At a relic aul' croft upon the hill,
Roon the neuk frae Sprottie's mill,
Tryin' a' his life tae jine the
Lived Geordie
Intyre.
He had a wife as sweir's himsel'An' a daughter as black's Auld Nick himsel'.
There wis some fun - haud awa' the smell-At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
Chorus:
For the graip was tint, the besom was deen,
The barra widna row its leen,
An'siccan a soss it never was
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
For the daughter had to strae and
The auld wife started to swipe the
When Geordie fell sklite on a rotten
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
Ben the greep cam' Geordie's
She stood up ahint the
The coo kickit oot an' o whit a
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre. (Chorus)For the aul' wife she was booin' doon -The soo was kickit on the
It shoved her heid in the wifie's
Then ben through Geordie's byre.
The daughter cam thro the barn
An' seein' her mother let oot a roar,
To the midden she ran an' fell ower the
At the muckin' of Geordie's byre. (Chorus)For the boar he lap the midden
An' ower the riggs wi' Geordie's tyke.
They baith ran intil a bumbee's
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
The cocks an' hens began to
When Biddy astride the soo they
The postie's shelty ran awa'At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre. (Chorus)O a hunder' years are passed an
Whaur Sprottie's wis, the hill is bare;
The croft's awa', sae ye'll see nae
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
His folks a' deid an' awa' lang
In case his memory we should tyne,
Whistle this tune tae keep ye in min'At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre. (Chorus)Bothy Ballads -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bothies were out-houses built of stone where unmarried farm labourers lived.
The men would gather in towns waiting for a farmer to come along and hire them.
The wages were poor and the diet was monotonous oatmeal.
But the bothie was home for the time they worked on the farm.
The building consisted of two rooms, one a dormitory for sleeping and the other the room where they ate and spent their evenings.
On cold nights when there was nothing to do but go to bed, the men would have sing-songs to pass the time.
Many of the bothy ballads were created during this time, some shared from the past, some re-made and new ones improvised.
Burns wrote a few of these himself.
