LL-L "Literature" 2002.10.31 (09) [E/S]

Fri Nov 1 22:14:06 UTC 2002

Sorry. This was supposed to go out under "Literature," not "Labels."
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From: George M Gibault <gmg at direct.ca>
Subject: LL-L "Literature" 2002.10.31 (02) [E]

Hi guys,

If it helps, I had always heard that the Cock O'The North was a Gordon from
Aberdeen. The Gordons in folklore are considered "Cocky" and there is a line
in the ballad Glenlogie:

"He turned aroond quickly as the Gordons dae a'..." (as the Gordons all do.)

I have heard the gey Gordons referred to - and I will defer to our native
Scots speakers but I think it may also imply "proud" or even "prood"?

It could also be that proud people are crowing about themselves - like thew
cockerel announcing the day. Of course followers of Bonnie Prince Charlie
and the Jacobite cause wore a white feather in their blue bonnets and it was
called "The White Cockade."

After winning much of the British Empire for Queen Victoria (who would have
rather been a Stuart like most 19th century romantics) the Highland
regiments and Scots military in general were expected to be a wee bit
"cocky" and the did not disappoint. Who can forget the great toast:

"Here's tae us! Whae's like us? Damn few - and they're a' deid!"

a doodle do                             George

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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Literature"

> From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
> Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2002.10.31 (13) [E]
>
> Cock o' the North, with a dream in your hand,
> My love has come home to this beautiful land.
> And he stands in my kitchen withhis eyes like the sun,
> And his kit bag all full of the treasures he's won.

This doesn't fit the traditional tune, though. I suspect that
the original Cock o the North is a bagpipe tune without any
proper words of its own (rather like Scotland the Brave, the
words of which are not only a recent invention, but also
nauseating!).

Cock o the North is often mentioned in literature, but I
never seem to come across words to the song itself. Some
verses that mention it are in Charles Murray's "Bydand":

For my lad would 'list: when a Duchess kiss't
He forgot a' the vows he made;
And he turned and took but ae lang, last look,
When the "Cock o' the North" was played.

Piper McNab mentions playing it:

"So I blew up an' strutted back an' forth,
    A' roond an' roond me hoo they lap an' flang;
An' when I played to them 'Cock o' the North'
   They screiched an' roared oot some wild, war-like sang.
They stabbit wi' their spears baith left an' richt;
By Neptune's beard, it was an awsome sicht."

While in the old ballad the Battle o Shirra-Muir, the
Cock o the North is referred to as a person:

Whether we ran, or they ran, or we wan, or they wan,
    Or if there was winnin at a', man,
There's nae man can tell, save oor brave general,
    That first began rinnin awa, man,

Wi the Earl o Seaforth, an the Cock o the North;
    But Florence ran fastest ava, man,
Save the Laird o Finhaven, that swore to be even
    Wi ony general or peer o them a', man.
        An we ran, an they ran; an they ran, an we ran;
        An we ran, an they ran awa, man.

(The Battle o Shirra-Muir, don't ya just love it?  :)

So as I said the only words I know to the tune are the
doggerel rhymes, which have a long tradition. Here's a
topical one form the time of the Boer Wars (don't ask
me to comment on the history here, it's all Greek to me!):

Barnum an Bayley haed a canary,
Whustled "The Cock o the North".
It whustled for oors an frichtit the Booers,
An they a' fell intae the Forth.
    B for Booer,
    K for Krudger,
    J for General French.
    The British wis up at the tap o the hill
    An the Boers wis doun in the trench.

Or there's the version I sang as a child:

Auntie Mary haed a canary,
Up the leg o her drawers,
She pee'd her breeks for twinty weeks
An then she catched the cauld.
     Auntie Mary haed a canary,
     Up the leg o her drawers,
     She pee'd her breeks for twinty weeks
     An then she catched the cauld.
&c ad infinitum until told to shut up (especially if any of
my Auntie Marys were about).

There are much worse versions depending on the fact
that "fartin" rhymes with "tartan" and suchlike, but
the elusiveness of any decent words does suggest that
it's only ever really been a bagpipe tune.

The idea that Cock o the North might be a constellation
is interesting. Any more information on this?

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Literature

Sandy, Lawlanders,

A dinna ken the wirds o "Cock o the North," bit A div ken that it's a rerr
spring.  It's ane o the pet tuins in monie an Austrailian howff on a Friday
or Seturday nicht an aa.

   http://www.glasgowguide.com/wjc/midi/cocknrth.mid

   http://ingeb.org/songs/cocknrth.mid

Gin A mynd richt, A see'd the Queen an Prince Philip dae a birl tae it at a
ceilidh in the documentairy o the 1970s.  Or wis that anither fowersome
reel?  (Wisna the Queen Mum in the fowersome an aa?)

Regairds,

Reinhard/Ron

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