Dowter
From: Conrad Bladey (Peasant- Inactive)
Date: 29 Mar 00 - 12:50 PM

Be Kind te me Dowter
Tune: Die an Auld Maid

One neet Jack Thomsin sat beside
His canny sweetheart's fethur,
We'll hev a crack! the aud man said,
Since here we've met tegither,
Ya've gyen wi' Mary two eers noo,
An' what aw'm gan te menshun
Is--aw hope that you've gawn wiv her
Wi' myest hon'rible intenshun

Chorus-
For oh Johnny a canny lass is she
An' aw hope ye'll be kind to me dowter.

She may be kind o' flighty, that's
A fault wi' a yung lasses;
She may be kind o' tawky on
Myest ivrything that passes;
But if she wes ony uther way
She waddent be a wummin,
An' gox! she's like her muther, an
Her muther is a rum un!

But oh, Johnny etc.

Aw hope she'll be as happy as
Her muther's been wi' me lad.
Tho' sumtimes we fall oot a bit
We varry seun agree lad;
For te leeve as jolly as can be
Byeth her an me's detarmin'd
An when we hev a row or two,
We nivvor see ne harm in't!

But oh Johnny etc...

Ye'll treat wor Mary weel me lad,
An always be kind tiv her
Ye'lll nivvor rue your bargin, no!
Aw's sartin that ye'll nivvor.
She can de the hoose turns clivvor,
Just as clivvor as her muther,
An for sewin, knitten, darnin, whey!
Thor issent such anuther!

Then oh Johnny etc...

We'll help ye ivery way we can
Te set the hoose up decent,
The fethur-bed an 'ite-day clock
'Ill not be a bad prisint;
An' when ye've bairns we'll help ye tee,
At borth, or deeth or krisnin,
But noo aw'd better haud me tung,
For fear somebody's lissinin!

But oh Johnny etc...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Be Kind te me Dowter
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 28 Jul 15 - 11:44 AM

I see I'm refreshing this, because I'm the first to post
since the OP, fifteen years ago. This is a really appealing
song to me, and I just noticed the note under the title for
the tune source.

I really like the tune I know (from some forgotten recorded
origin), the source for which is shown above as Die an
Auld Maid, which I hadn't heard of previously. Does anyone
have the words to Die an Auld Maid?

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Be Kind te me Dowter
From: Snuffy
Date: 28 Jul 15 - 12:27 PM

This one?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Be Kind te me Dowter
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 28 Jul 15 - 05:24 PM

Die an Auld Maid dates back to the 17thc and there are lots of variants in current oral tradition with a variety of tunes. Having said that it was probably set to the one well-known on the folk scene in England in the 1960s, possibly earlier.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Be Kind te me Dowter
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Jul 15 - 09:51 PM

Snuffy's submission seems to be a version of what I was
looking for. It fits the scansion of the song, Kind
te me dowter, more or less, with some awkward departures,
and the narrative seems to parallel Dowter. I haven't
had time to work out the resemblance or non-resemblance
of the tune to what I know; I'm not a good sight reader.

For what it's worth, I don't quite like this set of lyrics,
but it seems to be more or less what I asked for. Thanx,
Snuffy.

Does anyone know any other version of the lyrics of Die
An Auld Maid or this Old Maid in the Garret song?

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Be Kind te me Dowter
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 29 Jul 15 - 06:55 PM

I have a vague recollection of various Geordies singing 'Be kind' and this and looking at the chorus leads me to believe it was the well-known Scots version of 'Auld Maid in the Garret.'

The chorus went 'An it's oh dear me, whit can a dae, if I dee an auld maid in a garret'. I'd be surprised if it's not in the DT. It was published in Norman Buchan's Scottish Song Book p60 titled 'An Auld Maid in the Garret'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Be Kind te me Dowter
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 29 Jul 15 - 09:58 PM

My Beautiful Wife, a fine pianist and (as I'm not)
a sight-reader, played the tune given by Snuffy for
me, and it's only remotely similar to the one I
know for Be Kind te me Dowter.

The DT has, I think, three versions of the
old-maid-garret song and related songs. The
Old Maid's Song is one title, and there are
two called simply The Old Maid. I think
I remember another, too.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Be Kind te me Dowter
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 30 Jul 15 - 03:01 AM

The Scots tune is coming back to me now and it fits very well to the words above.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Be Kind te me Dowter
From: Newport Boy
Date: 31 Jul 15 - 07:54 AM

My favourite version of 'Auld Maid' is that by Isobel Sutherland, about 1960. I heard her sing it a couple of times in London in 1959, and I suspect her version was the source of some of the 60s versions by others.

Isobel gave the impression of a straight-laced Edinburgh lass, and Robin Hall used to annoy her by substituting 'carrot' for 'parrot' in the last verse.

It's close to the DT version Snuffy posted, but I feel it's a better expression of the singer's feelings. I'm not going to attempt the transcription, but I've put an MP3
here

Phil

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Be Kind te me Dowter
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 31 Jul 15 - 10:31 AM

I'm pretty certain it's Isobel's version I'm thinking of but it has been covered by so many since then.