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.
J. Haydn sets stanzas 1, 3-4
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesKist = 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