Origins: Coming Through The Rye

Subject: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: chico
Date: 30 May 05 - 04:17 AM

E               B7
Comin throu the rye, puir bodie,
E      B7       E
Comin throu the rye,
                     B7
She draiglet a' her petticoatie.
E      B7         E
Comin through the rye.

   E          B7
O Jennie's aa weet puir bodie,
E7             A (F#m)
Jennie's seldom dry;
    E       B7       E    B7 (G#m)
She draigelt a' her petticoatie,
E      B7       E
Comin throu the rye.

ALT CHORUS
Ilka laddie has his lassie
Nane, they say, ha'e I
yet a' the lassies smile at me
When comin' thro' the Rye

Gin a bodie meet a bodie
Comin throu the rye,
Gin a bodie kiss a bodie,
Need a bodie cry?

Gin a bodie meet a bodie
Comin throu the glen,
Gin a bodie kiss a bodie,
Need the warld ken?

[Glasgow Version]
Jean McPherson is a person
wi' lovely yella' hair
We went tegitha' doon ra water
last Glasgae fair

The rain it did come doon in torrents
Her hair she couldna' keep dry
And all the day the streaks of grey came
Running thro' the dye

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: JedMarum
Date: 30 May 05 - 10:04 AM

translation?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: GUEST,Allen
Date: 30 May 05 - 10:20 AM

Puir = poor.
Draiglet = dragged or pulled.
Weet = wet.
Ilka = every.
Gin = if.
Warld = world.
Ken = know.
Doon = down.
Ra = to(?).
Glasgae = Glasgow.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: masato sakurai
Date: 30 May 05 - 10:23 AM

Standard "English" translation is here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulg
From: chico
Date: 30 May 05 - 02:11 PM

Translation? This ain't greek!

Puir = poor.


Hhahaaha

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: GUEST,Allen
Date: 30 May 05 - 02:40 PM

The 'ui' is not always obvious to people.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 30 May 05 - 03:23 PM

The standard text, with tune, is in the DT: Comin' thro the Rye

See also thread Comin Through the Rye (modern), which includes the Merry Muses text and the Glasgow parody.

The confusion some people have when trying to read Burns (and Scots verse in general) can often be avoided if they read it aloud. It should then be fairly clear that most of the words that look difficult on paper are exactly the same as they are in "standard" English; they are just spelled differently in order to reflect their pronounciation in the form of "standard Scots" that Burns and his contemporaries used, and which is to an extent still used today.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: masato sakurai
Date: 30 May 05 - 07:41 PM

From Dictionary of the Scots Language:

DSL - SND1   DRAIGLE, v. and n. Also draiggle, †dregle. Sc. forms and usages of Eng. draggle. [ˈdregəl]    I. v.    1. tr.
    (1) As in Eng., to soil, bespatter (Sc. 1818 Sawers Dict. Sc. Lang.; Ayr.9 1949).
    *Ayr. 1796 Burns Comin thro' the Rye i.:
    She draigl't a' her petticoatie, Comin thro' the rye! [Cf. 3, below.]
    (2) To mix (a dry substance such as meal or flour) with water (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 41; Bnff.2, Abd.2, Abd.9 1940).

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: JedMarum
Date: 30 May 05 - 08:53 PM

Haha chico - I know it ain;t greek.

I am beginning to study Scottish folk music, and need help with the dialect, sometimes ... this year I am interested in the story lines of the songs - and the melodies. But a time will come when I'llneed to knowledgeable about the language, as well - at least for the songs I choose to sing.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulg
From: Jeri
Date: 30 May 05 - 09:33 PM

Jed, Masato's link to the dictionary is great and I've bookmarked it (thanks!), but you can also find a Scots glossary in the Quick Links.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: GUEST,David L
Date: 28 Jul 08 - 12:43 PM

BTW, don't bother with the Glasgow version. It's just a parody from much later that has nothing to do with the traditional folk song. Like Weird Al Yankovich, maybe....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Comin' through the rye -- Lyr. add
From: GUEST,Anne Neilson
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 04:17 PM

Burns' editions will provide the following set of words:-

Cho. O, Jenny's a' weet, poor body,
       Jenny's seldom dry;
       She's draigl't a' her petticoatie,
       Comin' thro' the rye!

1) Comin' thro' the rye, poor body,
      Comin' thro' the rye,
      She draigl't a' her petticoat,
      Comin' thro' the rye!

2) Gin a body meet a body
    Comin' thro' the rye;
    Gin a body kiss a body
    Need a body cry?

3) Gin a body meet a body
    Comin' thro' the glen;
    Gin a body kiss a body
    Need the warld ken?

But when I was at primary school in the 50's, we didn't have the petticoat chorus -- will come back with the alternate chorus, if I can remember it!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Comin' through the rye
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 06:00 PM

The chorus I recall from school went

Ilka lassie hae her laddie
Nane they say hae I,
But a' the lads they smile on me
When comin' thro' the rye.

Is that the one you were seeking, Anne?

~M~

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Comin' through the rye
From: GUEST, DrWord
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 07:46 PM

Yes, Anne, it is in the DT, spelt "thro'". Thanks for the other verse, ~M~

cheers
dennis

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Mar 14 - 07:03 PM

A somewhat different ending in the volume of "The Poetical Works of Robert Burns" that I have. Might as well post it.

