The Drunkard's Raggit Wean
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1960.142.B12
Original Tape ID
Summary
This temperance song evokes the image of a poor child wandering the streets, neglected by his drunkard parents. The singer worries what will become of him, and urges the listener to try to help the parents change their ways.
Item Notes
3 verses of 8 lines. Sung to the tune of 'Castles in the Air'. Composed by James P. Crawford (1825-1887) (pseudonym 'Paul Rookford') in 1855; this song was instantly popular and went on to become one of the best known songs in the temperance movement of the time, as evidenced by its popularity with broadsheet printers.
See:
Greig-Duncan vol. 3, p. 440, no. 594
'Blithe and Braw' (A. Forsyth (ed.), 2001) p. 14
Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, Axon Ballad Collection, no. 31
'The Glasgow Poets: Their Lives and Poems' (G. Eyre-Todd, 1906) pp. 361-363
'One Hundred Modern Scottish Poets' vol 1. (D. H. Edwards ed., 1880) pp. 372-377
Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, Firth c.14(70) (London, 1863-1885), Firth c.22(105)
National Library of Scotland, Broadside Ballad collection, LC.Fol.70(97a)/RB.m.143(212) (Poets' Box, Dundee, 1880-1900), RB.n.168(150) (James Lindsay, Glasgow, 1847-1907)
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Fair