Lyr Req: Women o' Dundee (Sheena Wellington)

Subject: Women O' Dundee...Lyrics?
From: Scotty Rotten
Date: 15 Feb 99 - 11:01 PM

Hello Folknetters! Does anyone out there know the lyrics to "Women O' Dundee"? I heard the tune on the radio recently and the only words I could make out through the static were the title and the word "factories"....Even those words could've been misunderstood....AM I DOOMED TO NEVER KNOW???? AAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!! Thanks everyone out there in the Mighty WWWebland!!! Scotty

Subject: RE: Women O' Dundee...Lyrics?
From:
Date: 16 Feb 99 - 03:11 AM

I've got the song on a cassette by Sheena Wellington and can bring it in as soon as I've fixed my PC which switched off unceremoniously on Sunday night. It's a very spirited song and was also written by Sheena, I believe. - Susanne

Subject: RE: Women O' Dundee...Lyrics?
From: Cuilionn
Date: 17 Feb 99 - 09:06 AM

I'll add ma voice tae this request...I've been listenin' tae that tape for years, an' tho' 'tis ane o' ma favorite sangs on th' tape, I cannae for th' life o' me mak oot ilka waird!

--Cuilionn

Subject: Lyr Add: WOMEN OF DUNDEE^^
From: Terry
Date: 17 Feb 99 - 07:55 PM

I heard Janet Russell sing this song in concert, and she sang it a lot slower than Sheena Wellington. So, if there's a Russell recording available, it might be easier to decipher the words (although I don't know of one). In concert, Russell "translated" the accent. Here's what I remember of it:

Refrain:
The wailing of the bommer and the clacking of the looms
Brought the women of Dundee out of their beds.
And they walked to mills and factories,
And they worked from seven til five
And the women kept the bairns of Dundee fed.

Well now, I forget the first verse (sorry)...Something about there being no work for the men, "but a lassie's hands are nimble and a lassie's hands are small" so they went to the mills

My mother and my grannie and my aunties all,
When telling of the way (or why) they learned their skill.
They didn't work for freedom, independence or the rest.
They just worked to give some tiffin to their kin. (or kids, maybe)

You may talk of noble lineage and sing of your highland clan,
And hail some gallant chief who bears your name.
But my line's as good as any and I'm very proud to say,
It was from a Dundee weaver that I came.

Good luck,
Terry Colgan

HTML line breaks added --JoeClone, 27-Sep-01.

Subject: RE: Women O' Dundee...Lyrics?
From: Scotty Rotten
Date: 17 Feb 99 - 10:24 PM

Thanks Susanne, Cuilionn, and Terry...Maybe I'm not doomed after all! I knew the Mudcatters would pull through! Scotty

Subject: RE: Women O' Dundee...Lyrics?
From: Don Meixner
Date: 18 Feb 99 - 12:17 AM

Scotty, Thats a Mudcat for ya. Stay up with ya all night we will, before we let you go to bed hungry.

Don

Subject: Lyr Add: WOMEN O' DUNDEE (Sheena Wellington)^^
From:
Date: 22 Feb 99 - 02:57 AM

Having conquered my computer bug at last (knock on wood!!!), here you are:

Chorus:
And the wailin' o' the bummer and the clackin' o' the looms
Brocht the women o' Dundee oot o' their bed
And they walked tae mills and factories and they wrought fae seven tae four
And the women kept the bairns o' Dundee fed

The men they were nae lazy but the wark was hard tae find
The parish and the means test they'd tae face
But the lassies' hands were nimble and the lassies' wages small
So the women o' Dundee warked in their place

My mither and my granny and my aunties ain and a'
Went tae the looms the day they left the school
They didnae wark for freedom, independence or the rest
They just warked tae get some kitchen tae their kail

The rhythm o' their livin' was the clackin' o' the looms
Their youth and health and strength was lost tae jute
But the weavers and the spinners and the winders o' Dundee
Had a spirit that the hard times never beat

You may boast your noble lineage and sing of your highland clan
And hail some gallant chief who shares your name
But my line's as good as any and I'm very proud tae say
It was fae a Dundee weaver that I came

(Written by Sheena Wellington)

[1990:] My home town of Dundee was for many years dependent on the jute trade. Women were the mainstay of the labour force, partly through aptitude and partly because they could be paid less than men. The working conditions were hard, noisy and dirty - the fine jute stoor got in hair, eyes, clothes and lungs - but the women survived by strength, spirit and solidarity. In 1906, dissatisfied with the male-dominated textile Workers Union, they formed their own Jute and Flax Workers Union, half of whose Executive Committee had to be women. They also managed to raise fine families, often in appalling slum conditions. This song is for these women of Dundee, particularly of my own family, with respect and love. (Notes Sheena Wellington, 'Clearsong')

Still no tunes from me ... but there's hope. Just give me a few more weeks. - Susanne

Subject: RE: Women O' Dundee...Lyrics?
From: Cuilionn
Date: 22 Feb 99 - 11:41 AM

Muckle, muckle, muckle obligit!!!

I'm entirely in yir debt, lass, an' I'll be screevin' this ane doon in ma wee buik an' singin' it a' th' day!!! Aiblins I'll hae it ready for th' open mic I'm attendin' on ma birthday this thursday... Sic a delicht, tae finally ken what Sheena's singin' an' sayin'! An' ye e'en includit liner notes...'tis an embarrassment o' riches!

Frae th' delichtit an' gratefu'

--Cuilionn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Women o' Dundee (Sheena Wellington)
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 04:59 PM

it is best sung, i think, to the rhythm that is the same rhythm as a laim [loom] = rae fisher does this thing with a guitar tapping on the base- three beats - when she sings a lucy stewart song sbout a waterwheel [at fettercairn?] which works well wi this song too.