Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy

20 Apr 16 - 09:26 AM (#3786263)
Subject: Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy
From: GUEST,Raggytash

Last night at our pub session one of the customers asked me if I knew a particular song ............ which rang no bells with me.

The only part of the lyrics he thought he knew were:

"Canty and Couthy were all the folks there"

I said I would make some enquiries amongst you good people.

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20 Apr 16 - 09:31 AM (#3786265)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy
From: Dave the Gnome

Westering Home?

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Wet string
Wet string who?
Wet string home and a song in the air...

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20 Apr 16 - 10:29 AM (#3786277)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy
From: GUEST,Raggytash

Cheers Dave

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20 Apr 16 - 07:52 PM (#3786391)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy
From: Ross Campbell

The only song I know with "canty and couthy" in it.

The Corries - Westering Home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg0w3XJmq2Q

Ross

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21 Apr 16 - 03:47 AM (#3786417)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy
From: GUEST,Raggytash

Cheers Ross.

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21 Apr 16 - 10:28 AM (#3786455)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy
From: Vic Smith

"Tammy Toddles" as sung by Lizzie Higgins:-

Tammy Toddle, he's a canty chiel,
Sae canty and fae coothy
The fairies like him unco weel
An built him a wee hoosie.

An when the hoosie it was built
All finished but the door
The fairy man cam skipping in
An danced upon the floor.

He lowped up, he lowped doon,
He frisked and he flung
'Til peer wee Tammy Toddle
Wes mal maist amang the throng.

Tammy Toddle he's a canty chiel,
Sae canty and tae coothy.
The fairies liked him unco weel
An built him a wee hoosie.

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22 Apr 16 - 07:35 AM (#3786613)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy
From: Ross Campbell

I stand corrected, Vic - although it's written as "coosie" in the notes here

http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/higgins.htm

(where you get honourable mention).

And you have prompted me to re-examine the Musical Traditions CD catalogue - could prove expensive!

Ross

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23 Apr 16 - 06:15 AM (#3786756)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy
From: Vic Smith

(where you get honourable mention).

Well, I did record quite a number of the tracks.....

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23 Apr 16 - 08:28 AM (#3786771)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy
From: Vic Smith

although it's written as "coosie" in the notes

.... and I wondered at that when the album came out. The Scots Dialect Dictionary (Waverley Books ISBN 1-902407-09-01) has the following definitions:-

Couthy (Couthie) - kind, pleasant, agreeable, affable
Coosie - a challenge to a feat of daring, dexterity or difficulty

So it is pretty obvious thay 'couthy' fits in with the meaning of the song.
I heard Lizzie sing the song many times live and it always sounded like 'couthy' to me. I only saw the notes after the album had been released so it was a bit pointless to point it out then. Anyway, the transcriptions were by a great friend, Danny Stradling, and I had no wish to appear nit-picking with her.

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23 Apr 16 - 01:04 PM (#3786795)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Canty & Couthy
From: GUEST,willa

Canty is cheerful

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