Puddy and Mouse 3
There lived a Puddy in a well,
Cuddy alone, cuddy alone;
There lived a Puddy in a well,
Cuddy alone and I.
There was a Puddy in a well,
And a mousie in a mill;
Kickmaleerie, cowden down,
Cuddy alone and I.
[similarly:]
Puddy he's a wooin' ride,
Sword and pistol by his side.
Puddy came to the mouse's wonne:
"Mistress Mouse, are you within?"
"Yes, kind sir, I am within;
Saftly do I sit and spin."
"Madam, I am come to woo;
Marriage I must have of you."
"Marriage I will grant you nane,
Till Uncle Rottan he comes hame."
Uncle Rottan's now come hame,
Fye, gar busk the bride alang.
Lord Rottan sat at the head o' the table,
Because he was baith stout and able.
Wha is't that sits next the wa',
But Lady Mouse, baith jimp and sma'?
Wha is't that sits next the bride,
But the sola Puddy wi' his yellow side?
Syne came the Deuk but and the Drake,
The Deuk took the Puddy, and gart him squaik.
Then came in the carle Cat,
Wi' a fiddle on his back:
"Want ye ony music here?"
The Puddy he swam down the brook,
The Drake he catched him in his fluke.
The Cat he pu'd Lord Rottan down,
The kittlins they did claw his crown.
But Lady Mouse, baith jimp and sma',
Crept into a hole beneath the wa';
"Squeak!" quo' she, "I'm weel awa'."
________________________________________________________
Chambers PRS (1847), 208-9; (1870), 55, mostly from
Sharpe, Ballad Book; see his note, p. 56-7.
Sharpe Ballad Book (1823), repr. of 1880, ed. Laing, p. 86,
has differs: No burden; in couplets. 1.2 And a merry mouse in
a mill. Variants: 10, Wha sat at the table fit,/ Wha but
froggy and his lame fit? 12 Then in cam the gude grey cat,/
Wi' a' the kittlens at her back.
ODNR 177 ff. (no. 175); refs. to Chambers Scottish Songs, 1829,
"There was a frogge in a well, Fa, la, linkum, leerie! And a
mousie in a mill, Linkum-a-leerie, linkum-a-leerie, cow-dow,"
&c.; and Scott's notes to Sharpe (see 1880 ed., 139: "Dirk
and pistol by his side,/ As being a frog of Celtic race" and
"Uncle Rotten he came home,/ Riding on a great snail alone.//
His boots were ill, his spurs were waur,/ For he was all over
dirt and glaur.") MacLennan SNR (1909), 31, as PRS, with
differs: 12 An' wha cam' in but Gib, oor Cat, Wi' a' her
kittlins at her back. 13 omitted.
Cf. FSJ no. 9 [II.4], 1906, 226-7, fragment of Chambers'
version, with tune, from Leith; 1946, 38-40 (Gilchrist). A
version col
doon the burn,/ The drake he got him an' garr'd him girn;
besides a somewhat unique tune.
Rymour Club Misc. I (1906-11), 2, from Calder Ironworks, c.
1856:
There was a moosie in a mill,
Kiltie, keerie, ca' ye me,
And a froggie in a well,
Rigdum Bummaleerie ca' ye me.
Ca' ye Deemie, ca' ye Keemie,
Ca' ye Deemie, ca' ye me;
Streem, stram, pummareedle, rally-bally, rantan,
Rigdum Bummaleerie ca' ye me.
Another, from the Huntly district (I.90):
There was a mousie in a mill,
Rigdum, pommiriddle, cairey;
There was a froggie in a well,
Rigdum, pommiriddle, cairey;
Came in near, killed her care,
Rigdum, pommiriddle, cairey;
Sham, sham, shamiriddle, hally, bally, rigdum;
Rigdum, pommiriddle, cairey.
[orig. has Rigdam in last line.]
The history of this ballad, which Child did not see fit to
include (probably because of its animal personnel) is still a
desideratum. There are many American versions, for instance,
and one descendant is the minstrel song "Kemo, Kimo".
MS
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!