The Minister and his Wedder

Original Track ID

SA1960.140.A8, SA1960.140.B1

Original Tape ID

SA1960.140

Summary

Told to repeat a song about his father stealing the minister's sheep, a boy sang about the minister's misdemeanours instead.

At a time when sheep-stealers could be hanged, a poor man stole a sheep from the minister's glebe to feed his family at Christmas. The minister was passing by when he heard the feeble-minded son of the family singing a song about his father stealing the minister's sheep. He promised the boy a sovereign to sing the song in front of the congregation in church on Sunday, but when asked to perform the boy sang a scandalous song about the minister, which Lucy Stewart sings, then repeats.

Item Notes

This cante-fable (a narrative containing sections of song) was published by many broadside publishers across Britain in the early 19th century. It is also known as 'Parson Brown's Sheep' or 'The Parson's Wether'.

See:
Greig-Duncan vol. 2, pp. 417-419
'Tocher' 4 (1971) pp. 118-121
'Folk Music Journal' 3:1 (1975) pp. 48-49
'Scottish Studies' 14 (A. Bruford, 1970) pp. 88-93
'Secret Songs of Silence' (P. Buchan, 1832) pp. 166-168

Recording Location

Language

Scots

Genre

Song Story

Collection

SoSS

Classification

AT1833 R2498 GD309

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good