Looking through my collections

Rastrelnikov,

You can add a great many songs of war to this thread of one people hating another. Many are sad more than angry. Here is one from the Jacobite Rebellion. I'm sure a better man (person) than I am (Gunga Din) will give us the exact history of this "German Lairdie" who came to sit on the throne of Scotland and was so dispised. I heard this song on "The Thistle and Shamrock" radio show sung by a woman. Mel Bay's "Songs of Scotland" has a version. I've tried to translate the difficult underlined words but, as you can see, some still need work. Anyone?


The Wee Wee German Lairdie
a Jacobite air

Verse I
Wha' the de'il hae we gotten for a King,
But a wee, wee German lairdie,
And when we gaed oot tae bring him hame,
He was delvin' in his yairdie (digging in his garden)
Wi'oot the hoose and but the breeks (without hose and trousers)
And up wi' his beggar duds he cleeks
This wee, wee German lairdie.

Verse II
And he's clappit doon in oor guidman's chair (sat down hastily in our throne)
The wee, wee German lairdie;
And he's brought fourth o' foreign trash,
And dibbled them in his yairdie (planted)
He's pu'd the rose o' English loons (knaves)
And broken the harp o' Irish clowns
But oor thistle taps will jag his thoons (tops)
This wee, wee German lairdie.

Verse III
Come up amang oor Heiland hills
Thou wee, wee German lairdie,
And see how the Stuarts' lang-kail thrive
They dibbled in oor yairdie;
And if a stock ye dare to pu', (stalk?)
Or haud the yokin' o' a plough,
We'll brak your sceptre ower your mou' (mouth)
Thou wee, wee German lairdie..

Verse IV
Oor hills are steep, oor glens are deep,
Nae fitting for a yairdie;
And oor Norland thistles winna pu',
Thou wee, wee German lairdie;
And we've the trenching blades o' weir, (war)
Wad prune ye o' your German gear (goods)
We'll pass ye 'neath the claymore's shear,
Thou feckless German lairdie!

Verse V
Auld Scotland, thou'rt ower cauld a hole
For nursin' siccan vermin; (such)
But the very dogs o' England's court
They bark and howl in German.
Then keep thy dibble in thy ain hand,
Thy spade but and thy yairdie;
For wha' the de'il now claims your land
But a wee, wee German lairdie?

judy