Tarry Wool

Tarry Wool

Tarry wool, oh tarry wool

Tarry wool is ill tae spin

Card it well, oh, card it well

Card it well e'er ye begin

When it's carded, wove and spun,

Then your work in almost done

But when it's woven, dressed and cleaned,

It will be clothing for a queen

Up, ye shepherds, dance and skip

O'er the hills and valleys trip

Sing in praise of tarry wool

And of the flock who bears it, too

Poor harmless creatures, without blame

They clothe the back and cram the wame

Keep us warm and hearty, too

Well's on us, our tarry wool

Hart and hind and fallow deer

Not by half so useful are

From kings to him that holds the plough

All are obliged to tarry wool

Who'd be a king, can any tell

When a shepherd lives so well

Lives so well and pays his due

With honest heart and tarry wool

Note: Herd 1776, II.100 (with 4 more stanzas). With music in

SMM I (1787), 45 (no. 45), whence Chambers SSPB, 383,

Montgomerie SNR (1946), 96 (no. 118), etc. The extra

stanzas are probably by Ramsay, who has this in Tea-

Table Miscellany IV. The tune appears in McGibbon's 2nd

Collection of Scots Tunes, 1746; a slight modification

gives the air of "Lewie Gordon". See FSJ pt. 8, 215-6. MS

Recorded By Yorkshire Relish

Scottish Blackface Information

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

New York State Sheep & Wool Festival

Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival

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Folk Music Index Shepherds Songbook Sheep Jewelry	HOME \| home Ca' the Ewes to The Knowes \| Queen Among The Heather \| The Broom of Cowdenknowes \| Bonny May \| Searching for Lambs \| Heather Down the Moor \| The Shepherd's Wife \| Tarry Wool \| Stormy Winds \| Shepherd of the Downs \| The Sheep-Shearing Song \| The Sheep Shearing \| Rosebud in June \| Lincolnshire Shepherd \| Sheep Shearin \| Drink Boys, Drink \| Darby Ram \| Ewie wi' the Crookit Horn \| Master of the Sheepfold \| The Sheep Under the Snow \| The Weary Pund O' Tow \| Sheep Crook and Black Dog \| The Shearing's Nae For You \| Band of Shearers \| Twanky Dillo \| The Shepherd Lad O' Rhynie \| Laird o' Drum \| Blind Shepherd \| Canny Shepherd Laddie \| Road to the Isles \| Tip O' Derwent
	Tarry Wool Tarry wool, oh tarry wool Tarry wool is ill tae spin Card it well, oh, card it well Card it well e'er ye begin When it's carded, wove and spun, Then your work in almost done But when it's woven, dressed and cleaned, It will be clothing for a queen Up, ye shepherds, dance and skip O'er the hills and valleys trip Sing in praise of tarry wool And of the flock who bears it, too Poor harmless creatures, without blame They clothe the back and cram the wame Keep us warm and hearty, too Well's on us, our tarry wool Hart and hind and fallow deer Not by half so useful are From kings to him that holds the plough All are obliged to tarry wool Who'd be a king, can any tell When a shepherd lives so well Lives so well and pays his due With honest heart and tarry wool Note: Herd 1776, II.100 (with 4 more stanzas). With music in SMM I (1787), 45 (no. 45), whence Chambers SSPB, 383, Montgomerie SNR (1946), 96 (no. 118), etc. The extra stanzas are probably by Ramsay, who has this in Tea- Table Miscellany IV. The tune appears in McGibbon's 2nd Collection of Scots Tunes, 1746; a slight modification gives the air of "Lewie Gordon". See FSJ pt. 8, 215-6. MS Recorded By Yorkshire Relish Scottish Blackface Information Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival New York State Sheep & Wool Festival Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival NEXT SONG