Ewie Wi' the Crookit Horn

DESCRIPTION: In praise of the ewie -- "a' wha kent her could hae sworn Sic a ewie ne'er was born, Hereabouts or far awa'." All who knew the ewie (i.e. a still) loved her products -- but now she is missing or dead, (taken by revenuers)
AUTHOR: revised by John Skinner (1721-1807)
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (_Scots Musical Museum_, #293)
KEYWORDS: drink animal separation
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Whitelaw-BookOfScottishSong, p. 88, "The Ewie" (1 text)
Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland 271, "The Ewie Wi' the Crookit Horn" (1 text+1 in appendix, 1 tune)
Porter/Gower-Jeannie-Robertson-EmergentSingerTransformativeVoice #19, pp. 143-144, "Yowie Wi' the Crookit Horn"" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, CROKHORN*
ADDITIONAL: James Johnson, Editor, _The Scots Musical Museum_ [1853 edition], volume III, #293, p. 302, "The Ewie wi' the Crooked Horn"(1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2140
RECORDINGS:
Lucy Stewart, "The Ewie wi' the Crookit Horn" (on FSB10)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blockader's Trail" (subject)
cf. "The Moonshine Can" (subject)
cf. "The Black Stripper" (subject, theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Yowie Wi' the Crookit Horn
NOTES [117 words]: This humorous song seems innocent enough, but the Rev. John Skinner found its subtle meanings sufficiently problematic that he produced a "clean" version about an actual sheep! This found its way into print before most of the versions about the illicit still, but there can be little doubt about which is older. - RBW
Porter/Gower-Jeannie-Robertson-EmergentSingerTransformativeVoice report that "Lucy Stewart ... was quite definite about the ewie's being a pot still" (p. 144), the ewe being a nickname for a still. - DGE
See John Skinner, Songs and Poems (Peterhead, 1859), pp. 67-70, "The Ewie Wi' the Crookit Horn." - BS
For background on revisor John Skinner, see the notes to "Tullochgorum." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: K271

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