The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #62704   Message #1014194
Posted By: Malcolm Douglas
07-Sep-03 - 01:59 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Muckin' o' Geordie's Byre
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Muckin O'Geordies Byre
The history of the song is quite well explained in the DT entry. There is no "English version" as such, though two of the texts linked to above (neither, sadly, with any source acknowledged) are the older surviving song of that name from Johnson's Scots Musical Museum; a few words (two of which would probably be incomprehensible to the average Scot of today in any case) have been altered. The 1700 date in the fourth link is an error; the words given there are quite modern (20th century) and written deliberately broader than the older song. The 1700 song itself is lost, apart from fragments.

Andy Stewart used to sing a form of the modern words, with an amusing (first time around, anyway) break in which he "translated" part of the song into stereotypical "posh" English.