Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)

Subject: Lyrics to
From: J. Muller
Date: 17 Feb 97 - 08:50 AM

Does anyone know the lyrics to "Pretty Peg"? I believe it was recorded by the Bothy Band

Thanks,

Jim Muller

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyrics to
From: belter
Date: 17 Feb 97 - 09:21 AM

try "BONNIE LASS OF FENARIO" in the dt.

Subject: Lyr Add: PRETTY PEG
From: LaMarca
Date: 17 Feb 97 - 10:34 AM

PRETTY PEG is a version of the Child ballad "The Keach in the Creel"; lyrics are approximately (with some Anglicization):

When Pretty Peg walked down the street some fresh fish for to buy,
The wee town clerk followed after her and he kissed her by and by.

CHORUS: With my tiddy right faladiddle daddy, etc.

"Oh, how can I get to your chamber, love? How can I get to your bed,
When your daddy goes to bed at night with a keen eye on his head?"

"Oh, go and get a ladder, love of thirty steps and three,
And a creel all on the top of that, And come down in the lum to me."

(Creel = a large basket; lum = chimney)

So he's went and got a ladder Of thirty steps and three...
***MEMORY LAPSE HERE***

No peace nor ease could the old wife get with dreams running through her head.
"I'll lay on me life," said the gay old wife, "there's a boy in our daughter's bed!"

The old man crept...*ANOTHER MEMORY LAPSE HERE*
Silence reigned throughout the house

"My curse attend thee, Father. What brought ye up so soon,
To put me through my evening prayers, and I just lying down?"

He's gone back to his gay old wife. He's gone back to she.
"She's got the prayer book in her hand and she's prayin' for you and me."

No peace nor ease could the old wife get till she's gone up to see...
*****(Damn; when your memory goes, forget it)
And into the creel went she.

"Oh, high I rocked her. Didn't I rock her? Didn't I rock her well?
For if any old dame begrudge me her daughter, I'll rock her into hell."

Hope you or someone else can fill in the asterisks; look for a similar but more detailed Scottish version called "The Blue Blanket" which describes the lovely young daughter hiding her boyfriend in a blue blanket while Daddy comes up to check on her, and the boyfriend's brother/accomplice waits on the roof for a tug on the rope to pull him back up. When Momma falls into the basket, of course the accomplice starts hauling, Momma starts screeching that the Devil has her and a fun time is had by all!

Subject: Pretty Peg/Bothy Band
From:
Date: 08 Jun 97 - 03:04 PM

I'm looking for the lyrics to "Pretty Peg" as recorded by the Bothy Band. The song goes like this:

When Pretty Peg walked down the street Some fresh fish for to buy When the (?) passed, followed I after her, And I kissed her by-and-by.

With my tilly-right-fol-di-diddle-di-do With my tilly-right-fol-di-diddle-dan

Oh, how can I get to your chamber lover, How can I get to your bed? When your daddy goes to bed at night Wi' the key lyin' under head (?)

With my tilly-right-fol-di-diddle-di-do With my tilly-right-fol-di-diddle-dan

Oh, go and get the ladder love Of thirty steps and three And put it to the chimney top And come down in a dream to me.

Etcetera.... I know most of the lyrics, just can't quite make out some of the words.

Subject: RE: Pretty Peg/Bothy Band
From: LaMarca
Date: 09 Jun 97 - 01:16 PM

Hi, rechal - I typed out the lyrics for someone on an earlier thread; type Pretty Peg in the filter box and set the date for 90 days and you should pull it up.

Subject: RE: Pretty Peg/Bothy Band
From: Wolfgang Hell
Date: 10 Jun 97 - 05:17 AM

Some alternative titles are:

a Cetch in the Creele

A Ride in the Creel

The auld wife in the peat creel

each of them telling a variant of the original story

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Pretty Peg/Bothy Band
From:
Date: 10 Jun 97 - 06:14 PM

Thanks so much!

