And taking the transcription from Tattie Bogle and everything else that's been posted, here's my attempt at a final transcription of the Adam McNaughtan recording from The Words That I Used to Know. I don't know if this is the original McNaughtan recording, or if it's the same recording Tattie Bogle used for reference. You'll notice that my transcription disagrees with Tattie Bogle in many places. If you have any corrections to my corrections, please post them below and I'll incorporate them into this post.
YELLOW ON THE BROOM
(Adam McNaughtan)
I ken ye dinna like it, lass, tae winter here in toun
For the scaldies aye miscry us, and they try to bring us doun;
And it's hard to raise three bairns in a single flea-box room,
But I'll tak' ye on the road again when yellow's on the broom.
CHORUS
When the yellow's on the broom, when the yellow's on the broom,
I'll tak' ye on the road again when yellow's on the broom.
(Chorus repeats the last line of each verse)
The scaldies call us tinker dirt and sconce our bairns in school,
But who cares what a scaldie thinks, for a scaldie's but a fool.
They never hear the yorlin's sang, nor see the flax in bloom,
For they're aye cooped up in hooses when the yellow's on the broom.
Nae sale for pegs nor baskets now, so just to stay alive
I've had tae work at scaldie jobs frae nine o'clock til five;
But we call nae man our maister, for we own the world's room,
And I'll bid fareweel tae Brechin, when the yellow's on the broom.
I'm weary for the springtime, when we tak' the road aince mair,
Tae the plantin' and the pearling, and the berry fields at Blair,
When we meet up wi' our kinfolk, frae a' the country roun',
And the gang-aboot folk tak' the road, when yellow's on the broom.
I hear "bairns," not bairnies. And I often hear "when yellow's on the broom" without "the."
Adam McNaughtan recording from The Words That I Used to Know:
The Words That I Used to Know is a very nice two-CD collection, apparently containing two albums: Words Words Words: Adam McNaughtan sings songs from Glasgow (and Elsinore) and The Glasgow That I Used to Know.
So, Tattie Bogle and others, do you have corrections to my corrections?
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sj