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from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

Barring of the Door
Language: English 
It fell aboot the Martinmas time,
And a fine time it was then O.
That oor gudewife got puddens to mak'
And she boiled them in a pan O.

Chorus:
  An' the barrin' o' oor door, weel, weel, weel,
  An' the barrin' o' oor door weel.

The wind it blew fae east to west,
And blew upon the floor O,
Says oor gudeman to oor gudewife:
"Get up and bar the door O."

"My hand is in my hissy-skip
Gudeman, as ye may see O;
Though it shouldna be barred this seven year,
It'll no' be barred by me O".

They made a paction 'tween themselves
And fixed it firm and sure O,
That the yin wha spoke the foremost word
Should rise and bar the door O.

Twa gentlemen had lost their road,
At twal' o'clock o' the nicht O;
And they couldna find neither hoose nor ha'
Nor coal nor candle-licht O.

"Now, whether is this a rich man's hoose,
Or whether is it a poor O?"
But ne'er a word would yin o' them speak
For the barrin' o' the door O.

First they ate the white puddens
And syne they ate the black O,
And oor gudeman said to himsel':
"The deil gang doon wi' that O!"

The young man to the auld man said,
"Here, man, tak' ye my knife O,
And gang and shave the gudeman's beard
And I'll kiss the gudewife O."

"There is nae water in the hoose,
And what'll we do then O?"
"Whit ails ye at the pudden-bree
That boils intil the pan O?"

Then oot it spak the auld gudeman,
And an angry man was he O:
"Would ye kiss my wife afore my e'en?
Scaud me wi' pudden bree O?"

Then up it raise the auld gudewife,
Gied thr'ee skips on the floor O:
"Gudeman, ye spoke the formost word,
Get up and bar the door O!"

Text Authorship:

  • from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Barring of the Door" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) , "Gutmann und Gutweib" ; composed by Carl Loewe, Hugo Wolf.
      • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2006-10-01
Line count: 47
Word count: 319

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