Lyr Add: Spottie

Subject: Lyr Add: SPOTTIE
From: Conrad Bladey (Peasant- Inactive)
Date: 18 Mar 00 - 11:33 AM

Spottie
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Come all ye good people and listen to me,
And a comical tale I will tell unto ye,
Belangin' yen Spottie--leev'd on the law Quay,
That had nowther hoose nor harbour he.

The poor auld wives o' the North side dissn't knaw what for to dee,
For the daurna' come to see their husbands when they come to the Quay;
Theyt're feared for their sels, an' their infants tee,
For this roguish fellow they ca' Spottie.

But noo he's gyen away unto the seaside,
Where mony a yen wishes he may be weshed away wi' the tide,
For if Floutter's flod com' as it used for to dee,
It'll drive his heart oot--then where'll his midred be?

The poor auld wives of Whitburn dissn't knaw what for to dee,
They daurna come alang the sands wi' their swills i' their hands,
But they're forced to tyek a coble an' come in by the sea.

As Laird Forster was riding alang in the sands,
As he, or any other gentleman might chance for to dee,
Spottie cam' oot- his tanter-wallups did flee--
His horse teuk the boggle, an' off flew he.

He gethers coals i' the day-time, as he's well knawn for to dee,
An'myeks a fire on a neet, which kests a leet into the sea,
Which gar'd poor sloopy cry "hellem a lee,"
An' aback o' the Carcasses cam' poor she.

Alack! an' well-a-day, said the Maister--"What mun we dee?"
"Truist to Providence" said the Mate, "an' we're sure to get free;"
There was a poor little lad 'at had come a trial viage to sea,
His heart went like a pair of bellowses, an' he didn't knaw what for to dee,

Johhy Ushere, the Maister, wad ha'e carried him away,
But the ships company swore, de'il be their fate if they wad wi' him stay;
We'll first forfeit oor wages for not gannin' to sea
Afore we'll gan' wi' that foguish fellow they ca' Spottie.

-(Sunderland) Spottie was a poor lunatic who lived in a cave at Roker, between Whitburn and Sunderland, which still retains the name of "Spottie's Hole."., Source A Beuk o' Newcassel Sangs.
Joseph Cawhall,