The Wee Room Underneath the Stairs

1. If yer tired and weary and yer feeling blue, Don't give way tae sorrow, I'll tell ye what tae do, Tak a tram up tae Springburn, ye'll find Auld Quinn's Bar there, Gan doon tae the Wee Room Underneath the Stairs!

Chorus: And it's doon in the Wee Room Underneath the Stairs, Everybody's happy, everybody's there, And we're aw makin' merry, Each yin in his chair, Doon in the Wee Room Underneath the Stairs!

2. The king he went-a-huntin', his fortune fur tae seek, He missed his train at Partick went missing fur a week, Efter days o' searchin', sorrow and despair, They fund him in the Wee Room Underneath the Stairs!

Chorus: And it's doon in the Wee Room Underneath the Stairs Everybody's happy, everybody's there, And we're aw makin' merry, Each yin in his chair, Doon in the Wee Room Underneath the Stairs!

3. Noo ah'm auld and feeble, ma bone's are getting set, But ah'm no auld and grumpy, like ither people get, Ah'm saving aw ma bawbees tae buy a hurley-chair, Tae tak me tae the Wee Room Underneath the Stairs!

Chorus: And it's doon in the Wee Room Underneath The Stairs Everybody's happy, everybody's there, And we're aw makin' merry, Each yin in his chair, Doon in the Wee Room Underneath the Stairs!

I first heard this great traditional Glasgow song in 1996 when the Porteous family, Bill, Kath and the lads, Michael, Graham and Steve had returned to Scotland after many years in Auz. I learned it from the boys' uncle, Danny Costello during one of many happy and rollicking sessions we had in the family's hotel, the Seahaven in Joppa, East Lothian.



The Penny Falls

Chorus:

Comin' tae strike some piece o' luck,
Playin' on the Penny Falls!
'fore the now has turned back tae dust,
Here tis that's all!
Pockets fu' o' jingling change,
Playin' on the Penny Falls!
Lang summer days tae waste away,
Till ma mother calls!

1. Ellusive fishing for a spell,
On the Links I'll ride the carousel,
This Floatin' World is something else,
As sights and sounds undo themsels'!

Chorus

2. Papa Gallo's Parlour on the Prom,
Ninety-nine was the number o' ma song,
Always felt out on a limb because,
I was fightin' fur a prize that never was!

Chorus: -

3. From the start, here this heart
Wis born to time born tae chance,
Won't ye help me and I'll help ye
Make the silver dance. Chorus -

4. They're always fu' ma parents hands,
So I'll go where this heart o' mine commands,
Imaginin's I could never understand,
Under Jessie Gailey's wings I'll learn to dance!

The Penny Falls was written in 1999 when I lived in Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, in a large shared flat which was situated half way between Tollcross and the Bridges.

It was there I decided to write a song about growing up in the Kingdom of Fife; a childhood which was spent for a time, in the seaside town of Leven, just south of the East Neuk. During the summer holidays, the beach and promenade were my favorite destinations. And of course, right next to the Festival Gardens, the most wonderful, Johnny's Amusement Arcade and Prize Bingo.




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