Lyr ADD: A Wee Cock Sparrow

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: GUEST,Dave Hanson
Date: 15 Nov 22 - 05:46 AM

' coak ' is merely the Scottish pronunciation of ' cock '

Dave H

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 14 Nov 22 - 05:52 PM

[for the search engines,,,]

^ The video has it as 'A Wee Coak Sparrah'

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 14 Nov 22 - 05:49 PM

Fine video of Duncan Macrae singing this unaccompanied.

   https://youtu.be/HivJ4EosWS8

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: eddie1
Date: 23 Oct 11 - 05:16 AM

Venue – Citizen's Theatre, Glasgow, way back when.
Cast – A very young, relatively inexperienced Roddy McMillan, a much older, very experienced Duncan McRae.
Scene – A room with furniture and a telephone.
Action – In the middle of a dialogue, the telephone rings unexpectedly. Roddy McMillan – Panic! Duncan McRae, the veteran, lifts the handset, puts it to his ear, listens intently, says, "Yes", hands the phone to Roddy and says, "It's for you!"

Eddie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: GUEST,Allez les Bleus - RWC Final
Date: 23 Oct 11 - 04:59 AM

Mon brave oui coq Parra

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 31 Jul 10 - 09:07 AM

Poor little sparrer, poor little fing,
No fevvers on its back, no fevvers on its wing.
Cut its bleedin' 'ead orf.

Or
Poor little sparrer, poor little fing,
No fevvers on its 'ead, no fevvers on its wing,
Can't fly, can't sing.
Useless barstard
Jim Carroll

Subject: Lyr Add: THE WEE COCK SPARRA (H Frater, D Macrae)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Jul 09 - 04:20 PM

Here's how it appears in The Edinburgh Book of Twentieth-Century Scottish Poetry edited by Maurice Lindsay and Lesley Duncan (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005), page 113:


THE WEE COCK SPARRA
Hugh Frater and Duncan Macrae

A wee cock sparra sat on a tree,
A wee cock sparra sat on a tree,
A wee cock sparra sat on a tree
Chirpin awa as blithe as could be.

Alang came a boy wi' a bow and an arra,
Alang came a boy wi' a bow and an arra,
Alang came a boy wi' a bow and an arra
And he said: 'I'll get ye, ye wee cock sparra.'

The boy wi' the arra let fly at the sparra,
The boy wi' the arra let fly at the sparra,
The boy wi' the arra let fly at the sparra,
And he hit a man that was hurlin' a barra.

The man wi' the barra cam owre wi' the arra,
The man wi' the barra cam owre wi' the arra,
The man wi' the barra cam owre wi' the arra,
And said: 'Ye take me for a wee cock sparra?'

The man hit the boy, tho he wasne his farra,
The man hit the boy, tho he wasne his farra,
The man hit the boy, tho he wasne his farra
And the boy stood and glowered; he was hurt tae the marra.

And a' this time the wee cock sparra,
And a' this time the wee cock sparra,
And a' this time the wee cock sparra
Was chirpin awa on the shank o' the barra.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 23 Jul 09 - 08:47 AM

Thanks for the link, Tattie Bogle. I listened.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 08:25 PM

We didn't have the wonders of Youtube when this thread started, but listen here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM9c97Rf20U

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 11:43 AM

Hi, sweetie. I don't know for sure, but I bet the answer is 'the hen sparrow.'

...yr wlcm...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: GUEST,eLLaiN mAE gARdE
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 07:29 AM

what is the female cock-sparrow called???
pleas answer emidetly because it is part of my homework
..................tnx.............

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: GUEST,Feefee
Date: 18 Sep 06 - 06:26 AM

Sally Logan sng with Joe Gordon - saddo that I am, I have both their autographs kept since childhood

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: Murray on Saltspring
Date: 21 Oct 99 - 04:07 AM

I heard DMcR sing the song one Hogmanay broadcast on TV (Scottish TV, maybe, not BBC), 1959 or so. He was I suspect half-cut at the time, and I knew from observation that he used to frequent bars (the same pubs as I did, I mean)--by the bye, when he spoke it was in a quite "Anglified" manner- tho he was a master of the Scots.--Anyway this is my recollection:


THE WEE COCK SPARRA

A wee cock sparra sat on a tree,
A wee cock sparra sat on a tree.
A wee cock sparra sat on a tree,
Chirpin' awa' as blythe as could be.

[similarly, i.e. 1st line sung three times]

Alang cam a boy, wi' a bow an' an arra,
Says he, I'll get ye, ye wee cock sparra.

Ra boy wi ra arra let fly at ra sparra,
An' he hit a man that was hurlin' a barra.

Ra man wi' ra barra cam owre wi ra arra,
Says, D'ye tak me for a wee cock sparra?

Ra man hit ra boy, tho he wisna his farra,
An' the boy stood an glowered, he wis hurt tae ra marra.

An' a' this time ra wee cock sparra
Wis chirpin' awa' on the shaft o' ra barra.

--I think I've got it fairly close. The "ra" in there, as you may guess, is dialect for "the".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: john c
Date: 20 Oct 99 - 05:58 PM

Thanks all for the info!! The White Heather Club, eh? Andy Stewart, Dixie Ingram, but who was the female who sang with Joe Gordon? 300 bonus points for the right answer. J.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: Bobby Bob, Ellan Vannin
Date: 20 Oct 99 - 02:16 PM

Duncan MacRae was the tall, lugubrious Gaelic speaker in the film, Whisky Galore, who kept trying to pour the whisky down his throat whilst his mother was intent on getting rid of the evidence down the sink.

He also used to turn up on the (dreadful) White Heather Club and on various Hogmanay events, where he used to perform The Wee Cock Sparra fairly often.

Memories are made of THIS?

Shoh slaynt,

Bobby Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: Patrish
Date: 20 Oct 99 - 08:42 AM

My Dad has something like this on a tape and makes me listen to it every time I go and see him. If yo dont manage to get the words, let me know and I will listen very carefully and write the words down for you. Patrish

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: Ted from Australia
Date: 20 Oct 99 - 05:37 AM

Beat me to it Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: Stewie
Date: 19 Oct 99 - 06:56 PM

Delving deep into memory, I once knew a wee poem that went something like:

THE WEE COCK SPARRA

A wee cock sparra sat on a barra
A wee cock sparra sat on a barra
A wee cock sparra sat on a barra
And along came a boy with a bow and an arrow
And along came a boy with a bow and an arrow
And along came a boy with a bow and an arrow

Now the boy let fly at the wee cock sparra (3)
And the boy hit the man who was pushing the barra (3)
And the man hit the boy though he wasna his faither (3)
And all this time the wee cock sparra
And all this time the wee cock sparra
And all this time the wee cock sparra
Was chirpin' away on the edge of the barra
Was chirpin' away on the edge of the barra

I don't know if that is what you're after, but the above was taught to me years ago by a bloke from Glasgow.

Subject: A Wee Cock Sparrow
From: John C
Date: 19 Oct 99 - 02:51 PM

Does anybody, anywhere know the words to A Wee Cock Sparrow by the late, great and almost legendary Duncan McRae?? John.