Cat-Gut Jim, The Fiddler

Tune-"And sae will we yet."

Aw'm Cat-gut Jim, the fiddler, a man o' greet renoon,
Aw play te myek me livin, lads, in country an' I' toon;
Tiv ivery fair an' ivery feast wi' maw fiddle aw repair:
Gox! where thor's ony fun or sport thou's sure to fynd me there.

Chorus
For aw drive away dull care, aw drive away dull care,
So patronise poor Cat-gut Jim when ye've only cash te spare.

Aw'll play ye ony tuen ye like, aw'll play ye "Cheer, boys, cheer,"
Or te try an' keep yor spirits up, aw'll play the "Drop o' Beer,"
The "Deevil amang the Tailors," "Peggy Pickin doon the shore."
The"Lass that loves a sailor," an' mony a dozen more.

For aw drive away, etc.

Aw play "Mary Blane," an' "Lucy Neal," wi' " Poor old Uncle Ned,"
"O! Nanny, wilt thou gang wi' me," "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled";
Aw play "McCloud's" reel beautiful, "What are ye gawn te stand?"
The "Keel Row," shaken a' the rags o'er this happy, unhappy land.

Spoken- Ony thing, frev an elephant's trunk tiv a lucifer match-box. Uz street fiddlers fynds times queeer just noo-customers bad te fynd-but iv a' the customers aw meet gie me the sailors, them's the boys!-the bulwarks of owld England. Aw'm a sailor; ye can see by the cut o' me jib. Aw sarved me time to be a ship-owner aboard o' the Dredger-what a gun-boat the Dredger 'id myek-when they run short o' cannon-balls they cud fire coal-skuttles at the enemy. An' then they're always weel supplied wi' Newcastle amonishen-clarts. Aw knaw a vast aboot the sea, but the next time aw gan it'll be iv a cab. Yes, aw'll hev a luik at it. Still, aw'm fond o' sailors; when aw sees yen aw generally play "Far upon the Sea." (Play the tune named here..) When aw seen an Irishman- them's the boys, Hatre genus men- they'll gie ye tuppence if they hevent a fardin' I' thor pockets. Aw generally play them the "Exile of Erin" an' "Patrick's Day." One's full o' human nater, an' the other's full o' shillalahs an' life porsarvers- them's the things for layin a foundation for stickin plaister. (Plays the airs mentioned.) When aw see a Scotchman aw play "Auld Robin Gray" on the bagpipes, efter the style o' Sir Colin Campbell, "Ye Deil's Buckie." (Play here.) But when aw join the fishwives-them's the boys! aw play sthem "Pop goes the Weasel, " efter the style o' Sir Walter Raily when he tossed a chow o' bacy at Queen Elizabeth. (Plays.)

Chorus

For aw drive away dull care, aw drive away dull care,
So patronise poor Cat-gut Jim when ye've ony cash te spare.

-Corvan, 1862