Folk and Traditional Song Lyrics:
Wee Tammy Tyrie
Wee Tammy Tyrie
Wee Tammy Tyrie
Wee Tammy Tyrie
Fell in the feirie.
The feir wiz hot;
He jamp ee pot.
The pot wiz metal;
He jamp ee kettle.
The kettle wiz bress;
He jamp ee press.
The press wiz high;
He jamp ee sky.
The sky wiz blue;
He jamp ee soo.
The soo gie a roar;
He jamp in the boar.
The boar gie a loup,
And wee Tammy Tyrie landit on eez doup.
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Rodger Lang Strang (1948), 11; Cheape & Sprott (1980),
54, from Angus [sae he jumped in the pot/ on the kettle/
on the press/ in the sky/ on the soo/ on the boar/ The
boar gie a loup an he fell on his doup,/ An that wis the
end of wee Tammy Tirie]. Text in Dundee Courier
25/11/74, Forfar version of c. 1900, very close: "Little
Tammy Tyrie fell in the firie,/ The fire was hot, he
jumped on the pot [etc.]/The soo let a roar, he jumped
on the boar,/ The boar made a loup,/ And little Tammy
Tyrie fell on his doup.
Truncated in SC (1948), 167 (no. 310): Little Tammie
Tyrie/ Jumpit in the firie./ The fire was ower hot,/ He
jumpit in the pot./ The pot was made o metal,/ He jumpit in
the kettle./ The kettle was made o brass,/ He jumpit in the
ass. Ass = "ash".
Another sequence is "Little Wee Laddie", q.v. Cf. Opies ODNR
285 (no. 285).
Ritchie Golden City (1965), 35, has a similar rhyme used for
a game [There was a wee man/ Who lived in a pan, etc.].
MS
APR99