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Lyr Req: The Red Yo Yo (Matt McGinn)

28 Jan 97 - 11:06 AM (#1686)
Subject: Red Yo Yo - Matt McGinn (of the Calton)
From: Sandy Wilkinson

I know the first three verses but can't remember the rest. Anyone help?

Regards,

Sandy

30 Jan 97 - 09:48 AM (#1757)
Subject: RE: Red Yo Yo - Matt McGinn (of the Calton)
From: Sandy Wilkinson

I'm not getting much luck with this. If it helps anyone the first verses are:

Wee Anne took her yo yo,
To School she did go though,
She shouldna hae taen it at a',
It fell oot her haun',
And it rolled on the grun',
And it went through a hole in the wa',

CHORUS: Did ye find a red yo yo, red yo yo, red yo yo,
Did ye find a red yo yo wi' a wee yella string.

The darin' wee Annie,
She went tae the jannie,
A decent wee man as a rule,
It's pleasin' tae tell,
That he rang on his bell,
And asked every wean in the school,

CHORUS etc.

If anyone knows the rest, I'd appreciate it.

Sandy

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 12-Feb-03.

01 Feb 97 - 01:08 AM (#1811)
Subject: Lyr Add: RED YO YO (Matt McGinn)
From: Anne Cormack

Here's the rest -

(3) The kids left their pencils and papers and stencils
To knock on the doors a' aroon.
And as they went rapping and ringing and chapping
They asked a' the folk o' the toon.

(4) The polis soon learned and they were so concerned
That they left a' their murders aside,
The whole of the force was alerted of course,
And they went on the telly and cried.

(5) All over the country the commons and gentry
Were watching their wee TV screen,
Things really got goin' son when President Clinton
Received an appeal from the Queen.

(6) The wires they were tremblin' when he phoned the Kremlin
To ask aboot Annie's yo-yo,
But Yeltsin agrees wi' the greatest of speed,
They should raise it before U.N.O.

(7) In Peking and Paris and a' round the Barras
The people they searched high and low,
Till finally Annie announced that her Granny
Had bought her another yo-yo.

Last Chorus: And it was a red yo-yo, red yo-yo, red yo-yo,
And it was a red yo-yo wi' a wee yellow string.

Note: I've up-dated the political leaders, which seems to go down well with the audiences I've had!

Also, in the version I know it's the "darlin'" wee Annie, not "darin'." The Folk Process strikes again....

Have fun - as I said, it always goes down well - the chorus is easy and gets everybody going. Good luck. Anne

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 12-Feb-03.

06 Feb 97 - 06:14 AM (#1969)
Subject: RE: Red Yo Yo - Matt McGinn (of the Calton)
From: Sandy

Anne,

Thanks. I've been looking for this for a while. I used to have a book called Matt McGinn of the Calton but my dad got hold of it and lent it to a friend who gave it to... and I've never seen it again. I think it's out of print now.

I know a few McGinn songs such as, Three Nights and a Sunday Double Time, Rob Roy McGregor, I'm Looking for a Job with Sky High Pay e.t.c. I've forgotten most of the poem "The Wee Effen Bee" and if you know it I'd appreciate the words.

Maybe it's time for a Matt McGinn revival. What do you think?

Thanks anyway, it's much appreciated,

Sandy

10 Feb 97 - 02:44 AM (#2064)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BEE FROM THE OLD TOWN OF EFFEN
From: Anne Cormack

Sandy,

"McGinn of the Calton" is still available - I think! My husband brought a copy back from Scotland last year. It's published by:

GLASGOW DISTRICT LIBRARIES
THE MITCHELL LIBRARY
NORTH STREET
GLASGOW
G3 7DN

In the meantime, here's the words to:

THE BEE FROM THE OLD TOWN OF EFFEN

(Just outside Ecclefechan, just nine hundred and twenty-two and a half miles outside Ecclefechan, in fact, in France lies the sleepy little town of EFFEN, the curative qualities of whose honey is renowned all over the civilised world - and in Glasgow. The very extraordinary bees who produce this honey are not unnaturally referred to as EFFEN Bees in and around the town whose quaint architecture is marred by the factory in its centre where half the population are employed in the manufacturing of Gendarmes' truncheons or, as the French choose to call them, policemen's batons.)

1. He kept bees in the old town of Effen,
An Effen beekeeper was he,
And one day this Effen beekeeper,
Was stung by a big Effen bee.

2. Now this big Effen beekeeper's wee Effen wife,
For the big Effen polis she ran,
For there's nobody can sort out a big Effen bee,
Like a big Effen polisman can.

3. This big Effen polisman he did his nut,
And he ran down the main Effen street,
In his hand was a big Effen baton,
He had big Effen boots on his feet.

4. The polis got hold of this big Effen bee,
And he twisted the Effen bees wings,
But this big Effen bee got his own back,
For this big Effen bee had two stings.

5. Now they're both in the Effen museum,
Where the Effen folk often come see,
The remains of the big Effen polis,
Stung to death by the big Effen bee.

6. That's the end of that wee Effen story,
'Tis an innocent wee Effen tale,
But if you ever tell it in Effen,
You'll end up in the old Effen jail.

Enjoy,

Anne

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 12-Feb-03.

10 Feb 97 - 06:47 AM (#2067)
Subject: RE: Red Yo Yo - Matt McGinn (of the Calton)
From:

Anne,

Thanks again.

Sandy

10 Feb 97 - 08:21 AM (#2069)
Subject: RE: Red Yo Yo - Matt McGinn (of the Calton)
From: Bert Hansell

I love it.

Reminds me of a skit that the Two Ronnies did about Effingham Hall. I thought they had made up the name but evidently there is an Effingham in Hampshire.

Bert.

07 Jul 03 - 06:41 PM (#978610)
Subject: RE: Red Yo Yo - Matt McGinn (of the Calton)
From: GUEST

The Matt McGinn revival is under way !

check out   www.roots2thefuture.com   for info on their awards ceremony in Glsagow and New York

www.theballadeers.com has lots of info too ( plus links )

26 Nov 09 - 04:36 PM (#2774407)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Red Yo Yo (Matt McGinn)
From: Mysha

Hi,

Maybe http://www.mattmcginn.info/ is worth looking at and listening to as well.

Bye,
                                                                  Mysha

15 Jan 10 - 01:59 PM (#2812854)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Red Yo Yo (Matt McGinn)
From: GUEST

We Had To Sing This Song In School ,It Was Great

13 Jan 11 - 09:42 AM (#3073699)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Red Yo Yo (Matt McGinn)
From: GUEST

i'm writing all about a song i sang at school . all of my friends loved singing it but some of them did not know what a yo yo is so we had to talk about it and i remember geting one and playing it non stop. the tune is the same tune is the folk song cattle call by tex williams and made famous by eddy arnold. matt macginn did not write his own music at all.

13 Jan 11 - 11:48 AM (#3073758)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Red Yo Yo (Matt McGinn)
From: Tattie Bogle

Just gearing up for our next Matt McGinn night in Linlithgow: this will be the 10th year we have done a tribute night, with members of Linlithgow Folk Festival Association and friends providing all the entertainment, not just singing and playing the songs, but, in some cases, acting them out! Members of the McGinn family have attended and also taken part. This year's concert will be on March 5th: details of how to get tickets go are on their website (scroll down the Home page a bit!):
http://www.linlithgowfolk.com/