Briggie's Gerse Park
On Autumn Harvest AH 004
Old Songs & Bothy Ballads - Some Rants o Fun
Gordon Easton sings:
Full of Gordon’s rich Buchan dialect, the song tells the tale of Tammy Reid’s attempt to clear Briggie’s grass meadow of molehills. An old poem set to a tune Cock o the North by Gordon.
1: Noo Briggie’s gerse park wis a mess wi the moles an the nowts meat wis cut doun be half;
Wi the weather bein dry, the gerse etten sae bare, tae keep them in meat wis a chauve;
So they got Tammy Reid a stout halflin chiel tae scatter the heaps wi a spad,
The park it wis big, twenty acre an mair, and the heat nearly drave Tammy mad.
2: He took oot his reid hankie tae dicht his wee broo, aye but that wis his undoing fegs,
For Jasper the bull wi his tail in the air wis aaready brocht up wi the clegs;
Noo the bull lowered his heid wi a snort an a blaw wi his feet sprayin sods in the air,
Tammy thud on his spad an took til his heels for he kent he had nae time tae spare.
3: He took hame through that park like a speed o licht jist as same's he wis shot fae a gun;
For Tam wis nae green faain at runnin, ye ken, for the half mile at Strichen he'd won;
But first he'd a hich pointy paling tae loup but he cleared the fence jist like a deer,
But he hardly had hecht and he dinna clear't richt leaving half o his sark in the weer.
4: Tammy thocht he wis safe till the bull cleared it tee, Tam's troubles were nae at an end,
Wi a roar like thunner and his nose twa steam jets, the bull tore aifter Tam like a train;
But he'd mak for the steadin, noo nae far awa, fen intil his heid cam a plan,
If his legs wid haud oot, but Guid faith he did doot, he'd dive heid-first intae the dam.
5: Pitter-pat, pitter-pat, the bull hard on his heels, he wis gainin, that murderous beast,
Yon gypsy wis wrang wi the lines on his hand, fen she said he'd see echty at least;
An the lassie he wis takin tae the pictures that nicht that he promised tae meet at eight sharp,
She'd be gey disappointed in hearin the news aye an him mebbe learnin the harp.
6: But jist at that instant the bull fund his mark, Tam's buttocks received sic a batter,
That he rose in the air, aye sax fit an mair, seen cam doon wi a splash in the watter;
Auld Jasper looked on with disgust in his ee aye an seen turned slowly awa,
Tam thinks he's a rinner, he's jist a big cooard, in fact he's nae sportsman at aa.
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c p 2007 Autumn Harvest AH005
www.springthyme.co.uk
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