Subject: Lyr req: Pretty Peg
From:
Date: 06 Mar 01 - 01:50 AM

hi out there. There's a song sung by Triona niDomhaill on the first or one of the first Bothy Band albums. The tune is called "Pretty Peg" and the words are very hard to understand. Anybody got 'em (No: it's not the same as "The Maid of Fife-e-o, which is often mistitled "Pretty Peggy". Thanks.

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Pretty Peg
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 06 Mar 01 - 03:28 AM

Correction, "Maid of Fyvie O" is a Scots reworking of the Irish "Pretty Peggy of Darby O". (Song and history on my website) There are at least two other "Pretty Peg/Peggy O" songs (not counting the American reworking (by Rossina Emmit?, 1880) of "Pretty Peggy of Darby O", but I don't have them.
It seems quite possible that the one you're looking for is "The shearin's no for you, Pretty Peggy O". I can't seem to find it in DT, although I thought it was there. Some one will come up with it. Thomas Lyle used it's tune for his "Kelvin Grove" about 1820, and the tune is often found under the "Kelvin Grove" title.

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Pretty Peg
From: Wolfgang
Date: 06 Mar 01 - 05:03 AM

for the Bothy Band lyrics follow this link.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Pretty Peg
From:
Date: 06 Mar 01 - 09:45 PM

Wolfgang: Bulls-eye! Thank you very much; that's the Pretty Peg I was looking for.

Subject: Pretty Peg
From: GUEST,Jean O'Sullivan
Date: 03 Sep 02 - 04:41 PM

I see the gaps in 'Pretty Peg' correspond to my own, but I would join my voice to the appeal to fill in those gaps. The version I know is sung by triona Ni Dhomnaill on a Bothy Band album.

Subject: Lyr Add: PRETTY PEG
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 03 Sep 02 - 06:36 PM

Here are the bits I can remember:

PRETTY PEG

When Pretty Peg walked down the street
Some fresh fish for to buy
The wee town clerk followed after her
And he kissed her by and by.

With my tiddy right faladiddle daddy, etc.

Oh, how can I get to your chamber, love,
How can I get to your bed
When your daddy goes to sleep at night
With a keen eye on his head.

I ALWAYS HEARD THIS AS:
"WITH THE KEY LYING UNDER HIS HEAD" (i.e. under his pillow?)

Oh, go and get a ladder, love
Of thirty steps and three
And a creel all on the top of that
And come down in the lum to me

(Creel = a large basket; lum = chimney)

So he's went and got a ladder
Of thirty steps and three
***MEMORY LAPSE HERE***

[?? Not sure] AND PUT IT UP TO THE CHIMNEY TOP
{???] AND CAME DOWN IN THE LUM TO SHE

No peace nor ease could the old wife get
With dreams running through her head
"I'll lay on me life, said the gay old wife
There's a boy in our daughter's bed!"

The old man crept.....*ANOTHER MEMORY LAPSE HERE*

[My memory's not much better… ???
UP THE STAIRS THE OLD MAN CREPT
TILL HE WOULD RISE AND SEE
Silence reigned throughout the house
. . .

"My curse attend thee Father,
What brought ye up so soon?
To put me through my evening prayers,
And I just lying down."

He's gone back to his gay old wife,
He's gone back to she
"She has the prayer book in her hand
And she's prayin' for you and me."

No peace nor ease could the old wife get
Til she's gone up to see
*****(Damn; when your memory goes, forget it)
BUT SHE CAME ON A STUMBLING-BLOCK
And into the creel went she

Oh, hi I rocked her, HO I ROCKED HER
Didn't I rock her well?
For if any old wife begrudge me her daughter,
I'll rock her into hell

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 03 Sep 02 - 06:40 PM

Last line of the 4th verse is possibly:

"Came down in a CREEL to she" ?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 03 Sep 02 - 08:19 PM

The relevant links are:

PRETTY PEG -DT file; with plenty of holes in it.

Lyrics to "Pretty Peg" by The Bothy Band? - The thread from which it was harvested; prematurely, I'd have thought.

