Ye'll a' hae heard o' Tattie Jock
Likewise o' Mutton Peggie.
They had a fairmie up in Fife,
An' the name o' it was Craigie.

Chorus
Singin' ah riddle aye
Roo dum di do.
Ah riddle aye
Roo dum day

2. There was ten pair upon that place
Likewise ten able men
It's five they gaed for tae kinnle the fire
An' the ither five oot tae scran

3. Three month we served wi' Tattie Jock
An' weel we did agree
Till we found oot that the tattie shed
Could be open by the bothie key

4. We a' went intae the tattie shed
Oor bags were hardly full
When Tattie Jock in ahint the door
Cried "Aye ma lads stand still"

5. Oh the first he got was Willie Marr
The next was Sandy Doo
There was Jimmy Grey and Wull Moncur
An' Jimmy Pethrie flew

6. Next day some o' us were drivin' dung
An' some were at the mill
The foreman he was at the ploo'
Upon Pitlootie Hill

7. They sent for ten big polismen
But nine there only came
It dinged them for tae lift's that night
Us bein' ten able men

8. The hin'maist lad was the wisest een
The best lad o' us a'
He jined a man o' war at Leith
So's he didnae need tae stand the law

9. When we were gettin' oor sentences
We a' stood roond an' roond
But when we heard o' the fourteen years
Oor tears cam' rollin' doon

10. When Tattie Jock heard tell o' this
He cried and grat fu' sore
A thousand guineas he would pay
If that would clear oor score

11. A bag o' gold he did produce
Tae pey it there and then
But the lawyer only told him money
Wouldna clear his men

12. An' when they mairched us up through Perth
We heard the news boy say
"It's hard tae see sic able men
Rade aff tae Botany Bay"

13. When we arrive in Botany Bay
Some letters we will send
Tae tell oor friends the hardships we
Endure in a foreign land




abc | midi | pdf

---

Source: The Scottish Folksinger, 1973, Norman Buchan & Peter Hall

Notes:
From the singing of Archie Webster of Strathkinness. A bothy ballad with a transportation theme, which has been published in broadsheet form. The song is also included in 'Fife Songs and Ballads' edited by P Shepheard (in publication)

Roud: 5915 (Search Roud index at VWML)
Laws:
Child: