Tattie Jock

Well, ye a' o' heard o' Tattle Jock,
Likewise o' Mutton Peggie.
They kept a fairm in the north o' Fife.
The name o' it was Craigie.

Cho: Hye riddle die, roo rum dir doe,
Hye riddle die, roo rum day.

Three months we served with Tattle Jock
And weel we did agree.
Till we found oot that the tattie shed
Could be opened with the bothy key.

Next morning in the tattle shed,
Our baps were hardly fu
When Tattle Jock frae ahint the door
Cried, "Ah, my lads stand still."

Noo, the first he got was Willie Marr,
The next was Sandy Doo,
There was Jimmy Grey and Will Moncur
And Jimmy Pethrie flew.

Noo, he sent for ten big polismen
But nine there only cam',
And it dinged them for tae lift us that night,
Us bein' sic able men.

Noo, the youngest lad was the wisest lad,
The best lad o' us a'.
He joined a man o' war at Leith;
So he neednae stand the law.

As we were bein' marched up through Perth,
I heard a newsboy say, "It's a shame tae see sic able men
Rade aff tae Botany Bay."

Noo, when we got oor sentence read
We all looked roon' and roon'
But when we heard o' the thirteen years
The tears cam' tricklin' doon.

When we get to Botany Bay
Some letters we will send,
Tae tell oor friends o' the hardship we
Endure in a foreign land.

From Bonnie Bunch of Roses, Milner
Collected from Cilla Fisher and Artie Trezise
APR99