Lyr Add: PRETTY PEG or THE KEECH IN THE CREEL -A better transcription, though still containing obvious mistakes; followed by an improved transcription from Wolfgang.

Bonnie has added some very useful corrections too; keen eye was obviously wrong, and traditional versions tend to have key lying under or key in-under. We still don't have an entirely accurate text, but Triona was a bit of a mumbler in those days, so it's hardly surprising. Gaps can easily be filled from the many traditional sets of the song, so I don't think that her exact words really matter very much, except insofar as people will sometimes want to learn an arrangement exactly as it appeared on a favourite record; which can be a bit of a trial if Triona was the singer!

Subject: Lyr Add: PRETTY PEG
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 04 Sep 02 - 06:02 AM

OK, here's my synthesis of what seems to be the most complete version, compiled from the various sources mentioned above (thanks to Malcolm for the helpful links). You'll see that I fudged a bit and put "never spied the creel" in place of "never twigged the creel" which sounds anachronistically modern to my ears – though that sort of thing can be deceptive: I once heard a piece of slang that I could have sworn came from gangster-era New York, only to learn that it actually originated in Shakespeare's England. Anyway:

PRETTY PEG

When Pretty Peg walked down the street
Some fresh fish for to buy
The wee town clerk followed after her
And he kissed her by and by

With my tiddy right faladiddle daddy
With my tiddy right faladiddle day

Oh how can I get to your chamber, love
And how can I get to your bed
When your daddy goes to sleep at night
With the key lying under his head
Oh go and get a ladder, love
With thirty steps and three
Put a creel all on the top of that
And come down in the lum to me

So he went and got a ladder
Of thirty steps and three
And put it up to the chimney top
And came down in the creel to she

No peace nor ease could the old wife get
With dreams running through her head
I'll lay me life said the gay old wife
There's a boy in our daughter's bed

Up the stairs the old man crept
And into her room did steal
Silence reigned where the daughter slept
And he never spied the creel
My curse attend thee Father
What brought you up so soon
To put me through my evening prayers
And I just lying down

He's gone back to his gay old wife
He's gone back to she
She has the prayer book in her hand
And she's praying for you and me

No peace nor ease could the old wife get
Till she would rise and see
But she came on a stumbling-block
And into the creel went she

Hi I rocked her, ho I rocked her
Didn't I rock her well
For if any old wife begrudge me her daughter
I'd rock her into hell

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 04 Sep 02 - 11:54 AM

For what it's worth, twig probably isn't that much of a neologism; it seems to derive from Irish Gaelic tuigim; understand; discern.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Sep 02 - 01:46 PM

Correct Malcom,

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy
Date: 04 Sep 02 - 02:04 PM

Paul Brady did a version of this song calling it 'The Creel'. It's on the recently released cd 'The Liberty Tapes' which is basically a live version of his lp 'Welcome Here Kind Stranger'. lyrics changed somewhat, but credited as Trad. arr. by Brady et.al.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: lamarca
Date: 04 Sep 02 - 02:09 PM

What goes around, comes around - it's interesting to see that the half-remembered lyrics I entered 5 years ago are now ensconced in the DT as tho entered in stone. I never pretended to have the correct version, and was quite open about the gaps and lapses in my transcription. I'm sort of appalled that this is the version in the DT - and that there's no note at the bottom of which recording it was transcribed/remembered from (Triona ni Dhomnaill on The Best of the Bothy Band) or which Mudcatter submitted the words (lamarca) or added it to the database(?).

The DT would be vastly more useful if the recordings from which the lyrics were transcribed were included, along with a caveat that the lyrics ARE a transcription. This would enable people interested in the song to perhaps find the recording and listen to the words themselves, and would enable researchers to track versions of songs.

While going back and adding this information would be a monumental task at this point, I'm sad to see that the available info wasn't included when the song was "harvested".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: Wolfgang
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 06:06 AM

For what it is worth, the version posted by Bonnie is a fine and well considered version, but it is not what Triona sings (just in case someone is explicitely interested in a transcription of her version). The closest I can get to Triona's singing is still my post based on LaMarca's transcription (third link above in Malcolm's post).

