Just a wee Deoch-an-doris
AKA | Wee Dock and Doris, A Wee Doch an Doris |
First Published | 1911 |
Writer/composer | Gerald Grafton and Harry Lauder | Roud | RN9638 and 4187 |
Music Hall Performers | Harry Lauder |
Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: unknown; USA; 1920s unknown; Australia; 1930s Clark, LaRena; Canada : Ontario; 1966 Gale, George (Mrs); Canada : Newfoundland; 1971 |
There's a good old Scottish custom that has stood the test of time. It's a custom that's been carried out in ev'ry land and clime. Where brother Scots foregather, it's aye the usual thing, For just before they say "Good nicht," they fill their cups and sing: Just a wee deoch-an-doris, just a wee yin, that's a'. Just a wee deoch-an-doris before we gang awa'. There's a wee wifie waitin' in a wee but-an-ben. If you can say, "It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht" Ye're a' richt, ye ken. I like a man that is a man, a man that's straight and fair, A sort of man that will and can in all things do his share. I like a man, a jolly man, the sort o' man, ye know, The chap that slaps yer back and says, "Mon Jock, before we go—" I'll invite ye a' some other nicht, to come and bring yer wives, And I'll guarantee ye'll have the grandest nicht in all yer lives. I'll have the bagpipes skirling. We'll make the rafters ring, And when ye're tired and sleepy, why I'll wake ye up an' sing:
A song co-written and performed by the prominent Scots comedian Harry Lauder. It celebrates the final drink taken before parting – deoch an doris literally means “drink of the door”. The song was a big hit throughout the English-speaking world and was described 2o years later as “almost a national anthem with patriotic Scots living far beyond the seas“. The song seems to be the origin of the Scots tongue twister “It’s a braw bricht moonlicht nicht”
The song has been collected from Canadian traditional singers as Just a wee Dock and Doris and Just a wee Drop and Doris. Its been collected in Australia and America under more or less the original title.
Sources:
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A9638 and 4187 4187
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A9638 and 4187 RN9638
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- Sheet Music: Personal Collection
- Sheet Music Cover Image Victoria and Albert Museum
- Ballad Index Entry
- “Harry Lauder”; Leicester Chronicle; Saturday 19 November 1932