Andrew Robbie, known as Andy, was one of the first singers recorded by Goldstein. Robbie was born at Brownhill of Buxtie, just north of Old Deer Parish, in 1917 and died in 1989. He worked as a farm servant and farmer in New Pitsligo and in Hillhead of Auchentumb, north west of Strichen.
Jimmy MacBeath sang at fairs for money for drink.,
Jimmy MacBeath sang at fairs for money for drink.
Jimmy MacBeath sang at feeing markets (fairs at which farm workers were hired), especially at Maud. He would begin with ordinary songs.
Fairs and markets in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire., 1960
Fairs and markets in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire.
The biggest feeing markets (where farm labourers were hired) were at Maud. There was also Muckle Friday Fair in Aberdeen, and the Rascal Fair.
Andrew Robbie has heard Jimmy MacBeath singing on the radio..., 1960
Andrew Robbie has heard Jimmy MacBeath singing on the radio and at fairs.
The Keach in the Creel, 26 December 1959
In this song, a clerk and his sweetheart wish to see each other, but her parents are strict and forbid her from going out at night. The clerk hatches a plan to have himself lowered in a creel.
Kissing in the Dark, 26 December 1959
A comic song in which the singer goes to see his sweetheart, Jeannie, but ends up kissing her mother by mistake. Although he is embarrassed, the mother makes light of it, finding the mistake amusing.
This song encourages the listener to persevere through hard times, saying that bad times always give way to better if we only wait long enough.
The Dying Ploughboy, 26 December 1959
In this song, a ploughboy is lying on his deathbed. Only a week before, he was as strong and healthy as any of his fellow workers, but then a blood vessel in his heart burst.
This bothy ballad is a humorous description of the ongangs [goings-on] at Sleepytown farm from the perspective of the orra loon [odd-job lad]. After being woken by the foreman each morning at five.
My Wife's First Man, 26 December 1959
A comic song in which the singer has married a widow, only to learn that her first husband did all the chores and errands and the singer is expected to do the same.
The Coortin in the Stable, 26 December 1959
A comic ballad in which Jock goes out one night to see Kate, but stops for a drink with a friend on the way. Arriving drunk at the farm, Jock mistakes a steer for Kate and makes to kiss it.
The Muckin o Geordie's Byre, 26 December 1959
A comic song describing the poor state of Geordie MacIntyre's byre and the accidents that befall him and his family as they try to get the mess in order. Geordie’s wife is 'unco sweir' so she is.
This bothy ballad describes working life at Drumdelgie farm. The men are up early in the morning and work hard in difficult conditions. Besides work, the farmer runs a Sunday School to teach.
The Ball of Kirriemuir, 26 December 1959
A comic song about the drunken antics of the revellers at the Ball of Kirriemuir.
A Shillin or Twa, 26 December 1959
The singer explains the necessity for people to ensure they always have a little money at hand: it can engender friendship, help young men court women, and provide security in hard times.
Oor Fairm Toon, 26 December 1959
The singer of this bothy song describes some of the workforce at the farm where he works, including a "sonsie [comely] kitchen lass", and a baillie [cattleman] who is "bandy-legged and pirn-taed.
The Barnyards o Delgaty, 26 December 1959
In this popular bothy ballad, a young man is hired at Turriff market to work at Delgaty farm. Although the farmer promises him the best pair of horse in the area, they prove to be nothing but skin and bone.
Bogie's Bonnie Belle, 26 December 1959
Fragments of the bothy ballad 'Bogie's Bonnie Belle' in which a farm worker seduces the farmer's daughter [song truncated by tape break].
The Tarry Sailor, 26 December 1959
In this song, a sailor encounters a fair young woman by the sea, and tries to win her affection. She rejects his advances because of his low degree and he is forced to leave her.
The Hash o Benagoak, 26 December 1959
A bothy ballad describing the various members of the hash [workforce] on Belnagoak Farm.
A Pair o Nicky Tams, 26 December 1959
A comic bothy song in which a ploughman celebrates his nickie-tams [leather thongs tied around the knees]. He wears these during his first position, as baillie loon [helper to the cattleman].
The Laird o Tomintoul, 26 December 1959
A comic song featuring Dougal McHardy MacIntyre, the self-important and self-styled 'Laird o Tomintoul'.
Big Kilmarnock Bonnet, 26 December 1959
In this comic song, a naive farm worker resolves to go to Glasgow, and is tricked by a friend into paying a visit to Katie Bain. She gets him drunk, robs him and leaves him wandering the streets.
The Buchan Ferrier, 26 December 1959
A comic song in which a Buchan ferrier [vet] affirms his own skills and recounts funny anecdotes.
A comic song in which the singer recalls how, as a young boy, he would answer questions with "imph-m" instead of "aye". This got him into trouble when he challenged his teacher to spell the word.
McGinty's Meal and Ale, 26 December 1959
A comic song in which McGinty's pig gets loose and runs amok during a harvest-home celebration.
