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Barring of the Door
Martinmas has three meanings.
1. A Christian feast observed in commemoration of the death and burial of Saint Martin of Tours.
2. November 11, the day on which a feast is observed.
3. One of the four days of the year regarded as the beginning of a new season or quarter, when most quarterly payments are due.
This song relates to Martinmas as a quarter day in Scotland when the cattle were slaughtered, haggis and blood pudding made.
Melody
It fell aboot the Martinmas time,
And a fine time it was then O.
That oor gudewife got puddens to mak'
And she boiled them in a pan O.
Chorus:
An' the barrin' o' oor door, weel, weel, weel,
An' the barrin' o' oor door weel.
The wind it blew fae east to west,
And blew upon the floor O,
Says oor gudeman to oor gudewife:
"Get up and bar the door O."
"My hand is in my hissy-skip
Gudeman, as ye may see O;
Though it shouldna be barred this seven year,
It'll no' be barred by me O".
They made a paction 'tween themselves
And fixed it firm and sure O,
That the yin wha spoke the foremost word
Should rise and bar the door O.
Twa gentlemen had lost their road,
At twal' o'clock o' the nicht O;
And they couldna find neither hoose nor ha'
Nor coal nor candle-licht O.
"Now, whether is this a rich man's hoose,
Or whether is it a poor O?"
But ne'er a word would yin o' them speak
For the barrin' o' the door O.
First they ate the white puddens
And syne they ate the black O,
And oor gudeman said to himsel':
"The deil gang doon wi' that O!"
The young man to the auld man said,
"Here, man, tak' ye my knife O,
And gang and shave the gudeman's beard
And I'll kiss the gudewife O."
"There is nae water in the hoose,
And what'll we do then O?"
"Whit ails ye at the pudden-bree
That boils intil the pan O?"
Then oot it spak the auld gudeman,
And an angry man was he O:
"Would ye kiss my wife afore my e'en?
Scaud me wi' pudden bree O?"
Then up it raise the auld gudewife,
Gied thr'ee skips on the floor O:
"Gudeman, ye spoke the formost word,
Get up and bar the door O!"
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You can find more articles in the archive under Fada 's Farsaing (Far and Wide)
Scottish Radiance
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