The Adullamites at Connor
Author: Jack McKinney
Date: 1999
Source: Ullans: The Magazine for Ulster-Scots, Nummer 7 Wunter 1999
Supplied by JACK McKINNEY — originally published by W&G Baird last century
The Cave of Adullam was a retreat in Judah for the Biblical David who gathered there with those dissatisfied with the king.
In 1866 the nickname “Adullamites” was given to MPs who left the Liberal Party, then in power, because they were dissatisfied with the pace of Parliamentary reform. Shortly afterwards, the nickname was applied to any radical or dissenting group of political malcontents.
Noo, Dickey, up an’ gies a bla’
An’ no’ let Tammy rin awa’,
An’ mak tha pace;
The mair his backers hae sum’ “spunk,”
Nae doot ye’ll pit them in a “funk,”
An’ win the race.
At Connor, Tammy haes set aff
Wi’ sum’ big-wigs an’ sum’ riff-raff
Tae pu’ him throo;
Bit Connor voters didna’ ken
The man, ‘am nae bit feart they’ll sen’
Tae whaur he grew.
Tam got stoot Hanna tae preside,
An’ bate his covers far an’ wide
For ower a week;
Boul’ Frank wuz there, an’ “Haw-haw Gaut,”
Bit, bliss ye, he’s no’ worth his saut —
He canna speak.
“Fegs, Frank, ye ir’ a diver cheil;
Cum’, tell the truth an’ shame the deil
It’s only fair:
Auld Clootie haes been lang yer frien’,
Tak’ an advice an’ dinna’ screen
Him ony mair.”
“Dod, man, wuz yon no’ rether thick,
Tae speak sae hard o’ Fisherwick,
An’ he no’ near;
‘A slippery gentleman,’ ye said,
An Wull an’ Jamie braw’ly led
A feckless cheer.”
“An’ then ye sneer’t at Hanna tae,
Becas’ yer meetin’ didna’ dae
Jest up tae Dick;
It wuz a trifle het nae doot,
When Connor laddies fan’ ye oot,
An’ sa’ yer trick.”
Frank’s a guid spoke in Tammy’s wheel,
He boss’t the show an’ spauk g’y weel
Oot o’ his fancy
Bit tho’ he’s gran’ at throwin’ glour,
The pletform wudna been tha waur
O’ Tammy’s “Nancy.”
The “Earl o’ Brookfield” tae wuz up
Tae stir the wee storm in the cup
O’ Jamie’s brewin’,
He haes the voters a’ bespoke
Tae help him tae “protect his poke,”
When he gangs plewin’.
Anither man, an “importation”
Cudna’ resist the strong temptation
Tae tell nae lee
“Dixon,” he said, “wu hear their plea,
An’ ‘ratify’ their wrangs whun he
Wud be C.C.”
Then turn-coat Hoy wi’ his “Jaw Pee”
Broght oot again the graveyaird lee,
An’ slung it roun’;
In sooth, that lyin’ “graveyaird” biz,
Tae Dixon’s “bummin”’ backers wuz
A muckle boon.
Sae, Frank, an’ a’ Gaut’s ither toys,
Th’ electors ken yer no’ the boys
For them tae follow;
E’en Connor spurns yer “Tammy Wain,”
An’ sen’s ye snarlin’ tae yer ain
Wee Sleepy-Hollow.
Tae a’ electors a’ wud say
Ye want on questions o’ the day,
A man that’s soun’,
For Dickey vote, an’ sae sen’ back
The man ye a’ think’s no the whack
Tae yon big toun.
Next: A Bricht February Mournin
Previous: The Auld Sinner
Contents: Ullans: The Magazine for Ulster-Scots, Nummer 7 Wunter 1999