A comic song describing McGinnis's rowdy wedding. Various guests include a souter [cobbler] who loses his wooden leg while dancing, and a man who arrives on a bicycle and leaves in a wheelbarrow.
A New Lum Hat, 26 December 1959
A comic song in which a young man goes to visit his sweetheart sporting a new lum hat [top hat], only to have it destroyed in a series of mishaps.
The Drunkard's Raggit Wean, 26 December 1959
This temperance song evokes the image of a poor child wandering the streets, neglected by his drunkard parents. The singer worries what will become of him, and urges the listener to try to help.
The Butcher's Boy, c. February 1960
The young butcher boy falls in love with a pretty girl and they agree to marry. He goes to her mother's house and asks her to go for a walk. He stabs her, drags her by the hair to the river.
I'll Set my Ship in Order, c. February 1960
The sailor returns to see his love and raps on her window. She is not sure it is him and refuses to ask her mother and father to let him in. She says her mother is asleep.
Bonnie Lass o Fyvie, c. February 1960
A troop of dragoons comes to Fyvie and the captain falls in love with a local girl. She does not go with him when the troop leaves, and he dies of a broken heart before they reach Aberdeen.
The Bunch of Watercresses, c. February 1960
A dairy farmer goes to visit friends in Camberwell, London, but gets lost. He meets a young lady and asks her for directions, which she gives. He falls in love with her and asks her to marry him.
Will Ye Gang Love, c. February 1960
The woman sees her lover combing his hair and speaks of her longing for him. She rebukes him for his desertion and wishes she were still a maiden. She wishes her baby was born.
A Traveller comes to a farm and is given lodgings in the barn. He seduces the farmer's daughter. When she gives birth to a son her father offers land, stock and money to any man who will marry her.
Shepherd On Yon Hill, c. February 1960
The woman is in love with a shepherd. He leaves her father's house on a dark and stormy night to go and tend his sheep. He does not return and searchers find his body at the foot of the hill.
Jamie Raeburn, c. February 1960
Jamie Raeburn is being transported and will never see Scotland again. He hopes that his parents will not be pilloried and that they will be provided for, and mourns leaving his sweetheart Catherine.
Bonnie Strathyre, c. February 1960
The singer loves his home in Strathyre and his love Mary. He knows others who have gone to the Lowlands or to the army looking for fame and fortune, but he is happy herding his cattle, building his...
Caroline and her Sailor Boy, c. February 1960
Caroline, daughter of a wealthy man, falls in love with a sailor and runs off to sea with him. They are shipwrecked three times and have many adventures before they return.
Bonnie Oban Bay, c. February 1960
The song tells of the beauties of Oban Bay and its setting, with it background of hills.
The singer is persuaded by his friends to visit the Sunday Fair at Aikey Brae and gets himself washed, shaved and dressed. He is shocked by what he sees of the crowds and entertainment.
The ploughman offers to marry his pregnant sweetheart but her wealthy father says he would rather see her dead, so the ploughman leaves without his wages. Belle marries a hawker.
A former worker at the farm of Sleepytoon told the collector, the Rev. James B. Duncan, that he had worked with the author of the song, William ‘Poet’ Clark. Clark, who came from Alford, and was reputedly awfu’ leernt, write this satire against the hard-hearted farmer about 1854 while in his early twenties.
An English song website tells us "The Keach In the Creel title means the commotion in the creel, or a spot of bother with the old basket." Well, in Scotland it means to 'soil' oneself.
Hear a vigorous assault on the song by German folk metal band Subway to Sally HERE.
This title gave Ole Miss transcribers particular difficulty. Hear a riotous Braemar Ceilidh dance band instrumental version HERE.
Polite and so bawdy versions of the Kirriemuir song abound in Scotland and abroad.
One of our finest bothy ballad singers, Jock Duncan, expressed surprise at this lyric, saying Drumdelgie was known as one of the finest farms in the NE. No agricultural work there now though, they breed horses. Sung HERE by J McPherson, who lived his first five years at Drumdelgie, till his father was sacked for asking for a pay rise.
See a full account of this farm song and the original love song tune and refrain phrase at The Barnyards of Delgaty
G S Morris, maker of the very popular Nicky Tams song, said that 'wull tams' was the correct name in farming Aberdeenshire for the straps or pieces of string tied below the trouser knees to hoist them up out of the mud. But fitting lyric and tune together required use of the name from further south, 'nicky tams'.
Perhaps the most popular of professional entertainer George Bruce Thomson's compositions.
When Hamish Henderson introduced this song at the 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh he called it a fine but little known 18th C ballad. It was born in England and migrated.
There are several versions of this ballad, more often called 'The Gaberlunzie Man' or 'The Beggar Man'.
Song editor Robert Ford said this is a true story of an innocent man blamed for joint action with a criminal pal.
See page on this site about Aikey Fair, and see an excellent video about Aikey Standing Stones HERE.
A beautiful favourite ballad.
Hear J McPherson sing The Dying Ploughboy recently HERE.