Guise o Tough

On Springthyme SPRCD 1007

One of the most popular and widely known of the older bothy ballads. Greig considered it one of the best songs of the ploughman class and commented that, when sung, it never fails to ‘take’. The song refers to the farm of Guise in the parish of Tough, near Alford in Aberdeenshire. Dating as it says in the song from “the year o 91”, the hero is hired by farmer Jimmy Broon to “caw his second pair and be his orraman”. After an initial feed of bread (or breed) and cheese, he soon finds that neither his horses nor the plough were to his satisfaction. After telling of some of the other characters, the singer ends the song with a farewell flourish. It's popularity is certainly partly due to it's inclusion in John Ord's Bothy Songs and Ballads published in 1930 (GD 3: 378; Roud 3800).


1: I cam in be Alford,
An for tae get a fee,
An there I met wi Jamie Broon,
An there we did agree.
Tum a hi tum doo, a hi tum day,
Hi tum a diddle tum a hi tum day.

2: Well I agreed wi Jamie Broon,
In the year o ninety one,
Tae gang hame and caw his second pair,
An be his orraman.

3: When I cam hame tae Guise o Tough,
It was an evenin clear,
Oot aboot some orra hoose,
The gaffer did appear.

4: Says, “I’m the maister o the hoose,
An that’s the mistress here;
If ye want some breid an cheese,
Ye’ll shairly get yer share.”

5: Then I gaed tae the stable,
Ma pairie for tae view;
Fegs they were a dandy pair,
A chestnut and a blue.

6: Then early next mornin,
I gaed tae the ploo;
Lang, lang e’er lowsin time,
Ma pairie gart me rue.
Tum a hi tum doo, a hi tum day,
Hi tum a diddle tum a hi tum day.

7: Ma ploo she wisna workin weel,
It widna thraw the fur;
The gaffer says, “There’s a better een,
At the smiddy tae gang for.”

8: When I got hame, the new ploo,
She pleased me unco weel;
I thocht she wid be better,
Gin she had a cuttin wheel.

9: Ma song’s no nearly ended,
But I’ll no sing ony more;
If ye be offended,
Ye can walk ootside the door.
Tum a hi tum doo, a hi tum day,
Hi tum a diddle tum a hi tum day.

c p 1981 Springthyme Records : www.springthyme.co.uk