Caller Herrin'
Scottish Song By Carolina Nairne
Caller Herrin' is a Scottish song, the music by Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831), and the words by Carolina Nairne (1766-1845).Caller herrin' means fresh herring. It was the traditional cry of fishwives, who carried in creels of freshly caught herring which they sold from door to door.
Gow, a violinist and bandleader of Edinburgh, incorporated this cry, and also the bells of St Andrew's Church, into his composition, written in about 1798. It became one of his best-known tunes.
Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne, was a songwriter, using the pseudonym "Mrs Bogan of Bogan". Attending balls in country houses of Perthshire, she heard the music of Nathaniel Gow, and wrote the words for "Caller Herrin'".
Related Scottish Country Dances
Caller Herrin'Caller Herrin' By Carolina Nairne
Chorus
Wha'll buy my caller herrin'?
They're bonnie fish and halesome farin';
Wha'll buy my caller herrin',
New drawn frae the Forth?
When ye were sleepin' on your pillows,
Dream'd ye aught o' our puir fellows,
Darkling as they fac'd the billows,
A' to fill the woven willows?
Buy my caller herrin',
New drawn frae the Forth.
Chorus
Wha'll buy my caller herrin'?
They're no brought here without brave darin';
Buy my caller herrin',
Haul'd through wind and rain.
Chorus
WhaIl buy my caller herrin'?
Oh, ye may ca' them vulgar farin'
Wives and mithers, maist despairin',
Ca' them lives o' men.
Chorus
When the creel o' herrin' passes,
Ladies-clad in silks and laces,
Gather in their braw pelisses,
Cast their heads and screw their faces,
Chorus
Caller herrin's no got lightlie:
Ye can trip the spring fu' tightlie;
Spite o' tauntin', flauntin', flingin',
Gow had set you a' a-singing
Chorus
Neebour wives, now tent my tellin';
When the bonnie fish ye're sellin',
At ae word be in yere dealin' -
Truth will stand when a' thin's failin',
Chorus
Caller Herrin' Song Video
Caller Herrin' Song - Information Video
Caller Herrin c. 1908
The Online Scots Dictionary Translate Scots To English.
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Text from this original Caller Herrin' article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Christie, Manson and Woods [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons.