Air—“We're a' noddin’ ”
WEEL, wha's in the bouroch,[1] an what is your cheer ?
The best that ye'll fin in a thousan a year.
An we're a noddin, nid nid noddin,
We're a noddin fu at e'en.
There's our ain Jamie Clark,[2] frae the Ha o Argyle,
Wi his leal Scottish heart, an his kind open smile.
An we're a noddin, nid nid noddin,
We're a noddin fu at e'en.
There is Will the guid fallow,[3] wha kills a our care
Wi his sang an his joke, an a mutchkin mair.
An we're a noddin, nid nid noddin,
We're a noddin fu at e'en.
There is blythe Jamie Barr [4] frae “Sanct Barchan's” toun,
Whan wit gets a kingdom, he's sure o the croun.
An we're a noddin, nid nid noddin,
We're a noddin fu at e'en.
There is Rab, frae the south, [5] wi his fiddle an his flute ;
I coud list tae his strains till the starns fa out.
An we're a noddin, nid nid noddin,
We're a noddin fu at e'en.
Apollo, for our comfort, has furnish'd the bowl,
An here is my bardship, as blin as an owl.
For we're a noddin, nid nid noddin,
We're a noddin fu at e'en.
Note by R. A. Smith.—“The little bacchanalian rant you are so anxious to know the history of was written in commemoration of a very happy evening spent by the Poet with four of his musical friends. At that meeting he was in high spirits, and his conversation became more than usually animated ; many songs were sung, and we had some glee singing, but neither fiddle nor flute made its appearance in company, nor were any of us ‘laid, nid, noddin.’ We were ‘unco happy,’ and had just such a ‘drappie in our e'e’ as enabled us to bid defiance to Care for the time being ; but the Poet thought proper to embellish his song with the old chorus, ‘We're a noddin,’ and rather than throw aside a lucky thought he chose to depict his ain hardship ‘as blin as an owl,’ but I assure you this was not the case,—his bardship had all his faculties ‘sitting lightly on him.’ As the merry rhymes in question were never intended for the public eye, I hope you will not give a copy to any person.”—Harp of Renfrewshire, p. xxxvii.
Note by Motherwell.—“We have ventured to disagree on this point with Mr. Smith, inasmuch as the courteous reader will find the song alluded to printed at full length in the Appendix to the Harp.”
Note by Ramsay.—“The ‘Five Frien's’ were—James Clark (the Poet's correspondent), who now resides at Campbelton, Argyleshire; William Stuart, now at Anderston, Glasgow; James Barr, who lived at Kilbarchan (‘Barchan's toon’), but went abroad some years ago (see Note to No. 68) ; Smith ; and Tannahill himself. To Mr. Stuart, we are indebted for some interesting information concerning Smith and the Poet.”
[1] The cozie room in Allan Stewart's Sun Tavern, 12 High Street, used by the social club with which three of the “Five Frien's” were connected.—Ed. [return]
[2] James Clark was born in Paisley in 1781 ; and he and William Stuart, ‘the guid fallow,’ were schoolfellows. He was brought up to the trade of a weaver; and in 1798, when he was eighteen years of age, he volunteered into the Argyleshire Militia. Shortly thereafter, he married Betty Miller in Kilbarchan. From his good conduct, he was early raised to the rank of sergeant, and, from his qualifications in instrumental music, he was trans-ferred into the Band His talents fitted him for a leader; and he was elevated to the rank of Bandmaster. The Band of the Argyleshire Militia then became one of the best in Scotland. His fine open countenance, genial disposition, and kind heart, won the affections of his companions-in-arms; and his dress, height, proportionable personal appearance, and majestic step with the leaders' staff, attracted the attention and approbation of the inhabitants wherever the regiment was quartered. James Clark was an early and constant acquaintance and correspondent of the Poet, and when the former visited Paisley or Kilbarchan, the two were always sure to meet each other. The last occasion the two were together was in the end of March, 1810, when the Poet said it was a pity that he had not called two days earlier, and he would have seen the “Ettrick Shepherd.” When the regiment was disembodied in 1816, James Clark was appointed one of the staff, and resided in Campbeltown; and, on being disbanded in 1826, he was rewarded with a pension of one shilling per day. He became a teacher of instrumental music in that town, where he was very much respected. William Stuart and his son, James Stewart, frequently visited James Clark; and they had long cracks about their old lamented acquain¬tance, Bob Tannahill. James Clark died in 1859, aged 78.—Ed. [return]
[3] William Stuart. See the Note to No. 20, page 68.—Ed. [return]
[4] James Barr, See the Notes to Nos. 20, and 68. “Sanct Barchan's toun,” —Kilbarchan. The first time the words “Sanct Barchan's” can be found in print, is in the popular elegy of “The Life and Death of the Piper of Kilbarchan, or the Epitaph on Habbie Simpson,” written by Robert Sempill of Beltrees about 1640. See Note to No. 26, page 128. These words, “Sanct Barchan's,” had been properly adopted by Tannahill from the seventh stanza of the elegy:—
“Sae kyndlie tae his nychbours, neist
At Beltane an Sanct Barchan's feist
He blew, an then held up his hreist
As he war weid ;
But now we neid not him arreist,
For Habbie's deid.”
In forty-four years afterwards, the learned Professor Cosmo Innes, the greatest antiquarian authority of the age, also adopted the same words from the elegy. The professor in his valuable work on “The Origin of Parishes in Scotland,” published in 1851, said in reference to Kilbarchan:—“The ancient church was situated in the village or Kirk-toun. It is only from the name ws learn its dedication to Saint Barchan, bishop and confessor ; but his feast seems formerly to have been celebrated in the village, and was probably the day of the ‘Annual Fair.’ ” He cites Semple of Beltrees as his authority for using the name “Saint Barchan” in the two sentences before quoted. The Professor died on 31st July, 1874, aged 75.—Ed.
[return]
[5] R. A. Smith, who came from England. See Note at page 20. —Ed. [return]
[Semple 144]