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 11:38 AM

The oldest version is on a broadside ballad of 1960, 'The Contriving Lover', given in the Scarce Songs 1 file at www.erols.com/olsonw, with the tune available as an ABC. The oldest traditional version of this song, best known as "The Keech in the Creel", is there pointed out in the notes.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: GUEST,Mikey joe
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 07:34 AM

Malcolm

The word twig is used cround Cork certainly to understand, or be aware of something. As in " I twigged there was something going on" or "Did you twig that?". And correct almost certainly derived from Tuig. An tuigeann tú? do you understand?

Slán Mj

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 07:46 AM

It's not uncommon in England, too, and was certainly current in London long since. It will have come over with Irish labourers and been picked up by their English co-workers. A number of Cockney slang words derive from Gaelic; "gob" being another, of course.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg
From: greg stephens
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 08:42 AM

The theory that it comes from Irish tuigim seems plausible, but a contrary theory based on Old English twiccian(pluck or pull) is equally possible isnt it? Or some common Indo-European root may tie both together a long way back.

Subject: Lyr Add: PRETTY PEG (from The Bothy Band)
From: GUEST,Deirdre
Date: 17 Apr 07 - 10:41 PM

PRETTY PEG

When Pretty Peg went down the street
Some fresh fish for to buy
The wedding class followed after her
And they kissed her by and by

With my diddy right falt diddy dye do
My diddy right falt da diddle ay

With my tiddy right faladiddle daddy
With my tiddy right faladiddle day
Oh how can I get to your chamber, love
Oh how can I get to your bed
When your daddy goes to sleep at night
With a key lying under his head

Oh go and get a ladder, love
With thirty steps and three
And put it to the chimney top
And come down in the creel to me

I went and got a ladder love
With thirty steps and three
And a creel on the top of that
I'll come down in the lum to thee

No peace nor ease could the old wife get
With dreams running through her head
I'll lay on me life said the gay old wife
There's a boy in me daughter's bed

Then up the stairs the old man crept
And into her room did steal
Silence reigned where the daughter slept
And he never spied the creel

My curse attend you Father
What brought you up so soon
To put me through my evening prayers
And I just lying down

He went back to his gay old wife
Oh he went back to she
She has the prayer book in her hand
And she's praying for you and me

No peace nor ease could the old wife get
Till she would rise and see
But she came on a stumbling-block
And into the creel went she

Hi I rocked her, low I rocked her
Didn't I rock her well
For if any old dame begrudge me her daughter
I'll rock her into hell

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: Barry T
Date: 18 Apr 07 - 10:00 PM

One of my favourites on YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOrReDJEpNQ

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: Roberto
Date: 13 May 07 - 03:03 PM

As sung by Triona Ni Dhomhnaill with The Bothy Band, The First Album, 1975. But please help me complete it, I miss something in stanza 1 and 2. Thanks. R

When Pretty Peg went down the street
Some fresh fish for to buy
But the ... followed after her
And he kissed her by and by

With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-dido
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-da

"Oh how can I get to your chamber, love?
Or how can I get to your bed?
When your daddy goes to bed at night
With a keen eye ... his head?"

"Oh go and get the ladder, love
With thirty steps and three
And put it to the chimney top
And come down in a creel to me"

With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-dido
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-da

"I went and got a ladder, love
With thirty steps and three
And a creel on the top of that
And come down in the lum to thee"

With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-dido
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-da

No peace nor ease could the old wife get
With dreams running through her head
"I'll lay on me life," said the gay old wife
"There's a boy in me daughter's bed"

With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-dido
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-da

Then up the stairs the old man crept
And into the room did steal
Silence reigned where the daughter slept
And he never twigged the creel

With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-dido
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-da

"My curse attend you, father
What brought you up so soon?
To put me through my evening prayers
And I just lying down?"

