The Muckin' O' Geordie's Byre

At a relic aul' croft upon the hill,

Roon the neuk frae Sprottie's mill,

Tryin' a' his life tae jine the kill

Lived Geordie MacIntyre.

He had a wife as sweir's himsel'

An' a daughter as black's Auld Nick himsel'.

There wis some fun - haud awa' the smell-

At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

Chorus:

For the graip was tint, the besom was deen,

The barra widna row its leen,

An'siccan a soss it never was seen

At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

For the daughter had to strae and neep

The auld wife started to swipe the greep

When Geordie fell sklite on a rotten neep

At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

Ben the greep cam' Geordie's soo

She stood up ahint the coo

The coo kickit oot an' o whit a stew

At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre. (Chorus)

For the aul' wife she was booin' doon -

The soo was kickit on the croon

It shoved her heid in the wifie's goon

Then ben through Geordie's byre.

The daughter cam thro the barn door

An' seein' her mother let oot a roar,

To the midden she ran an' fell ower the boar

At the muckin' of Geordie's byre. (Chorus)

For the boar he lap the midden dyke

An' ower the riggs wi' Geordie's tyke.

They baith ran intil a bumbee's byke

At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

The cocks an' hens began to craw

When Biddy astride the soo they saw

The postie's shelty ran awa'

At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre. (Chorus)

O a hunder' years are passed an mair

Whaur Sprottie's wis, the hill is bare;

The croft's awa', sae ye'll see nae mair

At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

His folks a' deid an' awa' lang syne

In case his memory we should tyne,

Whistle this tune tae keep ye in min'

At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre. (Chorus)

Bothy Ballads -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bothies were out-houses built of stone where unmarried farm labourers lived. The men would gather in towns waiting for a farmer to come along and hire them. The wages were poor and the diet was monotonous oatmeal. But the bothie was home for the time they worked on the farm. The building consisted of two rooms, one a dormitory for sleeping and the other the room where they ate and spent their evenings. On cold nights when there was nothing to do but go to bed, the men would have sing-songs to pass the time. Many of the bothy ballads were created during this time, some shared from the past, some re-made and new ones improvised.Burns wrote a few of these himself.