COMING THROUGH THE RYE

Coming through the rye, poor body.
Coming through the rye,
She draiglet a' her petticoatie,
Coming through the rye.
Jenny's a' wat, poor body,
Jenny's seldom dry;
She draiglet a' her petticoatie,
Coming through the rye.

Gin a body meet a body-
Coming through the rye;
Gin a body kiss a body-
Need a body cry?

Gin a body meet a body
Coming through the glen,
Gin a body kiss a body-
Need the world ken?
Jenny's a' wat, poor body;
Jenny's seldom dry;
She draiglet a' her petticoatie,
Coming through the rye.

A. L. Burt Company, NYC. With biographical memoir by Alexander Smith.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Comin' through the rye
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 Mar 14 - 08:15 PM

The bawdy version of COMIN' THRO' THE RYE, as it appeared in The Merry Muses of Caledonia, can be seen at Wikisource.

Subject: ADD Version: Comin' Thro' the Rye
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Aug 16 - 03:54 AM

The versions of this song that I find here and in the Robert Burns books, certainly aren't the version I learned as a kid. Here's the version from the Fireside Book of Love Songs (page 102-103). It's much closer to the version I grew up with...for better or worse. Is it authentic, or is it an Americanized version?

COMIN' THRO' THE RYE

Gin a body meet a body, comin' thro' the Rye.
Gin a body kiss a body, need a body cry?
Ilka lassie has her laddie; nane, they say, hae I;
Yet a' the lads they smile on me,
When comin' thro' the rye!

Gin a body meet a body, comin' frae the toon;
Gin a body greet a body, need a body froon?
Amang the train, there is a swain I dearly love mysel',
But what's his name or what's his hame,
I dinna (danna?) care to tell!

Subject: ADD Version: Comin' through the rye
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Aug 16 - 04:04 AM

Maybe it IS reasonably authentic. Here's the "Modern theatrical version from The Book of Scottish Song, edited by Alexander Whitelaw, 1844 (page 332).

COMIN' THRO' THE RYE

Gin a body meet a body, comin' through the rye.
Gin a body kiss a body, need a body cry?
Every lassie has her laddie; nane, they say, hae I;
Yet a' the lads they smile at me,
When comin' thro' the rye.
Amang the train, there is a swain I dearly lo'e mysell,
But whaur his hame, or what his name,
I dinna care to tell.

Gin a body meet a body, comin' frae the town;
Gin a body greet a body, need a body frown?
Every lassie has her laddie; nane, they say, hae I;
Yet a' the lads they smile at me,
When comin' thro' the rye.
Amang the train, there is a swain I dearly lo'e mysell,
But whaur his hame, or what his name,
I dinna care to tell.


Whitelaw has other versions, but it's late and I found what I want. Anybody want to transcribe the others? Just follow the link.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Burns 'Coming Thro The Rye' (Non-vulgar)
From: Lighter
Date: 11 Aug 16 - 10:18 AM

Anne Neilson's text above is the standard version by Burns.

Assertions the song existed in earlier versions appear to lack evidence. Burns may have written the bawdy version as well.

By way of comparison, the "Killiecrankie" thread shows that the belief that Burns merely revised a traditional song of that name is not correct. He wrote all but a few words, and James Hogg apparently added another stanza or two.

Subject: RE: Origins: Coming Through The Rye
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 11 Aug 16 - 05:33 PM

Comin' Thro' The Rye is one of those songs that sadly, has in the past, often been sung by tartan tenors / screeching sopranos as an 'art ' song, with Morningside/Milngavie- excruciating vowels instead of a guid Scots tongue.
I hope nowadays that people are more familiar with the folk/ traditional versions of Burns' and other Scottish songs -- tho' Ah hae ma doots!

Subject: RE: Origins: Coming Through The Rye
From: GUEST,It's Magic
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 04:38 PM

Ian Bruce has a nice version of this on his Rhythm'n'Burns album.

Subject: RE: Origins: Coming Through The Rye
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 08:56 PM

Do not make a stingy sandwich.
Pile the cold cuts high.
Customers should see salami
Coming through the rye.

[the Allan Sherman version]

Subject: RE: Origins: Coming Through The Rye
From: mayomick
Date: 11 Nov 19 - 05:43 AM

Did Burns set the words to an old air or was the music composed to fit the lyric ?

Subject: RE: Origins: Coming Through The Rye
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Nov 19 - 10:17 AM

Ok I never knew this *had* a tune. I read the book.

Subject: RE: Origins: Coming Through The Rye
From: Lighter
Date: 12 Nov 19 - 11:10 AM

David Low, The Songs of Robert Burns (2005):

"Burns marked the tune as Miller's Wedding - a Strathspey. It occurs in Bremner's Reels (1759) ."

The usual tune for "Auld Lang Syne" is similar: try it in strathspey time.

Subject: RE: Origins: Coming Through The Rye
From: mayomick
Date: 12 Nov 19 - 06:29 PM

thanks for that, Lighter.

Subject: RE: Origins: Coming Through The Rye
From: mayomick
Date: 12 Nov 19 - 06:36 PM

Mzzry :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLrIG51x3Jg

Subject: RE: Origins: Coming Through The Rye
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Nov 19 - 10:27 AM

I always learn something here. Thanks for the links.

Subject: RE: Origins: Coming Through The Rye
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 13 Nov 19 - 10:59 AM

Best version!!