Barring of the Door

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!"

Translation(s): GER

List of language codes

Submitted by Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Authorship

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

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:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) , title unknown ENG ITA FRE by Johann Karl Gottfried Loewe, Hugo Wolf.
  • Go to the text.
    

Text added to the website: 2006-10-01T00:00:00.
Last modified: 2014-06-16T10:02:19
Line count: 47
Word count: 319

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project, and I have been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated.      - Emily Ezust

Browse imslp.org (Petrucci Music Library) for Lieder or choral works