Seeking words to Scottish Song

imac...@biddeford.com

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Mar 23, 1995, 5:53:45 PM3/23/95

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<---- Begin Included Message ---->
Date: 22 Mar 1995 21:07:27 -0500
From: emms...@aol.com (Emmscot1)
Reply-To: emms...@aol.com (Emmscot1)
Subject: Seeking words to Scottish Song
To: bag...@cs.dartmouth.edu

Hi Everybody,

My mom has asked me to post a request for the words to a song that her
Scottish father used to sing. She doesn't know the title but knows a few
of the words. Here they are:

Just a wee doch and dorris(?)
Just a wee drop that's all,
Just a wee wee wifey waiting . . .

and so on. If anyone can provide the entire lyrics I (and my mom) would
be quite grateful. Thanks for reading : }

Elisanne MacHardy Mead

*****************************************************
"Land of my heart forever, Scotland the Brave"
*****************************************************

<---- End Included Message ---->
My version of the song (I was born ,and lived in Scotland for my first
29 years) is as follows

Just a wee deoch an' dorris
Just a wee yin ,that's a',
Just a wee deoch an' dorris
Afore ye gang awa ,
There's a wee wifey waitin'
In a wee but an' ben ,
An if y'can say it's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht the nicht,
Then ye're a' richt ,ye ken.

Line #7 does not scan deliberately--the song was usually sung when "First
Fitters " were leaving the Ne'er day party,and served as a sobriety test of
sorts...try it after a couple of drinks of SCOTCH.

The song was probably made popular by Harry Lauder a SCOTTISH singer of the
'20s and '30s.

The translation is as follows :-
" deoch an dorris " (spelling not necessarily correct) means "A drink at
the door" and is Gaelic -I have long forgotten almost all the rest of
that language,which I spoke for the first four years of my life.

"gang awa " is SCOTTISH for "go away" (That's easy )

"but an' ben " a small two roomed cottage where SCOTS people live.

"braw " means beautiful.

I have sent a copy of this post to bag...@cs.dartmouth.edu,so that some
light might be shed on the SCOTTISH discussion.

Ian Mac Innes
207-284-6793

Chris Tweedy

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Mar 27, 1995, 10:51:38 AM3/27/95

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>
> Hi Everybody,
>
> My mom has asked me to post a request for the words to a song that her
> Scottish father used to sing. She doesn't know the title but knows a few
> of the words. Here they are:
>
> Just a wee doch and dorris(?)
> Just a wee drop that's all,
> Just a wee wee wifey waiting . . .
>
> and so on. If anyone can provide the entire lyrics I (and my mom) would
> be quite grateful. Thanks for reading : }
>
>
> Elisanne MacHardy Mead
>
> *****************************************************
> "Land of my heart forever, Scotland the Brave"
> *****************************************************

I would also like those words. I know that the tag-line is
"If ye can say it's a bragh bright moonlight night,
yer all right, ye can"

In the above, "bragh bright moonlight night" is pronounced
"bra bricht moonlicht nicht", with the "ch" sounds produced gutterally,
as in German. The Rs are, of course, rrrrolled. The phrase is a drunk-
test. If you can pronounce the sentence, you're not too drunk, and may
be served another dram.

We used to sing this, but I've forgotten the rest of the words. :-(

Moira Bessette

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May 11, 2021, 10:20:57 AM5/11/21

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From bessset...@gmail.com

I found out recently, at the end of my father’s life, that his (Dublin, Ireland) father’s favorite musician was Harry Lauder. I learned that Harry Lauder was an international sensation and in his time was as highly regarded and recognizable as Charlie Chaplin.

Wee Deoch An’ Doris, A (1911)
2-72
(w) Harry Lauder & Gerald Grafton (m) Harry Lauder (P) Sir Harry Lauder
[Verse 1]
There’s a good old Scottish custom
That has stood the test o’ time.
It’s a custom that’s been carried out in ev’ry land and clime.
Where brother Scots foregather, it’s aye the usual thing,
For just before they say “good nicht,”
They fill their cups and sing:
[Chorus]
Just a wee deoch an’ doris, just a wee drop, that’s all.
A wee deoch an’ doris afore ye gang awa’.
There’s a wee wifie waitin’ in a wee but an ben.
If ye can say, “It’s a braw, bricht moonlicht nicht,”
Then yer a’richt, ye ken.

[Verse 2]
I like a man that is a man; a man that’s straight and fair.
A sort o’ man that will and can in all things do his share.
I like a man, a jolly man, the sort o’ man, “ye know,”
The chap that slaps your back and says,
“Mon Jock, before we go”: [Repeat Chorus]