Lyr Req: Kate Dalrymple

Subject: Kate Dalrymple
From: Sandy
Date: 27 Nov 98 - 07:17 AM

Anyone know the words?

Subject: RE: Kate Dalrymple
From: DonMeixner
Date: 28 Nov 98 - 12:39 AM

Kate Dalrymple is in the Corries songbook and available on their Years Must Roll On video. I have both and will transcribe for you if you don't find a source sooner than I find the (&*%( songbook!

Don Meixner

Subject: RE: Kate Dalrymple
From: rich r
Date: 28 Nov 98 - 05:38 PM

Don, Great, go for it. I have it on a recording by Jean Redpath but I confess I cannot decipher all the words other than it possibly being about a woman with a large blemish of the kind that would rhyme with Dalrymple.

rich r

Subject: Lyr Add: KATE DALRYMPLE (from the Corries)
From: DonMeixner
Date: 28 Nov 98 - 11:51 PM

Here you go Lads and Laddesses,

In a wee cot hoose far acroos the Moor,
Where peeweets, plovers and waups cry dreary,
Lived an old Maid for many long year,
Never a lover cam' tae call her dearie,
Lonely Lass was Kate Dalrymple,
Thrifty quine was Kate Dalrymple,
Nae Music at all but the clear burnie whimple,
Was heard round the dwelling place o' Kate Dalrymple.

Face had a smack o' the gruesome and the grim,
From the attention of all lovers did defend her,
Long Roman nose reachin' doon tae her chin,
Put yea' in mind o' The Witch O' Endor,
Wiggle in her walk had Kate Dalrymple,
Snivel in her talk had Kate Dalrymple,
Many a cornelian and cairngorm pimple,
Was a hangin' frae the craggy face o' Kate Dalrymple.

Such are the ups and doons in life,
The dice o' fate fallin' tappsle-tearie,
Kate fell heiress tae a rich estate,
Never for lovers did she then (go) weary,
Squire cam' o' wooin' Kate Dalrymple,
Provost and the priest sought Kate Dalrymple,
Every wooer's face had love's smilin' dimple,
Now they dinna call her Kate, they call her Miss Dalrymple,

Attentime she thought when she lived by herself,
She could marry Willie Speedy-spool the Sarkin' weaver,
Unto Willie, she the secret did tell,
For love or interest he did recieve her,
Flung by his heddles for Kate Dalrymple,
Burned by his treadles for Kate Dalrymple,
Though his right eye was scaly and his left leg did limp ill,
He's won the heart and got the hand o' Kate Dalrymple,

From The Corrie's Complete songbook.

Subject: Lyr Add: KATE DALRYMPLE (William Watt)
From: Murray on Saltspring
Date: 29 Nov 98 - 03:51 AM

The Corries are great, but not necessarily to be followed!
Here's what I get out of my Scottish Song Index:

KATE DALRYMPLE Wm. Watt (d. 1859)
In his Poems (1860), 88. 6x8 lines. In 1st ed. Air, Jinglin' Johnny. First line, "In a wee cot-house far across the muir".
Some other sources give only 4 stanzas.
Complete in Robert Ford, Vagabond Songs & Ballads II (1900), 19 [line one "across yon muir".]
Gavin Greig, Folk-Song of the North-East, article clxxvii, 1, has the last line: "He's wedded to and bidin' noo wi' K.D."
John Greig, Scots Minstrelsie V.174 (+ m., "modern variation of J.J."), has last line:
"He's won the heart an' got the hand o' K.D.", whence the Corries' version.

Ford's text:

In a wee cot-house far across yon muir,
Where peesweeps, plovers, and whaups cry dreary,
There lived an auld maid for mony a lang year,
Wham ne'er a wooer did e'er ca' his dearie.
A lanely lass was Kate Dalrymple,
A thrifty quean was Kate Dalrymple;
Nae music, exceptin' the clear burnie's wimple,
Was heard round the dwellin' o' Kate Dalrymple.

Her face had a smack o' the gruesome and grim,
Whilk did frae the fash o' wooers defend her;
Her lang Roman nose nearly met wi' her chin,
That brang folk in mind o' the auld witch o' Endor.
A weagle in her walk had Kate Dalrymple,
A sneevil in her talk had Kate Dalrymple;
And mony a cornelian and cairngorm pimple
Did bleeze on the dun face o' Kate Dalrymple.