With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-dido
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-da

He went back to his gay old wife
He went back to she
"She has the prayer book in her hand
And she's praying for you and me"

With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-dido
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-da

No peace nor ease could that old wife get
'Til she would rise and see
She came on a stumbling-block
And into the creel went she

With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-dido
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-da

"Oh high I rocked her, oh I rocked her
Didn't I rock her well?
For if any old wife begrudge me her daughter
I'll rock her into hell"

With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-dido
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-da

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: Wolfgang
Date: 13 May 07 - 03:32 PM

I wouldn't bet on my attempt for obvious reasons, but the "wee town clerk" still sounds good to me.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: GUEST
Date: 14 May 07 - 03:01 AM

Wolfgang, but I hear an "s": to stick to the verse you suggest, could it be "the wee town clerk's followed her"???

In the second stanza, I hea something like "under his head"...

Please, listen to the song once more if you have time. Best wishes. R

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: Declan
Date: 14 May 07 - 03:16 AM

I don't understand the meaning, but I'm pretty sure in the first verse it's "The Wedding Class followed after her" in verse t2o its "The key lying under his head". You could check out some of the other threads referred to above to see if others agree, but that's how I've always heard it.

Subject: Lyr Add: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: Declan
Date: 14 May 07 - 03:24 AM

The words in this post are as I've always heard them. It would be useful if this set was used to update the DT, because there are a lot of holes in the DT version.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: Wolfgang
Date: 14 May 07 - 11:55 AM

Roberto,

I agree with Declan, the version Deirdre has posted is the best regarding the missing bits.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: michaelr
Date: 14 May 07 - 08:07 PM

I just checked the Bothy Band's performance on my "Come West Along the Road" DVD, and Triona definitely sings "the wedding class followed after her" and "the key lying under his head". Couldn't be clearer... but what's a wedding class?

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 14 May 07 - 08:31 PM

It is meaningless, but Triona was a notorious mumbler in those days (her accent wasn't strong, but her enunciation was poor) and it was sometimes impossible to make out what she was singing. 'Wedding class' is certainly a mis-hearing of something else; probably, as has been suggested (and which is supported by traditional versions) 'wee town clerk[s]'. Whether she or whoever she learned it from had garbled the words, or whether it just sounded that way, I wouldn't care to guess.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 15 May 07 - 04:30 AM

Barry T posted a link to Triona singing this on YouTube in the 1st thread listed in the Related threads links above Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band). The lyrics are pretty clear throughout and she does sing wedding class! Apart from minor changes (of the a for the sort) her text is much as that posted by Deirde in Declan's link above.

Mick

Subject: Lyr Add: PRETTY PEG (2)
From: bivs
Date: 19 May 08 - 05:46 PM

Hello everyone, I'm new to Mudcat. (Please forgive any newbie mistakes I make.) I've actually been using your fabulous resources and hanging around here as an onlooker for more than a year now, but I finally decided it was time to officially join your community.

I grew up in a home filled with traditional music (my father founded an Irish record company when I was young), but for various reasons, I'd lost touch with it for a long while. In the past two years, though, my mind has kept returning to the songs and lyrics I loved (and still love), which is how I found Mudcat in the first place. Lately, I find that entire songs are popping into my head seemingly out of nowhere, when I'd forgotten I knew them in the first place.

The latest song to float back to the surface has been "Pretty Peg." But although I love the song and know it by heart, it's always bothered me that I couldn't make sense of those two words in the second line: "But the WEDDING GLASS (?) followed after her and he kissed her by and by ..." Although many versions of the lyrics give "town clerk," I've watched the video on You Tube many times, and those words just don't seem like the ones Triona is singing.
When I came to check the lyrics at Mudcat and found this thread, it was a great relief to know that I wasn't the only one who thought so.

