The Wee Wee Man
This ballad will be found, in forms slightly varying, in Herd, (i.156;) Caw's Poetical Museum, (p. 348;) Motherwell's Minstrelsy,(p. 343;) and Buchan's Ancient Ballads, (i. 263.) It bears someresemblance to the beginning of the remarkable poem, Als Y Yod on ayMounday, (see Appendix). The present version is from the PoeticalMuseum.
As I was walking by my lane,Atween a water and a wa,There sune I spied a wee wee man,He was the least that eir I saw.
His legs were scant a shathmont's length,And sma and limber was his thie;Atween his shoulders was ae span,About his middle war but three.
He has tane up a meikle stane,And flang't as far as I cold see;Ein thouch I had been Wallace wicht,I dought na lift it to my knie.
"O wee wee man, but ye be strang!Tell me whar may thy dwelling be?""I dwell beneth that bonnie bouir,O will ye gae wi me and see?"
On we lap, and awa we rade,Till we cam to a bonny green;We lichted syne to bait our steid,And out there cam a lady sheen;
Wi four and twentie at her back,A' comely cled in glistering green;Thouch there the King of Scots had stude,The warst micht weil hae been his queen.
On syne we past wi wondering cheir,Till we cam to a bonny ha;The roof was o the beaten gowd,The flure was o the crystal a.
When we cam there, wi wee wee knichtsWar ladies dancing, jimp and sma;But in the twinkling of an eie,Baith green and ha war clein awa.
Between his een there was a span,Betwixt his shoulders there were ells three.
There were pipers playing in every neuk,And ladies dancing, jimp and sma';And aye the owreturn o' their tuneWas, "Our wee wee man has been lang awa!"--
Words in this poem
- minstrelsy n.
- The arts and occupation of minstrels; the singing and playing of a minstrel.
- atween adv.
- Between. Spenser. [See Atwain, and cf. Between.]
- strang a.
- Strong. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Halliwell. [See Strong.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- bonny a.
- Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
- syne adv.
- Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- jimp a.
- Neat; handsome; elegant. See Gimp. [Cf. Gimp, a.]
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Wee Wee Man is in the public domain. This text is taken from English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I, Project Gutenberg ebook #37031; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Francis James Child, The Wee Wee Man, in English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37031, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/child-ballads/the-wee-wee-man.html, id L08576.
Form and metre
The Wee Wee Man is 44 lines in 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-BA-B iA · minstrelsy · someB · ayA · poetical · museumB
- 5 -A-A strang · beA · bouir · seeA
- 6 -A-A rade · greenA · steid · sheenA
- 7 -A-A back · greenA · stude · queenA
- 8 -A-A cheir · haA · gowd · aA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| This ballad will be found, in forms slightly varying, in Herd, (i. | 15 | ·/˘·····/˘/˘··· |
| 156;) Caw's Poetical Museum, (p. 348;) Motherwell's Minstrelsy, | 14 | ····˘/˘····/˘˘ |
| (p. 343;) and Buchan's Ancient Ballads, (i. 263.) It bears some | 12 | ··/˘/˘/˘···· |
| resemblance to the beginning of the remarkable poem, Als Y Yod on ay | 19 | ˘/˘··˘/˘··˘/˘/····· |
| Mounday, (see Appendix). The present version is from the Poetical | 17 | ···˘/˘·˘//˘······ |
| Museum. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| As I was walking by my lane, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Atween a water and a wa, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| There sune I spied a wee wee man, | 8 | ········ |
| He was the least that eir I saw. | 8 | ········ |
| His legs were scant a shathmont's length, | 8 | ········ |
| And sma and limber was his thie; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Atween his shoulders was ae span, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| About his middle war but three. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He has tane up a meikle stane, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And flang't as far as I cold see; | 8 | ········ |
| Ein thouch I had been Wallace wicht, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I dought na lift it to my knie. | 8 | ········ |
| "O wee wee man, but ye be strang! | 8 | ········ |
| Tell me whar may thy dwelling be?" | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "I dwell beneth that bonnie bouir, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O will ye gae wi me and see?" | 8 | ········ |
| On we lap, and awa we rade, | 8 | ········ |
| Till we cam to a bonny green; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We lichted syne to bait our steid, | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| And out there cam a lady sheen; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wi four and twentie at her back, | 8 | ········ |
| A' comely cled in glistering green; | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Thouch there the King of Scots had stude, | 8 | ········ |
| The warst micht weil hae been his queen. | 8 | ········ |
| On syne we past wi wondering cheir, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till we cam to a bonny ha; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The roof was o the beaten gowd, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The flure was o the crystal a. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When we cam there, wi wee wee knichts | 8 | ········ |
| War ladies dancing, jimp and sma; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But in the twinkling of an eie, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Baith green and ha war clein awa. | 10 | ·········· |
| Between his een there was a span, | 8 | ········ |
| Betwixt his shoulders there were ells three. | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| There were pipers playing in every neuk, | 9 | ··//˘·/˘· |
| And ladies dancing, jimp and sma'; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And aye the owreturn o' their tune | 9 | ········· |
| Was, "Our wee wee man has been lang awa!"-- | 10 | ·/········ |
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