| Version 1 Play/Download Music File John Renfro Davis |
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According to Traditional Folksongs and Ballads of Scotland by John Loesberg, the tune dates to "at least the 18th century or earlier" and in James Hogg's Jacobite Relics of Scotland (1821), there is a political song circa 1715 with the chorus "Aikendrum, Aikendrum" but it was evidently to a different tune.
Aiken Drum is supposed to be the tune for Piper o' Dundee. Based on this version, Piper is a very different tune. However, as with most folk/traditional music, there are many variants. The words here follow the same pattern as Piper. Similar words appear in Percy Society's Early English Poetry, Ballads, and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages (1841) as a nursery rhyme. The name in the original nursery rhyme is Edrin Drum. The lyrics of the more modern nursery rhyme (sung to this tune) can be found at Aiken Drum (2). |
There lived a man in oor toon, In oor toon, in oor toon, There lived a man in oor toon, An' his name was Aiken Drum. An' he wad be a soger, A soger, a soger, An' he wad be a soger, An' his name was Aiken Drum. An' his coat was o' the guid saut meat, The guid saut meat, the guid saut meat, An' a waistcoat o' the haggis bag, Ay wore Aiken Drum. O' the guide lang kail An' the Athole brose, Ay they made his trew an' hose, An' he lookit weel as ye may suppose, An his name was Aiken Drum. An' his banner was made o' pie crust, O' pie crust, o' pie crust, An his bannet was made o' pie crust Built baith thick an' roun. An' he play'd upon a razor, A razor, a razor, An' he play'd upon a razor, An' whiles upon the kame. But wae's me he turned soger, A soger, a soger, But wae's me he turned soger, An' he was marched awa. 'Bout him the carls were grabbin; For him the laddies sabbin' An' a' the lassies greeting' For Aiken Drum's awa. |
| Lyrics From The Saltire Scottish Song Book See Bibliography for full information. Some information from Digital Tradition. |
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