Although the lyrics Deirdre posted in the thread last year are very close to the ones I've always heard, they don't seem to be in the Digitrad database. So I thought I might take the liberty of adding my version to the database.

bivs from New York, NY

PRETTY PEG (2)

When Pretty Peg went down the street some fresh fish for to buy
But the wedding class (?) followed after her and he kissed her by and by

*Refrain (after each verse)*
With my tiddy right father deedle di-do
My tiddy right father deedle dan

"Oh, how can I get to your chamber, lover, how can I get to your bed
When your daddy goes to bed at night with the key lyin' under his head?"

"Oh, go and get a ladder, love, with thirty steps and three
And put it to the chimney top and come down in a creel to me."

"I went and got a ladder, love, with thirty steps and three
With a creel on the top of that and came down in a lump (?) to thee."

No peace nor ease could the old wife get with the dreams runnin' through her head
"I'll lay me life," said the gay old wife, "there's a boy in me daughter's bed."

Then up the stairs the old man crept and into the room did steal
Silence reigned, for the daughter slept and he never twigged the creel

"My curse attend you, father, what brought you up so soon
To put me through my evening prayers, and I just lying down."

He went back to his gay old wife, he went back to she:
"She has the prayer book in her hand and she's prayin' for you and me."

No peace nor ease could that old wife get till she would rise and see
But she went on a stumblin' block, and into the creel went she

"Oh, hi I rocked her, ho I rocked her, didn't I rock her well
For if any old wife begrudge me her daughter, I'd rock her into hell."

Transcribed from YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOrReDJEpNQ
Bothy Band televised performance at Dublin Embankment, Sep. 1976

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 19 May 08 - 06:56 PM

There was once a very similar discussion on this forum about the lyrics of The Maid of Coolmore. It went on for ages, then ended very abruptly when Triona herself posted the correct lyric in question!

Maybe she'll appear here too?!

Subject: Song name and lyrics wanted
From: Reiver 2
Date: 08 Jun 09 - 07:17 PM

This song was recorded by the Bothy Band and features vocals by a young Triona Ni Dhomhnaill. A video of it was posted on the Facebook website by Matt Molloy, and I've posted it to my Facebook site as well. Triona has a lovely voice, but I'm unable to make out all the words, and I'm not even sure what the name of the piece is. The original post by Matt has this designation: "Dailymotion - musique celtique Bothy Band(1976) - Pretty Peg Craig's Pipes - une vidéo Musique." He originally posted it on a website called "DailyMotion" which I was not familiar with. It can be found there. The song is sung by a young woman trying to arrange for her lover to visit her bed without her parents knowledge, and explaining that he can climb a ladder to reach her window. It has nonsense-word phrases interspersed throughout. If anyone can locate the song and help me out with it's name and the lyrics, it would be much appreciated. Let me know if you need more information in order to view the video link.

Reiver 2

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted
From: GUEST,Lock and Key
Date: 08 Jun 09 - 07:23 PM

Digital Tradition Mirror
Pretty Peg

Pretty Peg

When Pretty Peg walked down the street
    Some fresh fish for to buy
The wee town clark followed after her
    And he kissed her by and by.

    With my tiddy right faladiddle daddy, etc.

Oh, how can I get to your chamber, love,
    How can I get to your bed
When your daddy goes to bed at night
    With a keen eye on his head.

Oh, go and get a ladder, love
    Of thirty steps and three
And a creel all on the top of that
    And come down in the lum to me

    (Creel = a large basket; lum = chimney)

So he's went and got a ladder
    Of thirty steps and three
***MEMORY LAPSE HERE***

No peace nor ease could the old wife get
    With dreams running through her head
"I'll lay on me life, said the gay old wife,
    There's a boy in our daughter's bed!"

The old man crept.....*ANOTHER MEMORY LAPSE HERE*
Silence reigned throughout the house

"My curse attend thee Father,
    What brought ye up so soon?
To put me through my evening prayers,
    And I just lying down."

He's gone back to his gay old wife,
    He's gone back to she
"She's got the prayer book in her hand
    And she'd prayin' for you and me."

