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Guitar: Tramps And Hawkers

2,444 views · Published 5 September 2009 · 4:21 · Indexed 19 October 2026

Channel: threelegsoman · 2009 · Music

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The first time I heard this song was on a Dubliners' LP back in the 1960s. Tramps and Hawkers, Gypsies and Tinkers were once more common than today and could be found in any of the countries of Britain, especially in Scotland and Ireland. This is the story of one such.

Tramps And Hawkers
Traditional
Capo at 3rd fret, so I am really playing and singing in the key of Eb(D#)

C                                        Am                        G                     C                                                                           
Come a' ye tramps and hawker-lads, ye gaitherers o' bla'
                                            F                C                                G7         Am         
That tramp the country roun' and roun', come listen yin and a'
     C                    F         C                                  G7       Am
I'll tell tae ye a rovin' tale, an' sights that I ha’e seen
       C                   F                            G7                         C   
Far up into the snowy north, or sooth by Gretna Green.

I've seen the high Ben Nevis that gangs towerin' tae the moon
I've been roun' by Crieff an' Callander an' by Bonny Doon
I've been by Nessie's silvery tide an' places ilk tae ken
Far up into the stormy north lies Urquart's fairy glen

Sometimes I laugh untae mysel' when dodgin' alang the road
Wi' a bag o' meal slung upon my back, my face as broun's a toad
Wi' lumps o'cake and tattie-scones or breid an' braxie ham
Nae thinking whar' I'm comin' from but bless me whar I'm gan’.

I'm happy in the summer-time beneath the dark blue sky
Nae thinkin' in the mornin' at nicht where I’m gang to lie
Bothies or byres or in barns, or oot amangst the hay
And if the weather does permit, I'm happy a' the day.

Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond, they've oft been seen by me
The Dee, the Don, the Devron, that a' flows tae the sea
DunRobin Castle, by the way, I nearly had forgot
And the reckless stanes o'cairn that mairks the hoose o' John
o' Groat.

I've been by bonny Gallowa', an' often roun' Stranraer
My business leads me anywhere, I travel near an' far
I've got that rovin' notion I wouldna like tae loss
For it's my daily fare an' as such'll pay my doss.

I think I'll gang tae Paddy's Lan', I'm makin' up my mind
For Scotland's greatly altered noo, I canna raise the wind
But if I can trust in Providence, if Providence should prove true
I'll sing ye's a' of Erin's Isle when I come back to you.

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