Janet She Cam' Doon the Gait

DESCRIPTION: "Janet she cam' doon the gait To borrow elaeven eggs fae Pate Her muckle tappit hen to set The cock was but a gawpie [Greig/Duncan8: fool]"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Greig/Duncan8)
KEYWORDS: chickens
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greig/Duncan8 1881, "Janet She Cam' Doon the Gait" (1 fragment)
Roud #13574
NOTES [119 words]: The current description is all of the Greig/Duncan8 fragment.
Considering the fragment we have I would have thought the cock more likely to be a capon, either literally or figuratively. - BS
Several versions of "The Baffled Knight" [Child 112], mostly Scottish in my experience, have verses about unproductive chickens. The Digital Tradition version, for instance, has one which reads
There is a cock in our father's barn, he never trod a hen
He flies about and flaps his wings, I think you're one of them.
Another one talked about a "likely hen... That clucked and clucked and clucked again But neer an egg would lay." This probably isn't related, but it would seem this was a rather common concern in Scotland. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81881

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography