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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

O saw ye Johny cumin, quo' she
Language: English 
O saw ye Johny cumin, quo' she,
  Saw ye Johny cumin:
Wi' his blew bonnet on his head,
  And his dogie rinnin, quo' she,
  And his dogie rinnin?

O 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
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?
He has ne'er a coat upon his back,
  And I hae nane to gie him.
I hae twa coats into my kist,
  And ane of them I'll gie him:
And for a merk of mair fee,
  Dinna stand wi' him, quo' she,
  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.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   J. Haydn •   F. Mendelssohn 

J. Haydn sets stanzas 1, 3-4

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Glossary:
Fee = hire
Kist = chest
Merk = silver coin
Ha'd the pleugh = hold the plough
Crack = converse


Text 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: 198

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