Eetum Peetum
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1961.89.B64; SA1961.89.B65; SA1961.89.B66
Original Tape ID
Summary
A rhyming proverb, a sung rhyme and a counting-out rhyme from the Shetland Folk Society collection, collected by M. G. Scott.
A proverb:
When the drink is in the man,
The wit is i the can.
A song:
We're da boys for kickin up a row,
Swats an treacle, swats an treacle,
We're da boys for kickin up a row,
Swats an shappit tatties [mashed potatoes].
A counting-out rhyme:
Eetum peetum, penny pump,
Aa da ladies in a lump,
First she sang and dan she blew
And den she said, "It must be you. Du's oot."
Item Notes
'Swats' is originally weak beer, but in Shetland the word has also been used for a beer substitute "made from molasses and water boiled and fermented with the addition of yeast" or the liquid "in which oatmeal husks have been steeped in the making of sowans ('The Scottish National Dictionary', available online [[http://www.dsl.ac.uk]], accessed 20 April 2009, s.v. swats). Sowans is a fermented oatmeal dish known in English as flummery.
For 'Eetum Peetum' (Roud Folk Song Index no. 20441), see:
'Nursery Rhymes of England' (J. Halliwell, 1886) p. 188
'Miscellanea of the Rymour Club' vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1928) p. 107
Recording Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Lerwick
Island - Shetland Mainland
Village/Place - Lerwick
Item Location
County - Shetland
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Classification
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good