Guise of Tough

from Away From My Window by Iona Fyfe

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

£1 GBP or more
Buy the Full Digital Album
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Digipack, with artwork and photography by Louise Bichan, photography by Martin Venherm

Includes unlimited streaming of Away From My Window via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 10 days

Purchasable with gift card

£12 GBP or more

about

This is a song which I would often hear at singarounds, sessions and bothy ballad competitions. Growing up, I’d attend many Traditional Music and Song Association and Buchan Heritage Society events, in which I met many singers such as Joe Aitken, Geordie Murison, Jim Taylor and Scott Gardiner, all of whom would often o er the audience a great rendition of this bothy ballad (and an even greater swalley of fusky!)

The song is about a man who is hired by “Jimmy Broon”, after an initial feed of bread and cheese, he soon finds that he is disappointed in the quality of his horses, and the plough doesn’t work either! I met the legendary Jock Duncan in 2012 at Turriff Bothy Ballad Competition where he was adjudicating the senior bothy ballad competition, and the terrifed 14-year-old me.

Found in John Ord’s Bothy Songs and Ballads and in the Grieg-Duncan Folk Song Collection (3:378) Roud 3800

lyrics

I gid up tae Alford for tae get a fee,
I fell in wi Jimmy Broon, wi him I did agree

Come a hi come a doo, hi come a day, Hi come a diddle come a dandy o

I fell in wi Jimmy Broon in the year o ninety-one,
Tae gang hame an caw his second pair an be his orraman

Fin I gid hame tae Guise o Tough ‚twas on an evening clear, And in aboot the orra hoose the ga er did appear

I‘m the maister o the place, an that‘s the mistress there, Ye‘ll get plenty cheese an plenty breid an plenty mair tae spare

Well I sat an ate the cheese an breid till they did roon me stare,
An then I thocht that it wis time tae gang an see my pair

Fin I gid tae the stable my pairie for tae view,
Oh fegs, they were a dandy pair a chestnut and a blue

On the followin mornin I gid tae the ploo,
But lang, lang ower lowsin time my pairie gart me rue

The ploo she wisna workin weel she widna throw the fur, The ga er says a better yin at the smiddy tae gang for

Fin I got hame the new ploo she pleased me unco weel, I thought she wid be better gin she had a cuttin wheel

I wrocht awa a month or twa wi unco little clatter,
Till I played up some nasty tricks and broke a tattie chapper

The gaffer he got word o this and orders did lay doon, If I did the like again he‘d pit me frae the toun

We hae a gallant baillie, aye Wallace is his name, He can fair redd up the kye fin he taks doon a kame

We hae a little baillie, aye Jamieson‘s his name,
He‘s gane ower tae Alford far he‘s raised an awfa fame.

He‘s gane doun tae Charlie Watt‘s for tae hae a dram, Lang, lang e‘er I gaed doon the laddie couldna stan

We hae a gallant kitchie lass, aye Simpson is her name, For tae tell her pedigree I really wid think shame

She dresses up on Sunday wi her heid up a the level, Teeth are o the ivory that wid scare the very devil

Noo ma sang is ended, I won‘t sing any more, If ony be o ended ye can walk outside the door

credits

from Away From My Window, released March 24, 2018

license

about

Iona Fyfe Scotland, UK

Aberdeenshire folksinger, Iona Fyfe, has become one of Scotland’s finest young folk singers, rooted in the singing traditions of the North East of Scotland. The first ever singer to win the coveted title of Musician of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2021, Iona has been described as “one of the best Scotland has to offer.” (Global-Music.de)

www.ionafyfe.com
... more

ionafyfe.com

contact / help

Contact Iona Fyfe

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Iona Fyfe, you may also like:

Neath the Gloaming Star
by Hannah Rarity

supported by 50 fans who also own “Guise of Tough”

Beautiful song, beautiful production, beautiful singing. mearnsman
go to album
Free One
by Kinnaris Quintet

supported by 40 fans who also own “Guise of Tough”

Just the most fun. Every set is one I want to sit down and learn, and they play with so much ENERGY and STYLE. Crunchy, tangible sound. I'll never get tired of listening to Kinnaris Quintet play. andpersand
go to album
Landskein
by Lauren MacColl

supported by 40 fans who also own “Guise of Tough”

...dessine-moi une autre planète bleue... ludovv
go to album
Feel The Ground You Walk Upon
by Lewis McLaughlin

Old-fashioned fiddles harmonize with rippling synths on the Scottish singer-songwriter's latest collection of original folk songs. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 30, 2022
go to album
Sword
by Angharad Drake

featured on Bandcamp Radio Nov 17, 2015
go to album
To The Awe
by Rachel Newton

Scottish harpist and singer Rachel Newton brings an innovative, intensely emotional touch to traditional music on this dreamy LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 17, 2020
go to album
Heal & Harrow
by Heal & Harrow

supported by 39 fans who also own “Guise of Tough”

Love the complexity of this track and the rising and falling of the violins, and the texture. Makes me want to dance. Thank you so much for this album. I really love it, and find it really inspiring my own work on the Witchcraft Trials ❤️ tararosehip
go to album