Any child brought up in Scotland will know, off by heart, some of our very favourite nursery rhymes. They were sung to us by our mums and grannies and are an lovely memory of childhood days.
They vary throughout Scotland according to tradition and superstition but there are a few that every child within a 100 mile radius of Glasgow will be able to sing. I sang this one to my first grandchild and was absolutely delighted when he could fill in the last words of every line!
Tunnock’s Teacake Range. Shop here
Ally Bally, Ally Bally Bee
Sitting on yer Granny’s knee (it should actually say ‘Yer Mammy’s knee’ but, you’ll have to excuse a proud granny a wee bit of artistic license !!!!!)
Greeting for a wee baw-bee
To buy some Coulters Candy
Poor wee Jeanie’s looking awfy thin
A pickle of bones covered o’er wi skin
But noo she’s got a wee double chin
From eatin‘ Coulters Candy
Here’s auld Coulter comin round
Wi a basket on his crown
So here’s a penny, now you run down
And buy some Coulters Candy
Ally Bally, Ally Bally Bee
When you grow up you’ll go to sea
Making pennies for your daddy and me
To buy some Coulters Candy
And as we all got a little older this one fairly amused us. Naughty and funny!
Foxy Beasts Print. Shop here:
Oh, ye canny shove yer granny aff a bus
Naw ye canny shove yer granny aff a bus
Ye canny shove yer granny
Cause she’s yer Mammy‘s mammy
Ye canny shove yer granny aff a bus!
Noo ye can shove yer ither granny aff a bus
Yes ye can shove yer ither grannie aff a bus
Ye can shove yer ither grannie
Cause she’s just yer daddy‘s mammy
Yes ye can shove yer ither grannie aff a bus!
There are a few more verses to this but I always think you can get the gist of it with these first two!
Then there were the wonderful Glasgow street songs; this next one was always a salutary tale. It has its origins in Duke Street Prison, where, between 1798 and 1955 hundreds of prisoners were housed in apparently terrible conditions.
There is a happy land
Doon in Duke Street Jail
Where a’ the prisoners stand
Tied tae a nail
Ham an’ eggs, they never see
Durty watter fur their tea
There they stand in misery
God Save The Queen
The funniest one of all for all members of our family was however The Wee Cock Sparrow. When Duncan MacRae sang it for the first time one Hogmanay in the early 1950’s it caused such hilarity in every Scottish home that it became a mainstay of all the new year celebrations in Scotland for years. Here it is – enjoy!
Love Scotland Tea Towel. Shop here:
A wee cock sparra sat on a tree
A wee cock sparra sat on a tree
A wee cock sparra sat on a tree
Chirping away as blithe as could be
Alang came a boy wi a bow an’an arra
Alang came a boy wi a bow an’ an arra
Alang came a boy wins bow an’ an arra
And he said “I’ll get ye, ye wee cock sparra”
The boy wi the arra let fly at the sparra
The boy wi the arra let fly at the sparra
The boy wi the arra let fly at the sparra
An he hit a man that was hurlin a barra
The man wi the arra came owre wi the arra
The man wi the arra came owre wi the arra
The man wi the arra came owre wi the arra
And said “Ye take me fur a wee cock sparra”
The man hit the boy, tho he wasnae his farra
The man hit the boy, tho he wasnae his farra
The man hit the boy, tho he wasnae his farra
And the boy stood and glowered, he was hurt tae the marra
And a’ this time the wee cock sparra
And a’ this time the wee cock sparra
And a’ this time the wee cock sparra
Was chirping awa on the shank o’ the barra
And here are a few wee clarifications for non-natives of Scotland!
Cock Sparra – Boy sparrow
Arra – Arrow
Wasnae – Was not
Farra – Father
Mara – Marrow
Awa – Along
Barra – Barrow
Till next time!
Lorna (Gillian’s Mammy)
Great! Never seen them written down before. Do you know the words to David millard’s ( ? Miller’s) Cuddy by any chance?!
Thank you
Gosh I don’t Barbara, but I’ll ask my Mum Lorna, who originally wrote this blog. She’s the expert!
Gillian x
This is great! I remember some lines to ally Bally different like ‘a bundle o bones wrapped up in skin’ guess wee all had different wee versions, my gran and mum sang it and we’re wear Lothian. I wonder if your mum knows ‘if you should hear the sirens, listen to ma cry, an aeroplane, an aeroplane away up in the sky’ ? My gran used to sing it to us, I think it was about the war and I was searching for its origin and stumbled in this page! Also ‘’jock ma cuddly’ and ‘three craws’ x