"Aiken Drum" is a popular Scottish folk song and nursery rhyme, which probably has its origins in a Jacobite song about the Battle of Sheriffmuir (1715). It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 2571.
Video Aiken Drum
Lyrics
Modern versions of the lyrics include:
Other versions of the song include the lyrics:
His hat was made of guid cream cheese,
His coat was made of fine rost beef,
His buttons were made of bawbee baps, (a bread roll, costing a halfpenny),
His breeks (/breechs) were made of haggis sacks,
His hair was made of spaghetti.
Maps Aiken Drum
Origins
The rhyme was first printed by James Hogg in Jacobite Reliques in 1820, as a Jacobite song about the Battle of Sheriffmuir (1715) which includes the words:
Sir Walter Scott in his novel The Antiquary (1816) refers to Aiken Drum in a story told by an old beggar about the origins of what has been perceived by the protagonist as a Roman fort. The beggar tells him that it was actually built by him and others for "auld Aiken Drum's bridal" and that one of the masons cut the shape of a ladle into the stone as a joke on the bridegroom. The reference suggests that the rhyme, and particularly the chorus, was well enough known in the early nineteenth century for the joke to be understood.
The Brownie of Blednoch
Aiken Drum is also the name given by the Scottish poet William Nicholson to the brownie in his poem "The Brownie of Blednoch" (1825). Although this has led some folklorists to speculate that the song may derive from older fairy legends, there is no evidence of the name being used for a brownie prior to Nicholson.
![There Was A Man Lived In The Moon [Aiken Drum] - Nursery Rhymes ...](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tul-ABOqiV2dXsYLQvIrUU4pynR3yISW1fjKETC4Qq-9La3eTFezzeHifbE9YG9ePwOFDX7PYEc8raZwH1Z5k7lqc4Ws-l4YuVRpwiQ-D-RyQ_WtOa8ttYbJ0QG9Z6TIg1JQXszs7hFupviUM=s0-d "There Was A Man Lived In The Moon [Aiken Drum] - Nursery Rhymes ...")
Performances
The Scottish storytelling group, Macastory, perform this song for children in an interactive way by allowing the children to decide the foods of which Aiken Drum is made. One such version recorded by The Singing Kettle is included on their CD Singalong Songs from Scotland, produced in 2003 for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
Popular Armenian-Canadian children's singer Raffi played a version of the song, called "Aikendrum," on his album Singable Songs for the Very Young (1976).
The US children's TV series Barney & Friends has a version of the song that is sung entirely about his face. The foods used are spaghetti for his hair, cheese for his nose, meatballs for his eyes, and pizza for his mouth.
Popular culture
- Aiken Drum is the name of a character in the Saga of Pliocene Exile, a series of science fiction novels by Julian May.
- A tavern is named "The Aiken Drum" in The Bard's Tale (2004 video game). Finding it is an important goal in the adventure's narrative.
See also
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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