Annotation:Three crowdeys in a day
X:1 T:Three crowdeys in a day S:Henry Atkinson music manuscript collection (Northumberland, 1694, pp. 132) F:http://www.farnearchive.com/detail.asp?id=R0113201 M:4/4 L:1/8 R:Air K:F F2A2c4|F2A2f4|F2A2c2f2|(dc)(BA) G4| F2A2c4|F2A2 f3g|agfd fdcA|cAGF G4|| f4 fg a2|c2A2c4|f4 fg a2|c2A2G4| f4 fg a2|c2A2 f3g|agfd fdcA|cAGF G4||
THREE CROWDEYS IN A DAY. AKA - "O that I had ne'er been married," "Three Times Crowdie in One Day." English, Song Air (whole time). England, Northumberland. F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The song melody was entered into the 1694-95 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician Henry Atkinson (Morpeth), and later was published in Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, vol. VI (1803, No. 593). The song can also be found as a nursery rhyme.
O, that I had ne'er been married,
I wad never had nae care;
Now I've gotten wife an' weans,
An' they cry 'crowdie' evermair.
CHORUS:
Ance crowdie, twice crowdie,
Three times crowdie in a day;
Gin ye 'crowdie' onie mair,
Ye'll crowdie a' my meal away.
Waefu' want and hunger fley me, Glow'rin by the hallan en':
Sair I fecht them at the door,
But ay I'm eerie they come ben.
"Crowdey" was poor fare, indeed, consisting of a cheese-like dish made by straining the whey from soured milk and beating up the remaining curd with salt (though modern versions of crowdie include the more substantive oatmeal and strawberries). Eating three meals of the substance would be a sign of extreme poverty.
