David Shaw
Shaw was a weaver-poet of Forfar (1786-1856). As the story is fairly common, Shaw may well have adapted existing material. When it moved into folk currency, the text was altered and it was sung to many different tunes such as Johny Ladd, The Quaker Wife, and Robin Tamson's Smiddy.
In Forfar country I was born But faith I div think shame, sir
Tae tell o the weary life I led Afore I left my hame, sir
Chorus:
Hurra, hurra, wi my tilt a fal air al aye doh
My faither was a weaver poor As iver reeled a spool, sir
And niver was meat came tae wir door But juist a pun at Yule, sir
When I was six, I gaed tae school Because it was the fashion
And ivery Sunday tae the kirk Tae save me o a thrashin
Thay learnt me thare tae read and write And learnt the rule o three, sir
But a nobler thought came tae my mind A sodger I would be, sir
So I gaed doun tae Forfar town All in the Forfar County
And I signed up wi Sergeant Brown For forty pounds o boonty
Thay gaed me claes tae hap ma back And mittens for my hands, sir
Swore I was the bravest chiel In aw the Hielan’ clan, sir
We spent the maist o aw our time Juist marchin up and doun, sir
Wi a feather bonnet tae wir cap And peuthered tae wir croun, sir
Bit fegs thay gart me change ma tune And sent me aff tae Spain, sir
Thare war forty regiments in a row Came marchin ower the plain, sir
For three long days and nichts we focht I thought ‘twould never end, sir
Til a bullet came fusslin throu ma leg And I up and fired again, sir
The surgeon came and dressed ma wounds He said I would be lame, sir
But I got haud o twa oxter staffs And I came hirplin hame, sir
Nou aw the things that I’ve been throu I’ve scarcely time tae mention
For now I’m back in Forfarshire And livin fae my pension