Lyr Req: Maggie Lawder / Maggie Lauder

Subject: Maggie Lawder+blatherskite
From: Reiver 2
Date: 15 May 05 - 02:31 PM

I am always interested in word origins and recently came across the word "blatherskite." According to one book on word origins a "bladder skate" is a Scottish term for a type of fish called a skate (a type of ray) which has the ability to inflate or puff itself up when it feels threatened. So the term "bladderskate" came to be used for a person who is full of "empty, vainglorious talk" and later was altered to "blatherskite." The word is seldom used today in the parts of the U.S. and Canada that I'm familiar with.

Here's the interesting part, and the reason for starting this thread: The book also says that during the American Revolution when American soldiers gathered around their campfires at night they would sing various songs that they knew and adds, "Among the favorites was the Scottish song, 'Maggie Lawder,' one verse of which ran:

O wha wadna be in love wi' bonny Maggie Lawder,
A piper met her gaun to Fife and speir'd what was't they ca'd her;
Right scornfully she answer'd him, begone ye hallen shaker,
Jog on your gate, ye bladderskate, my name is Maggie Lawder."

I don't find anything about Maggie Lawder in doing a search on the Mudcat. Is anyone familiar with this song and/or know anything about it? Additional verses? How old is it? Who wrote it, or is it trad.? I know most of the Scottish words, but can anyone tell me what is meant by "hallen shaker"? The book says that the song "dropped out of memory" (in the U.S.) but the altered term "blatherskite" was retained in the language. Thanks for any info. anyone can provide about this song.

Reiver 2

Subject: RE: Maggie Lawder+blatherskite
From: Peace
Date: 15 May 05 - 02:40 PM

www.contemplator.com/scotland/moggy.html

Check there. Note also that there are many spellings for Lawder and for Maggie.

Subject: RE: Maggie Lawder+blatherskite
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 15 May 05 - 03:05 PM

DT file: Maggie Lauder (contains approximate US English glosses for some difficult words)

Forum:

LYR Add and Info Request - Maggie Lauder
What type of dance did Maggie Lauder dance

Subject: RE: Maggie Lawder+blatherskite
From: Peace
Date: 15 May 05 - 03:11 PM

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:5EMVzDvhbHgJ:www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_maggielauder.htm+bladderskate,&hl=en

A bit additional there.

Subject: RE: Maggie Lawder+blatherskite
From: Reiver 2
Date: 15 May 05 - 08:33 PM

Fantastic! Many thanks Brucie and Malcolm! I never hoped to get so much information so quickly. Through the links you provided and the Maggie Lauder thread, most of my questions are answered, plus several I didn't even get around to asking. Silly me. I should have realized that Lawder (the spelling in the book I referred to) would not have been the probable Scots spelling, and that to use the DT, one needs to try different spellings of names if you want to find what you're looking for! (BTW, the book I have was written by Charles Earle Funk of Funk & Wagnalls fame. Just proves that even compilers of dictionaries don't know everything.) I wonder if Harry Lauder was a descendant of Maggie?? Thanks again guys. Now I'll have to get a recording of the song before I'll be completely satisfied.

Reiver 2

Subject: RE: Maggie Lawder+blatherskite
From: Peace
Date: 16 May 05 - 12:08 AM

www.mp3.com/albums/74711/summary.html

There is an mp3 available for download at that site. The Tannahill Weavers.

I can't download to hear it, so I hope it works for you, Reiver2.

BM

Subject: RE: Maggie Lawder+blatherskite
From: A Wandering Minstrel
Date: 16 May 05 - 07:55 AM

Its still a word in common use in the North-east of England, where it is also rendered as Bletherskite

Subject: RE: Maggie Lawder+blatherskite
From: Reiver 2
Date: 16 May 05 - 10:42 AM

Thanks, again brucie. I'll try to download it from that site when I get a chance.

I have the impression that it's also used commonly in Australia, though I'm not sure about that.

Reiver 2

Subject: RE: Maggie Lawder+blatherskite
From: GUEST,brucie
Date: 16 May 05 - 11:37 PM

http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/english/bl/blatherskite.html


Also see this article "I blunder, I bluster, I blowe, and I blother
Posted Tuesday, September 9, 2003" (about half way down the page) at the site that's linked below:

http://www.thediscouragingword.com/archives/arc11.shtml

Subject: RE: Maggie Lawder+blatherskite
From: Reiver 2
Date: 17 May 05 - 06:51 PM

I was able to download the soong as sung by the Tannahill Weavers. Thanks for the link. Fine tune!

Interesting links in the above post. Curious, though that neither (as far as I'm aware - I read through them hurriedly) mentions the etymology as involving a Scots fish, and the evolution from bladderskate to blatherskite. Who does one believe, Funk or Webster? The book I have is "Thereby Hangs a Tale: Stories of Curious Word Origins" by Charles Earle Funk, Harper and Row, 1950

Joseph T. Shipley in "Dictionary of Word Origins" calls "blatherskite", a "Scottish word" but says it's from the Old Norse word "blathr" (to talk nonsense)+ "skata" (the fish), then also gives an Anglo Saxon root, "bladder" (windbag) + "skite" (excrement).

Blather, standing alone, apparently comes from the same root of "talking nonsense" or "windbag." Reiver 1 who was a far, far better musician than I, always allowed me introduce each song and tell a little about it's background which I loved to do. He always referred to me as doing the "blather" about the songs. I felt complimented. Now I know better. In fact, he once proposed that we change our name from The Reivers, to "Blatherless and Singmore." A not so subtle hint, do you think?

Reiver 2