No peace nor ease could the old wife get
    Til she's gone up to see
*****(Damn; when your memory goes, forget it)
    And into the creel went she

Oh, high I rocked her, didn't I rock her
    Didn't I rock her well?
For if any old dame begrudge me her daughter,
    I'll rock her into hell

Hope you or someone else can fill in the asterisks; look
for a similar but more detailed Scottish version called
"The Blue Blanket" which describes the lovely young daughter
hiding her boyfriend in a blue blanket while Daddy comes up
to check on her, and the boyfriend's brother/accomplice
waits on the roof for a tug on the rope to pull him back
up. When Momma falls into the basket, of course the
accomplice starts hauling, Momma starts screeching that
the Devil has her and a fun time is had by all!"

Child #281
XX
oct99^^^

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted
From: open mike
Date: 08 Jun 09 - 07:28 PM

try this: (and if you are more specific in the thread title,
for example name the song, or singer, or some quite from lyrics
you may get better answers)

http://www.lyricstime.com/the-bothy-band-pretty-peg-lyrics.html

Subject: Lyr Add: PRETTY PEG
From: GUEST,Lock and Key--from OM's link.
Date: 08 Jun 09 - 07:32 PM

When pretty Peg went down the street
Some fresh fish for to buy
But the wee town clerk followed after her
And he kissed her by and by

Chorus (after each verse):
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-dido
With my tiddy-right-fol-da-liddle-day

"Oh how can I get to your chamber, love?
Or how can I get to your bed?
When your daddy goes to bed at night
With a keen eye on his head?"

"Oh go and get the ladder, love
With thirty steps and three
And put it to the chimney top
And come down in a creel to me"

"I went and got a ladder, love
With thirty steps and three
And a creel on the top of that
And come down in the lum to thee"

No peace nor ease could the old wife get
With dreams running through her head
"I'll lay on me life," said the gay old wife
"There's a boy in me daughter's bed"

Then up the stairs the old man crept
And into the room did steal
Silence reigned where the daughter slept
And he never twigged the creel

"My curse attend you, father
What brought you up so soon?
To put me through my evening prayers
And I just lying down?"

He went back to his gay old wife
He went back to she
"She has the prayer book in her hand
And she's praying for you and me"

No peace nor ease could that old wife get
'Til she would rise and see
She came on a stumbling-block
And into the creel went she

"Oh high I rocked her, oh I rocked her
Didn't I rock her well?
For if any old wife begrudge me her daughter
I'll rock her into hell"

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted
From: Reiver 2
Date: 08 Jun 09 - 08:01 PM

MANY THANKS, Lock and Key and Open Mike!!!! That's the song alright!! So it IS actually "Pretty Peggy!" I'd tried looking for a song called "Pretty Peg Craig's Pipes" as Matt had it labled and kept drawing blanks on that! As Triona sings it, I'd thought the ladder needed only 13 steps and 3, instead of 30, which would have made it a bit easier for the wee town clerk... but, what the heck? Thanks again,

Reiver 2

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted-Pretty Peg
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 09 Jun 09 - 12:04 AM

Let's me make sure I understand this. Man wants to tup a young woman, is prevented by the mother, so he rapes the mother.

Is that what the last verse means? If so, why bother with this dreck?

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted-Pretty Peg
From: GUEST,Lock and Key
Date: 09 Jun 09 - 12:53 AM

Bad day?

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted-Pretty Peg
From: Declan
Date: 09 Jun 09 - 03:11 AM

The lyrics in the DT database are flawed as discussed in an earlier thread here.

The name of the song is Pretty Peg or Peggy. It is a particular version of a song generally known as The Creel or "The Keatch on the Creel". IF you follow the links at the top of the thread there are discussions on other versions of the song.

Creggs or Craigs Pipes is the name of the reel that the Bothy band play after the song.

Leenia the song says that the singer rocked the mother in the basket. Maybe this is a euphamism for rape, but I have my doubts.