She span tarry woo' the hale winter through,
For Kate ne'er was lazy, but eident and thrifty;
She wrocht 'mang the peats, coil'd the hay, shore the corn,
And supported hersel' by her ain shift aye.
But ne'er a lover cam' to Kate Dalrymple,
For beauty and tocher wanted Kate Dalrymple;
Unheeded was she by baith gentle and simple,
A blank in the warld seemed puir Kate Dalrymple.

But mony are the ups and downs in life,
Aft the dice-box o' fate's jumbled a' tapsalterrie;
Sae Kate fell heiress to a friend's hale estate,
And nae langer for lovers had she cause to weary.
The Squire cam' a-wooin' o' Kate Dalrymple,
The Priest scrapin', booin', fan out Kate Dalrymple;
And on ilk lover's face was seen love's smiling dimple,
And noo she's nae mair Kate,but *Miss Dalrymple*. [that's for italics]

Her auld cutty stool, that she aft used at her wheel,
Is flung-by for the saft gilded sofa sae gaudy;
And noo she's arrayed in her silks and brocade,
And can rank noo for ruffs and muffs wi' ony lady.
Still an unco fash to Kate Dalrymple,
Was dressin' and party clash to Kate Dalrymple;
She thocht a half-marrow, bred in line mair simple,
Wad be a far fitter match for Kate Dalrymple.

She aftentimes thocht, when she dwelt by hersel',
She could wed Willie Speddystool the sarkin weaver;
And now to the wabster she the secret did tell,
And for love or for int'rest, Will did kindly receive her.
He flang by his heddles for Kate Dalrymple,
He burnt a' his treddles doun for Kate Dalrymple;
Though his richt e'e doth skellie, and his lang leg doth limp ill,
He's wedded to and bedded noo wi' Kate Dalrymple.
----
Watt was an excellent singer as well as composer of music, and sang the song into fame himself.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 29-May-02.

Subject: RE: Kate Dalrymple
From: DonMeixner
Date: 29 Nov 98 - 09:46 PM

Hi Murray,

Great set of lyrics. I have found that the Corries would arrange tunes for the ease of singing with two voices in close harmony or mean tone. They are still the best introduction to Scotts vocal music I think of. I never heard anyone get as much music out of two instruments and two voices as did they. Opinions will vary ofcourse, but what do I know? I liked "WaterWorld".

Don

Subject: Lyr Add: I HAE BEEN AT CROOKIEDEN (Robert Burns)
From: Bruce O.
Date: 30 Nov 98 - 05:52 PM

John Glen, 'Early Scottish Melodies', p. 243 notes that the tune is one of several 'Highland Laddy' tunes and the one now called "Kate Dalrymple" is in Rutherford's '24 Country Dances for the year 1749', and gives the tune, p. 242. The tune is called "The Old Highland Laddie" in Oswald's CPC, vi, c 1754. In 'The Scots Musical Museum' it's the tune for #332, for Robert Burns' 'Bonie laddie Highland Laddie', commenciing "I have been at Crookieden, My bonnie laddie, Highland laddie". There is a somewhat fouled up version of this in DT, where the part labeled chorus is actually the first verse, but without the opening line.

Here's a corrected text:

I HAE BEEN AT CROOKIEDEN
(Robert Burns)

Tune: The New Highland Laddie/ The Old Highland Laddie

I have been at Crookieden,
   My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,
Viewing Willie and his men
  My bonie laddie, Highland laddie.
There our faes that burnt and slew,
  My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,
There, at last, they gat their due,
   My bonie laddie, Highland laddie.

Satan sits in his black neuk,
   My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,
Breaking sticks to roast the Duke,
   My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,
The bloody monster gae a yell,
  My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,
And loud the laugh gaed round a' hell.
  My bonie laddie, Highland laddie.

@Scots
filename[ CROOKDEN
play.exe HIELND

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S:Rutherford's '24 CD's for 1749, via Glen, ESM p. 243
Q:120
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Subject: RE: Kate Dalrymple
From: Sandy
Date: 01 Dec 98 - 05:35 AM

Thanks guys,

Murray, your words best fit the version I heard sung by The Riverside Ceilidh Band (they grew up around the revival of Ceilidh's in Glasgow during the nineties and include some excellent musicians - e,g, Dougie Pincock ex Battlefield Band).

I think the Corries version has been anglicised (Englished) for a wider audience. The Corries were more of a pop-folk duo who played mostly for old ladies. I don't want to be disparaging but there is a weath of good traditional music coming from bands such as The Tannahill Weavers, Ceolbeg, (early) Battlefield Band e.t.c.

