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SMILE IN YOUR SLEEP — The history of the Highland Clearances, or Sheep Clearances as they are sometimes called, should be read by all Scots. The barbarous acts committed against these people and the Gestapo-like treatment of them in the name of commerce and efficiency cannot be imagined.
THE SABBATH — The complete lack of social life in Scottish towns on Sunday, due mainly to the Scottish Kirk's "Sabbatarian" policy, drove a friend of mine into buying a wheelbarrow which he trundled through the main street in Stornoway on a Sabbath afternoon shouting, "Fling out your dead! Fling out your dead!"
MY MAW'S A MILLIONAIRE — This is a street song I learned as a child which I have remade.
THE BRAES O' BALQUHIDDER — The McPeake's version, "Will ye go, lassie, go", is better known, but this is the original song written by the Paisley poet Robert Tannahill.
LADY CHAT — Made from the novel, "Lady Chatterley's Lover".
SHINING WHITE BANNER — I translated this from the Gaelic, "Bratach Bana", but retained the original chorus which has long since lost any meaning.
DURRAM A DOO — Rothesay is a favourite holiday resort on the Isle of Bute, much visited by Glaswegians at 'The Fair', the annual two weeks summer break.
HAUGHS O' CROMDALE — Two battles, one at Auldern in 1645 and the other at Cromdale in 1690, have been treated as one in this ballad. A slightly longer version may be found in volume 5 of Johnson's Scots Musical Museum.
THE MINISTER'S SON — They say that minister's sons are usually the worst but no explanation is offered. Here is one.
IT'S A LIFE — Another street song reworked by me.
CAMPBELL'S BLACK HEAD — Also known as Bonny George Campbell but without the gory verse.
THE PAWN SHOP DOOR — Most of the characters in this tale were local worthies in Paisley, when I was a child.
SHE'S GAUN TO BE WED — To commit suicide because your girl-friend has married someone else is a bit drastic to my way of thinking, but one can't help feeling sorry for this poor lad!
PEACE AND LIBERTY — This is Robert Burn's answer to all the Scottish romantic grumblers.
BROOM BESOMS — This, surely, is the ultimate in rationalisation!
THE BARRAS — Glasgow, like most big working-class cities, has her own 'flea-market' called the Barras, or in English, the Barrows!
Jim McLean