The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #2144   Message #2393825
Posted By: Jim Dixon
20-Jul-08 - 11:25 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Farewell to Whiskey / Johnnie My Man
Subject: Lyr Add: JOHNNIE, MY MAN / FAREWELL TO WHISKY
This version is from Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland by Robert Ford, 1901, page 254. Note that it has a few more verses than the other versions posted here.

JOHNNIE, MY MAN.

"O, JOHNNIE, my man, do ye no think on risin'?
The day is far spent and the nicht's comin' on;
Ye're siller's near dune, and the stoup's toom before ye;
O, rise up, my Johnnie, and come awa' hame."

"O, wha is it that I hear speaking sae kindly?
I think it's the voice o' my ain wifie Jean;
Come in by, my dearie, and sit down beside me,
It's time enough yet to be gaun awa' hame."

"O, Johnnie, my man, when we first fell a-courting,
We had naething but love then to trouble our mind;
We spent a' our time 'mang the sweet scented roses,
And I ne'er thocht it lang then to gang awa' hame."

"I remember richt weel, Jean, the time that ye speak o',
And weel I remember the sweet flowery glen;
But thae days are a' past, and will never return, love,
Sae sit down beside me, nor think o' gaun hame."

"O, Johnnie, my man, our bairns are a' greetin',
Nae meal in the barrel to fill their wee wames;
While sittin' here drinking, ye leave me lamentin';
O, rise up, my Johnnie, and come awa' hame."

Then Johnnie he rase, and he bang'd the door open,
Saying, "Curs'd be the tavern that ere let me in;
And curs'd be the whisky that's made me sae frisky;
O fare-ye-weel whisky, for I'll awa' hame.

"And Jeannie, my dear, your advice will be taken,
I'll leave aff the auld deeds and follow thee hame;
Live sober and wisely, and aye be respected;
Nae mair in the ale-house I'll sit, but at hame."

Noo Johnnie gaes out ilka fine summer even,
Wi' his wife and his bairns fu' trig and fu' bein,
Though a wee while sin' syne, in rags they were rinnin',
While Johnnie sat fou' in the ale-house at e'en.

Contented and crouse he sits by his ain fireside,
And Jeannie, a happier wife there is nane;
Nae mair to the tavern at nicht does he wander,
But's happy wi' Jean and his bairnies at hame.

"Forty and more years ago, this was a common street song in various parts of Scotland, and found ready sale always in penny-sheet form, chiefly among those who required most its pointed moral lesson."