Hap and Row

DESCRIPTION: "Hap and row, hap and row, Hap and row the feetie o't; I never knew I had a bairn Until I heard the greetie o't." Life with the baby is described: A cinder from the cooking fire burns its feet; Sandy's mother wraps them in her cap
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Greig/Duncan7)
KEYWORDS: baby clothes food
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig/Duncan7 1398, Greig/Duncan8 Addenda, "Hap and Row" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Porter/Gower-Jeannie-Robertson-EmergentSingerTransformativeVoice #58, p. 220, "Hap An' Rowe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Montgomerie/Montgomerie-ScottishNurseryRhymes 157, "(Hap and row, hap and row)" (1 text)
Roud #7252
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Reel o' Stumpie" (lyrics, tune?)
NOTES [107 words]: This is presumably the original which Burns converted into "The Reel of Stumpie." Roud, in fact, lumps them. I suspect there are cross-fertilized versions, so some care should be taken in looking at each. - RBW
While the first text is "late," from Greig-Duncan in 1914, the air is considerably older, 1734 according to Porter-Gower (p. 220). To this air is (often) attached a burden, such as Jeannie Robertson sang in 1954, or a few verses. Thus an "original" narrative might be suspected, but we know nothing of it. Perhaps the song's "interest" lies in its implied narrative possibilities, but certainly its musicality is significant. - DGE
Last updated in version 6.1
File: MSNR157

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