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted-Pretty Peg
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 09 Jun 09 - 05:22 PM

The Keach in the Creel is a Child Ballad, number 281. If you look at older versions you will realise that the 'rocking' is literal, not euphemistic. The whole thing is based on a very ancient widespread joke.

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted-Pretty Peg
From: Diva
Date: 09 Jun 09 - 05:48 PM

For the auld wife trippit ower the rope
An' intae the creel she fell

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted-Pretty Peg
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 09 Jun 09 - 06:43 PM

Okay. Thanks. The basket element is left over from another song and not very clearly explained in the present song.

I still think the song is seriously flawed. The ending 'For if any old wife begrudge me her daughter I'll rock her into hell' is too bitter and angry for a comic song.

The guy sounds more like a sexual predator than a lover.

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted-Pretty Peg
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Jun 09 - 07:34 PM

I have 24 recorded versions of "The Keach in the Creel", and only 3 of them use Peg or Peggy as part of the title. That's what the Folk Process does to songs & stories.

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted-Pretty Peg
From: greg stephens
Date: 10 Jun 09 - 12:19 PM

The Pretty Peggy is rather misleading here, as the better known Pretty Peggy refers to the family of songs which locate the eponymous lass in Derby o, Fyvie O, Fennario etc etc.

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted-Pretty Peg
From: Declan
Date: 10 Jun 09 - 01:33 PM

Having analysed the lyrics of this song I have found that:

(a) The practice of locking the young lady in her bedroom at night is a questionable one, and may constiute a fundimental breeach of her civil rights;
(b) This practice is also at odds with health and safety guidelines and could pose a serious risk in the event of a fire;
(c) The existence of chimney pots and creels may imply the use of open turf fires, which may well be in breach of EU directives in relation to carbon emissions;
(d) The use of open fires may well constitute a fire hazard thereby exacerbating the situation outlined at (b) above.

I therefore and hereby must declare this song as closed until a certificate of compliance (in triplicate) can be obtained from the folk police. On the other hand IT'S ONLY A SONG!

Subject: RE: Song name and lyrics wanted-Pretty Peg
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 10 Jun 09 - 03:27 PM

Nice one Declan, but I should also draw your attention to the Health and Safety Executive guidelines on Using Ladders Safely.

I'm surprised Bill D found as many as three versions in his collection of 24 recordings of 'The Keach in the Creel' featuring Pretty Peg/Peggy; the Roud Index has 69 records of the song, none of which mention Pretty Peg or Peggy. The girl in the song is variously named as Bonnie May. Bonnie Meg, Mysie, Pretty Polly, Young Molly, Maisie, Susie, a little Scotch girl and a most improbable Maid Marion. It is quite a tribute to Triona Ni Domhnaill that the "Pretty Peg" version is the most sought after one on the Mudcat. It may well come from her own very rich family tradition, or as Greg suggests, the Peg may just have strayed over from Derby-o or Fyvie-O.

I was very intrigued by Leenia's reaction to the song, since it seems to reflect that of the great ballad scholar F J Child himself. He found a passage in the song to be "brutal and shameless almost beyond example", but as he declined to identify the part which so scandalised him nobody knows quite which bit made him so grumpy. Is it the position adopted by the daughter to say her prayers when her father checks on her? Or is it the rough handling of the mother? I don't think though that there really is any suggestion that the mother is sexually assaulted, but even so your comments are genuinely illuminating.

Matthew Edwards

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: GUEST
Date: 16 May 23 - 10:30 PM

Regarding the "wedding class" part of this thread - I haven't seen the following posted.. from the online video Triona sang "but the waiting clerk's followed after her, and he kissed her by and by"

Clerk is pronounced 'clark' sometimes. Clerk's = clerk has.

Lesl

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pretty Peg (from The Bothy Band)
From: Bruce from Bathurst
Date: 17 May 23 - 11:38 PM

Ian Lynch from the fascinating Dublin band, Lankum, has a podcast (monthly?) called Fire Draw Near.

The most recent edition is full of different versions of this song.