We're A' John Tamson's Bairns

DESCRIPTION: "John Tamson was a merry auld carle, And reign'd proud king o' the Dee... We're all John Tamson's bairns... There ne'er will be peace till the world again Has learned to sing wi' micht and main." The singer describes how he and the company celebrate
AUTHOR: Joseph Roy ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1869 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.27(54))
KEYWORDS: drink friend
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ford-VagabondSongsAndBalladsOfScotland, pp. 199-200, "We're A' John Tamson's Bairns" (1 text)
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #139, p. 1, "We're A' John Tamson's Bairns" (1 text)
Roud #6321
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.27(54), "We're a' John Tamson's Bairns" ("John Tamson was a merry auld carle"), The Poet's box (Glasgow), 1869
NOTES [117 words]: Broadside Bodleian Firth b.27(54) claims the song to be "from the pen of an eminent M.D. author of many poems and ballads which are justly admired. The tune is composed by D. M'Millan, Esq., well known to the musical world." - BS
There is a broadside, NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(11a), "John Tamson's Cart," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890, in which John Tamson nods off as he rides home from the fair. Usually his horse finds its way home on its own, but this time it too drops off. John's wife finds the horse and takes it home, leaving John to desperately try to figure out what happened.
I don't know that it's intended to be the same John Tamson, but there is something of the same feeling about the two. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: FVS199

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