Traditional & Folk Songs with lyrics & midi music www.traditionalmusic.co.uk 
Sheelicks 
Sheelicks 
Pay attention to my sang and I'h teh ye' o' a waddin', On the twenty-third of July in a town cahed Sleepy Steadin; A' the countryside was there, though they didnae get a biddin At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo, we a' come in to see. 
cho: Hi, hi, went the drum! Diddle, diddle, went the fiddle, And the jing-a-ring went up and doon and back and through the middle, And the jing-a-ring went roond aboot like sheelicks in a riddle At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see. 
O, Miss M'Ginty run ben the hoose, the road was dark and crookit, She fell helster-howdie ower a pig, for there she never lookit; For she let oot a squeal that wad paralyse a teuchit, At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see. 
O, a tailor wi ' a timmer leg, he danced wi' a' was intae't, In the middle o' a foursome reel, he brak it through and tint it He gaed hame wi' a barra-shaft and he was quite contented, At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see. 
For there were a chiel cam ower the field, he min't ye on a arra' He come there on a bicycle, was hurled hame on a barra; And of a' the ball I ever was at, I never was at a marra, O' M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see. 
We had plenty to eat, we had frost-bitten liver As sure as I'm here, and as sure as I never And the taste o' the beef nearly gied us a' the feather At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see. 
Noo, there was a chiel come ower the field, his name was Butter Scotty He was made up wi' a plaster and a potty; He come there wi' a hundred pound, he gaed hame wi' but ae notie At M'Ginty's meal and ale, noo we a' come in to see. 
Glossary: sheelicks: husked grain 
riddle: sieve 
ben: in 
helster-howdie:from "heels ower gowdie"; head-over-heels teuchit: lapwing tint: 
lost barra-shaft: handle of a wheelbarrow chiel: man min't: reminded hurled: driven, carried, hauled marra: equal From Traveller's Songs, MacColl and Seeger 
Collected from Maggie McPhee note: George Bruce Thompson wrote both the original of this song, and M'Ginty's Meal and Ale around the turn of the (last) century. The singer has clearly muddled the two: second verse is taken directly from the other song. RG apr96