Shillin’ or Twa, A (1877)

AKA A shilling or Two
A Shilling or Twa
A Dollar or Two
Be sure and take care of your money
First Published 1877
Writer/composer unknown Roud RN2177

Music Hall Performers n/a
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Rettie, Mrs., Scotland , 1908
Angus, James , Scotland , 1910
Kemp, Willie , Scotland , 1937
Young, Freeman , Canada : Nova Scotia : 1952
Robbie, Andrew , Scotland : Aberdeenshire : 1959 Higgins, Cathie , Scotland : Perthshire : nd		 

A Shilling or Twa (Ord's first variant)

[Song Sheet printed by Poet’s Box, 80 London St, Glasgow (28 Apr 1877), Vaughn Williams Memorial Library.]


While cautious and canny we slip ourselves through 
This wearisome world just as other folks do,
May we aye frae our pockets be ready to draw, 
Coming clink frae our pockets a shilling or two.

Oh! what a grand thing is at shilling or twa,
Eh! what a grand thing is a shilling or twa;
Through country or town while we trudge up and down,
It's a round ready passport, a shilling or twa.

If the lads wi' young lasses in favour would be, 
They maun aye ha'e some present ready to gi'e ; 
Such as raisins or sweeties or something that's braw.
Although it should cost them a shilling or twa.

Oh! what a fine thing is a shilling or twa,
Eh! what a grand thing is a shilling or twa, 
The lads frae their lasses get cuddles and kisses, 
And oh! how sweet this is for a shilling or twa.

Oh, a penniless pocket's a pitiful case,
For it soon gars an old friend put on it new face; 
But sour looks and strange faces will a' wear awa', 
If we can but show them a shilling it twa.

Oh! what a fine thing is a shilling or twa
Eh! what a grand thing is a a shilling or twa, 
Friendship in need is friendship indeed,
But the best friend ava is a shilling or twa
 
When the big man o' business by fortune unblest, 
Is forced as a bankrupt to appear in the list,
He can clear aff his debts an get rid of the law, 
By paying each pound wi' a shilling or twa.

Oh! what a fine thing is a shilling or twa
Eh! what a grand thing is a a shilling or twa,
Great sums can be paid and fortunes re-made,
By sleight of hand trade by a shilling or twa,

But a poor man in debt is harassed every day,
He is lawed and decreed wi' expenses to pay;
His wages arrested, his gear ta'en awa' -
Nae credit, nae comfort, nae shilling ar twa.

Oh! what a fine thing is a shilling or twa
Eh! what a grand thing is a a shilling or twa,
May the poor of our land ne'er want in their hand,
The ready command of a shilling or twa.

Now the great muse of debt and auld Scotland's scaith too, 
Is the devil's ain dram, whiskey's blazes of blue,
For baith men and and women sneer at teetotal law,
And spend in blue ruin a shilling or twa.

Oh! what a fine thing is a shilling or twa
Eh! what a grand thing is a a shilling or twa,
This nane can gainsay when spent the right way, 
But woe when we stray wi' a shilling or twa

Not a song directly from the Music Halls, but a type of Scottish folk song called a “Bothy ballad” or “Bothy song” – though in this case it is likely to have been influenced by, or perhaps have originated as, an American stage song.

I began looking at A Shilling or Two when investigating the sheet music for a Music Hall song of the same name which I had purchased as part of a job lot. The results of that research is discussed on the page A Shilling or Two (Music Hall version, 1869) and the Song TIMELINE.

The Bothy song features in the important collection compiled by folklorist John Ord (1862-1928):  Bothy Songs and Ballads (1930). Ord defined Bothy songs as the songs collected in the bothies and farm  kitchens [of NE Scotland]… a communal product of the common people… that originated amongst them.”. In the 1930s some songs influenced by Bothy songs came to be referred to as “cornkisters”, though this term was sometimes reserved for the comic songs which showed the influence of the Scottish Music Hall.

Ord published two variants of the song, both written in Doric, the dialect of Scots spoken in the North East of Scotland. Ord’s second variant , which has the first line Awa’ wi’ your dearies and juice o’ the vine, does not seem to have been taken up by traditional singers and is not discussed here, but there is more information in the Song TIMELINE.

The first variant identified by John Ord has been collected from several traditional singers and was also published without the last verse and chorus, in the collection: Kerr’s Cornkisters (Bothy Ballads) as sung and recorded by Willie Kemp (1950).

Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger collected the song from the singing of Cathie Higgins, commenting:

This song published by John Ord in 1930 was “printed in an old broadside published in Glasgow many years ago.” Previously he had appealed to the readers of a weekly newspaper for a traditional version but, “was only successful in recovering a couple of verses from an old lady in Kilmarnock“. Gavin Greig made a similar appeal to the readers of The Buchan Observer but this too only produced a solitary fragment. The editors of this collection have fared no better ….

MacColl and Seeger, p272

The “old broadside published in Glasgow” was almost certainly the one produced by The Poet’s Box in 1877, a copy of which is held in the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library (it is the source of the lyrics given above).

But we can trace the story back further – to what appear to be two earlier American variants, widely printed in the mid 1850s. The first American variant was entitled A Dollar or Two (I have labelled it 1855a) . Apart from the currency change of a Shilling to a Dollar, this is substantially the same song as published by the printed by Poet’s Box in 1877.