I appreciate your efforts.

Cheers

Sandy

PS I didn't get the Highland Laddie connection.

Subject: RE: Kate Dalrymple
From: harpgirl
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 03:06 PM

...is there a version of this song that is more modern?

Subject: RE: Kate Dalrymple
From: Pseudolus
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 03:12 PM

Wasn't she a catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies? No, wait, that was Clay Dalrymple......sorry. *G*

Frank

Subject: RE: Kate Dalrymple
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 16 Feb 03 - 08:26 PM

I am unsure from the above whether Bruce O has sumitted the tune for Kate Dalrymple. While far from rare I have the score if required. Please PM me.

Regards, John

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kate Dalrymple
From: GUEST,Fiona Fraser
Date: 13 Jan 06 - 09:21 PM

I really take exception to disparaging comments about old women - I am now 46 and I started listening to the Corries when I was about 16. Old women were young once and they have as much right to respect as old men, young women and young men - why is it that something is considered unworthy if an old woman likes it.

On the subject of the Corries singing an "Englished version", there are not many Scots who speak auld Scots, nor many English people who speak like Chaucer - language evolves and gets buggered up and all sorts and it's all kind of interesting.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kate Dalrymple
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 13 Jan 06 - 10:02 PM

There isn't a great deal of point in picking up on a casual remark made seven years ago by someone who hasn't posted here (under that name, at any rate) since 1999. At 46 you are barely middle-aged; "old" doesn't start until much later.

I do agree about the language, though; there is far too much snobbery bandied about on the subject of Scots, most of it born of a sad ignorance of linguistic, and literary, history.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kate Dalrymple
From: GUEST,Julia
Date: 13 Jan 06 - 10:39 PM

I have recorded the tune which I call Kate Dalrymple on my album called "ladies" (I play it on harp). I learned it as Jingling John from the group Heritage.

Regarding Scots language, not to stray from the subject, but it is my understanding from discussions with Scots speaking friends in Scotland that Scots went "underground" as a language of first use, spoken at home and among friends. It was prohibited in schools and children were punished corporally for speaking it. There now seems to be a revival in some schools and in fact the kids at the Loreburn Primary school in Dumfries were speaking Scots quite freely in their classes when we visited five years ago.
When a child, asking me about my harp, said "Och! Is it yer ain yin?" I was pleased to understand him and answer "aye"! In addition, ther is lots of oetry and writing currently being published in Scots, and there is a movement in Northern Ireland supportin Ulster Scots. So, it isnae deid!

A' th' best- Julia

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kate Dalrymple
From: GUEST,Bill the Collie
Date: 13 Jan 06 - 11:45 PM

Hoo-rae Julia,

May yer peerie-heels never git stuck in th glabber

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kate Dalrymple
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 13 Jan 06 - 11:50 PM

Children have always been punished for speaking what their teachers considered inappropriate dialect, no matter what the country or the language. The Scottish education system has many virtues, but unfortunately relied overmuch on corporal punishment until fairly recently.

Doubtless many teachers felt that their pupils would do better in life speaking a Scottish-accented form of Standard English rather than their native dialects or the more self-conscious "Literary Scots" formulated by Burns and his contemporaries and later followers, but the language (if it can be so defined; expert opinions differ) never needed to go "underground", and is spoken freely today just as it has always been.

It wasn't formally taught in schools, of course, any more than were the dialects of (for example) Devon or Yorkshire, both of which are as different from Standard English as are any forms of Inglis (as the early Scotis vernacular poets called it) spoken in Scotland. All those forms continued, and continue, to be spoken now; though the preponderence of standard forms in the broadcast media is certainly diluting them.

There are a good few mainstream writers like Liz Lochhead working in more-or-less "Standard Scots" at the moment, and they are pretty good role-models.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kate Dalrymple
From: Scotus
Date: 14 Jan 06 - 10:09 PM

and just to add a wee bit mair -

As the guitarist in 'Heritage' I can tell you that our way of 'Jinglin John' came from 'The Caledonian Pocket Companion' compiled by a Fifer (like me) called James Oswald in the mid 1700s. It is one of the great Scots fiddle music collections, but unfortunately (unless someone can tell me differently) is no longer available except in a few libraries. If you can lay your hands on a copy it has some great versions of well known tunes as well as many many less well known ones.

BTW - Malcolm is (as usual) absolutely spot on regarding the Scots language.

Jack Beck