Cherlie oh Cherlie

  1. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Right for Halloween here's me singing (just ignore my lower teeth, pumpkin style). This is a bothy song I heard from the singing of Ewan McColl (you can hear it here from 15:49); these lyrics are what I gathered with my limited knowledge of Lowland Scots (waiting for John Kelly to set me right):

    Cherlie o Cherlie cam oer fae Pitgair
    and I'll gae ye oot a' yer orders
    for I maun awa tae the high hielan hills
    for a while to leave the bonny Buchan borders

    Cherlie o Cherlie tak notice what I say
    and fit every man tae his station
    for I maun awa tae the bonny hielan hills
    for tae view a the perts o the nation.

    Tae the lousin ye'll pit Shaw, ye'll pit Sanderson tae lower
    tae the callin ye'll pit ould Andrew Caithness
    and ye'll gar Colin Hill aye tae feed the threshin mill
    and ye see that he'll dae it wi a great fineness

    Tae the gathering o the hay ye'll pit little Isa Gray
    and wi her ye'll pit her cousin Peggy
    and it's underneath the bands it's there ye'll pit yer hands
    and ye'll se that they dae it richt tidy

    And for you Willie Bar you carry on the stir
    and ye'll keep all the lassies a-howin
    and ye'll take care of Jack or he'll play you a trick
    and set all yer merry maids a-mowin

    And for you Annie Scot ye'll pit on a muckle pot
    and make them milk pottage in plenty
    for yon hungry grosegs are comin fae Pitgair
    and their keepit aye sae bare and sae scanty

    Cherlie o Cherlie so early ye'll rise
    and see all my merry men a-yokin
    and you Missy Poke ye'll sit in the parlor neuk
    and keep all my merry men fae smokin

    The chords (GDAE notation) are
    2001 2200 2301 2200
    0011 2200 2001
    2301 5500 3300 2200
    0011 2200 2001




  2. woodenfingers
    woodenfingers
    Wow, very nice!! I don't know if you are a true Scot but you sure sound like one to me. Great playing with the finger picking and chord structures and the singing was wonderful, great voice!!
  3. David Hansen
    David Hansen
    Very nicely done. This song brings back memories of my favorite Scottish band of all time, Ossian. Here's a video of their version:

  4. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Thanks gentlemen.

    I was not born a Scot (at least not this time), but there is a certain affinity. Someone told me once that Germans have an easier access to the more guttural aspects of Lowland Scots than most native English speakers. It's complicated.

    Thanks for the Ossian heads-up, that's late Tony Cuffe at his best.
  5. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    I love this one Bertram! Your playing and singing work so well together and are both absolutely excellent.
  6. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Thanks Marcie, good to hear feedback from another excellent singer.
  7. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    A very fine performance, Bertram. Not only do you sound Scottish, but you sound very close to the north-east and Aberdeen/Buchan farming areas where the bothy ballads have their home. There is a huge collection of bothy ballads, also known as "cornkisters" (from the Scots for a corn chest) in our culture and many are rather bawdy (or indeed very bawdy!).
    As for the accents, I have heard it said often by German speakers that the Glasgow accent (I know, there are many different shades even in such a tiny area) is one of their favourites.

    It is ironic that I was brought up in a Scotland (from the late 1940s onwards) where we were strongly discouraged from using our native tongue, it being thought inferior to standard English, and I became a teacher of English throughout my professional life! It was quite a way into my career that it was considered acceptable to use literature of Scots origins and we worked hard to let our students have access to works written in various Scots dialects; this does not include the whole area of Scots Gaelic which is now getting a belated boost in an attempt to keep it alive among the young.
  8. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Thanks John, good to know I'm in range. Cornkist is a good cueword, since Kiste is the German word for chest. It all comes natural.
  9. Hendrik Luurtsema
    Hendrik Luurtsema
    Very well done Bertram. You created the right atmosphere for such a song. You should go on performing this kind of songs
  10. Michael Pastucha
    Michael Pastucha
    I knew this song was familiar... when working on the song, Mally Lee, with luurtie, Marcy and Jeff, I purchased an old album entitled, Will Ye Gang, Love by Archie Fisher because it had Mally Lee on it. However the first song on the album was O Charlie, O Charlie which ended up my favorite song of all the tracks on the record. Bertram, you've got a great, strong voice there and it was a pleasure to hear you sing this song. Loved the finger picking back up also.

    Now I have to go explore Ossian and thanks to David for the tip.

    Here's O Charlie, O Charlie by Archie Fisher.

  11. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Thanks Hendrik and Michael.

    The right atmosphere - with ceiling lights making my frosty pow glisten, and everything lit by the cold sheen of the computer screen? I'll have to work on that some more, maybe I find out how to film it all in candlelight like Stanley Kubrik did in Barry Lyndon

    That's also a nice version from Archie Fisher. It seems there are many variations of the lyrics around, but that applies for many songs. But they all express what I like about this song: a slow peaceful workplace and peace of mind. I like the last verse which seems to indicate that it was considered bad manners to smoke in the presence of women.
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