Here’s the first stanza and chorus of the first American variant (1855a):

A Dollar or Two (variant 1855a)
As published anonymously in American Agriculturist (3 Jan 1855, New York):

With cautious step, as we tread our way thro'
This intricate world as other folks do,
May we still on our journey be able to view,
The benevolent face of a dollar or two.

For an excellent thing is a dollar or two,
No friend is so true  as a dollar or two
Through country or town  as we pass up and down
No prospect so good as a dollar or two

The first American variant (1855a) is found in the USA as early as January 1855 but rapidly spreads across the English speaking world (see below). It was published at least 4 times as sheet music. Accreditation on the sheet music varies and I suspect the composers and lyricists, where named, were resposible for particular arrangements rather than the original melody. The following instances of the variant 1855a were mostly published in 1855/56:

The second American variant was also called A Dollar or Two but was sometimes given the alternate title Be Sure and Take Care of Your Money ( I have labelled it 1855b). The alternate title is the first line of a new chorus, which is the only major difference between the two versions, though the sheet music has the new chorus notated in four-part harmony.

Here is the 1st verse and chorus of the second American variant (1855b) :

A Dollar or Two or Be sure and take care of your money (1855b) 

With cautious steps, as we tread on our way through 
This troublesome world, just as other folks do, 
May we still, on our journey, be able to view 
The benevolent face of a dollar or two: 
For an excellent thing is a dollar or two; 
No friend sticks so close as a dollar or two; 
Through country or town as you pass up or down, 
No pass-port as good as a dollar or two. 
A dollar or two, a dollar or two! 
It has a magical power to help a man through; 
The pagan, the Christian, the Gentile, the Jew- 
All bow with reverence to a dollar or two. 

Be sure and take care of your money, my boys, 
Be sure and take care of your money; 
For you'll find that your friends will be distant and few, 
If you ever run short of a dollar or two.

The following instances of the second American variant (1855b) were published 1855 – 69:

  • Advertised in American newspapers as Be Sure and Take Care of Your Money: earliest instance Buffalo Courier Express Jan 14, 1856
  • Extracts from the lyrics of Be Sure and Take Care of Your Money were widely reprinted in US papers, earliest in the Buffalo Courier Express, Nov 07, 1857 
  • A printed songsheet using the title A dollar or two was published by Henry de Marsan (New York, undated) [see Archive.org.] . The song sheet includes the following text: “Sung nightly, with tremendous applause, by Mrs W. JONES in the drama of “Fast Women” at The New Bowery Theatre. The music to be had of D. H. Biessenher. Presented for publication by Bennett & Carroll.”
    This information, taken alongside newspaper reports, suggests that it was sung by Mrs Jones at the New Bowery Theatre (New York) in 1859 -60. See for example New York Herald, Nov 15, 1859
  • The words were also published under the title A dollar or two by Henry de Marsan in The New Singers Journal No 38 p266.(New York, c1869).
  • Sheet music for the second American variant was published as A dollar or two by J Ballhouse (St Louis, 1855). Music and/or arrangement credited to Melville. Descibed as “A Favourite Melody of The Campbell Minstrels”see  Levy Collection.
  • It was published in several 19th century American song collections, including: Musical Boquet, Vocalist’s Magazine and Reciter’s Companion (New York, 1861), Bryant’s Songs from Dixie’s Land (New York, 1861)

In addition to being incorporated into the show “Fast Women” at The New Bowery Theatre, second American variant (1855b) was performed by The Campbell Minstrels, a black-face minstrel troupe active in America and the UK in the 1850s and 60s. Their version of was likely to have been heard in Scotland , as the Campbell Minstrels toured the UK in 1859 and 60 with relatively large troupe of up t0 15 members. They appeared in many concert halls and music halls in Scotland, inluding halls in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greenock, Aberdeen, Alloa and Montrose.

It is possible that these American songs may have influenced or inspired the Music Hall song performed by Victor Liston A Shilling or Two (Music Hall version, 1869) .

It is also possible that the American variants in turn are in some way related to an even earlier Scottish poem which has a similar refrain and shares some of its themes:

A SHILLIN' OR TWA. [Anon, 1840]
From Fife Herald -  (21 May 1840) 

I'm a bard, I may tell you before I begin, 
My hope and delight is green laurels to win—
A sang is my glory - I gie na a flaw 
For guineas o' gowd or a shillin' or twa! 

It's a [magnificent?] thing a bit shillin' or twa
A much socht-for thing a bit shillin' or twa.

Yet candour micht e'en mak a sangster to own, 
Ere the muse on the pinions o' fancy has flown, 
That feedin' and cleedin' but poortithly shaw
For want o' the sleek o' a shillin' or twa.

See Shilling/ Dollar or Two, A (TIMELINE) for full lyrics and further information on this and several other related songs.

The version of A Shillin o’ Twa derived from the 1877 broadside has been collected from 6 different traditional singers mostly in Scotland – you can hear Andrew Robbie sing it at the wonderful Kist O Riches site, and hear Belle Stewart discussing the song on the same site. Willie Kemp’s version can be heard on most commercial streaming sites.

Sources: