Coulter's Candy

Chorus:
Ally Bally, Ally Bally Bee,
Sittin' on your mommie's knee,
A-greetin' for a wee baw bee
Tae buy some Coulter's candy.


1. Livin's very hard the roo,
Feyther's signin' on the brew,
But he's got a penny for you
Tae buy some Coul'er's candy.

2. Here's a penny, me bonnie wee mon,
Doon the road as fast you can,
Gi'e up your mouney at the Coulter's stand
For a poke of Coulter's candy.

3. Off tae bed my bonnie wee mon,
Seven o'clock and your playin's done,
Ye'll blink your eyes tae the mornin' sun
And a poke of Coulter's candy.

4. Poor wee sour, ye're lookin' awfully thin,
A ruckle of bones tied o'er wi' skin,
Soon you'll be getting' a wee double chin
From sookin' Coulter's candy.


Additional verses given to us in 1984 by a singer in Scotland:

Poor wee Annie's greetin' too,
What can her poor mammy do,
But gie 'em a penny between them two
To buy some sugar candy.

Mammy gie's ma bankee doon,
Here's old Coulter comin' roon,
Wie his basket on his croon
An' sellin' sugar candy.


A version of a popular song known by most Scots.  It started as a jingle written by Robert Coltart of Galashiels in the 1840's for candy he made that he sold in fairs and markets, singing the song as he went.  It originally had two verses, with others added over the years.  Enough people misheard the name in the song as Coulter that it became known as Coulter's Candy.  Coltart died of a brain tumor in 1880 and was buried in a pauper's grave, but in 2019 a statue in honor of Coulter's Candy was erected in Galashiels.

This version of the song was taught to Jean Smith, my wife, at a song circle at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS around 1980.  The first half of the second and sixth measures are usually sung as B/A/G/B but Jean learned it as G/A/B/G, so that's how I've tabbed it out.