Digital Tradition Mirror

Wee Tammy Tyrie

Wee Tammy Tyrie


     Wee Tammy Tyrie
     Fell in the feirie.
     The feir wiz hot;
     He jamp ee pot.
     The pot wiz metal;
     He jamp ee kettle.
     The kettle wiz bress;
     He jamp ee press.
     The press wiz high;
     He jamp ee sky.
     The sky wiz blue;
     He jamp ee soo.
     The soo gie a roar;
     He jamp in the boar.
     The boar gie a loup,
     And wee Tammy Tyrie landit on eez doup.
     ________________________________________________________


     Rodger Lang Strang (1948), 11; Cheape & Sprott (1980),
     54, from Angus [sae he jumped in the pot/ on the kettle/
     on the press/ in the sky/ on the soo/ on the boar/ The
     boar gie a loup an he fell on his doup,/ An that wis the
     end of wee Tammy Tirie].  Text in Dundee Courier
     25/11/74, Forfar version of c. 1900, very close: "Little
     Tammy Tyrie fell in the firie,/ The fire was hot, he
     jumped on the pot [etc.]/The soo let a roar, he jumped
     on the boar,/ The boar made a loup,/ And little Tammy
     Tyrie fell on his doup.
     Truncated in SC (1948), 167 (no. 310):  Little Tammie
Tyrie/ Jumpit in the firie./ The fire was ower hot,/ He
jumpit in the pot./ The pot was made o metal,/ He jumpit in
the kettle./ The kettle was made o brass,/ He jumpit in the
ass.  Ass = "ash".
Another sequence is "Little Wee Laddie", q.v.  Cf. Opies ODNR
285 (no. 285).
Ritchie Golden City (1965), 35, has a similar rhyme used for
a game [There was a wee man/ Who lived in a pan, etc.].
MS
APR99

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