by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
O saw ye Johny cumin, quo' she
Language: English
[O]1 saw ye Johny [cumin]2, quo' she, Saw ye Johny cumin: Wi' his blew bonnet on his head, And his dogie [rinnin]3, quo' she, And his dogie rinnin? [O]4 fee him, father, fee him, quo' she, Fee him, father, fee him; For he is a gallant lad, and a weil-doin, quo' she, And a' the wark about the [town]5 Gaes wi' me when I see him, quo'she, Gaes wi' me when I see him. [O what will I do wi' him, quo' he, What will I do wi' him?]6 He has ne'er a [coat]7 upon his back, And I hae nane to gie him. I hae twa [coats into my kist]8, And ane of them I'll gie him: And for a merk of mair fee, Dinna stand wi' him, [quo' she]9, Dinna stand wi' him. For weel do I loe him, quo' she, Weel do I loe him; O fee him, father, fee him, quo' she, Fee him, father, fee him; He'll ha'd the pleugh, thrash in the barn, And crack wi' me at e'en, quo' she, And crack wi' me at e'en.
J. Haydn sets stanzas 1, 3-4
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 omitted by Haydn and Mendelssohn.
2 spelled "coming" in Haydn's song, passim.
3 spelled "running" in Haydn's song, passim.
4 omitted by Mendelssohn.
5 Mendelssohn: "house"
6 Mendelssohn: "What wad I do wi' him, hussy/ What wad I do wi' him?"
7 Mendelssohn: "sark"
8 Mendelssohn: "sarks in my kist neuk"
9 Mendelssohn: "Father"
Glossary:
Fee = hire
Kist = chest
Merk = silver coin
Ha'd the pleugh = hold the plough
Crack = converse
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, "Fee him, father, fee him" [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):
- by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "Fee him, father", JHW XXXII/3 no. 171, Hob. XXXIa no. 156, stanzas 1,3-4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Saw ye Johnnie comin', quo' she", 1839 [ duet for bass and soprano with piano ], from Six Scottish Folksongs (Sechs schottische Nationallieder), no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2010-01-10
Line count: 27
Word count: 183