The Volunteer Boys/The Barring o' the Door
THE BARRING O’ THE DOOR.
It fell about the Martinmas time,
And a gay time it was then,
When our goodwife got puddings to make,
And she boil’d them in a pan.
The wind sae cauld blew south and north,
And blew into the floor;
Quoth our gudemas to our gudewife,
“Get up and bar the door.”
“My hand is in my hussyf’skap,
Goodman, as you may see,
An it should na be barr’d this hundred year,
It’s no be bared for me.”
They made a paction ’tween them twa,
They made it firm and sure;
That the first word wha’er should speak,
Should rise and bar the door.
Then by there came twa gentlemen,
At twelve o’clock at night,
And they could noither see house nor hauld,
Nor coal nor candle light.
“Now whether is this a rich man’s house?
Or whether is this a poor?”
But ne’er word wad one of them speak,
For barring of the door.
And first they ate the white puddings,
And then they ate the black;
Tho’ muckle thought the gudewife to hersey
Yet ne’er a word she spak.
Then said the one unto the other,
“Here man, take my knife,
Do ye tak aff the auld man’s beard,
And I’ll kiss the goodwife.”
“But there’s nae water in the house,
And what shall we do then?”
“What ails ye at the pudding broo,
That boils into she pan?”
O up then started our gudeman,
An angry man was he;
“Will ye kiss my wife before my face,
And scad me wi’ punding bree?”
Then up and started our gudewife,
Gi’d three skips on the floor;
“Gudeman, you’ve spoken the foremost word,
Get up and bar the door.”