Cumarachandhu

[Dundee Poets Box c1880 -1900]
CUMARACHANDHU
Sung by HARRY LINN

I'm a decent policeman, the pride o' the Glesca' force,
Though I'm no so very fat, I'm strong as ony horse;
When I meet freens, I'm no like you, I dinna say, "How dae ye do?"
I gie them the richt Heelan' grip, and say, "Cumarachandhu."

I look sae weel, fine head tae heel, 
In my bonnie coat o' blue,
And the boys they cry, as I pass by, 
There goes Cumarachandhu!"

I hae often seen a case doon at the police court, 
I've thought the prisoner at the bar a decent kind o' sort;
When the magistrate said, "Hand up your hand, and swear that a' is true,"
The only answer that I gas, is "Cumarachandhu."

I hae got a guid, kind heart (that's kent a' roun' the toon).
Though I lock a chappie up, I'll never knock him doon;
And if I see a man in the street, lying there blin' fu',
I gie him a shake till he's wide awake, and say, "Cumarachandhu."

We hae black sheep in the flock, there is nae doubt o' that,
But I have often heard the deil was painted far owre black:
Nae doot we ha'e some queer ones, but we've got some good sorts too,
You'll find the best out of a' the rest is "Cumarachandhu."

Much of the information that follows comes from an article by Chris Wright (2016) Forgotten Broadsides and the Song Tradition of the Scots Travellers. The article includes a facsimile of an undated Dundee Poets’ Box broadside of this song – the source of the lyrics given above. The broadside suggests that the song was in the repertoire of the great song-writer and comic Harry Linn – it may well have also been written by him as he claimed only to sing his own songs. My investigations in 19th-century newspapers have not uncovered any records of Linn performing the song , but he did sometimes use the title in his publicity – the earliest example I have found is in 1880, but he did so again in 1887:

According to Greig/Duncan, the title Cumarachandhu, spelt in a multitude of different ways, is a representation of the Gaelic ‘Ciamar a tha sibh ‘n diugh?’ [How are you today?].

This song has been collected from the singing of Elizabeth Stewart under the title “The Russian Jew” – a mishearing of the original title and from Lucy Stewart as “The coat of blue”. Lucy Stewart’s version has several fragments not included in the broadside above – for example she sings:

The Queen she came to Aberdeen, And she swore upon her soul,
That I was nae like a man [at all], but a great long telegram pole

These lines may have been borrowed from Jock McGraw another popular song by Linn, a tall and thin performer who often made jokes about his body shape. You can here Lucy Stewart’s version on the excellent Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches website

The variations in the way the title is spelt make it difficult to do exhaustive searches but I have found some some evidence that the song was sung by amateurs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries –

• 1882 Aberdeen, benefit concert in aid of widow of worker at Broadford Works (Title: Cumarashandhu). Aberdeen Weekly Journal and General Advertiser for the North of Scotland, 25 Feb 1882, p4
• 1909 Dufftown Literary Association “At Home” (Title: I’m a decent policeman) Dufftown News and Speyside Advertiser, 20 Mar 1909, p3

Sources:

• VWML entry
• Kilgarrif Sing Us
• Lyrics: Dundee Poets’ Box Broadside (c1880-1900) reproduced in Chris Wright’s article
• Sheet Music: not found
• Chris Wright (2016) Forgotten Broadsides and the Song Tradition of the Scots Travellers in Atkinson/Roud Street Ballads
• Ballad Index

Last Updated on March 16, 2024 by John Baxter | Published: January 1, 2023