(To the air: Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms.)
Oh, my name is Jock Stewart,
I'm a canny gaun man,
And a roving young fellow I've been.
So be easy and free,
When you're drinking with me,
I'm a man you don't meet every day.
I have acres of land,
I have men at command,
I have always a shilling to spare.
So be easy and free,
When you're drinking with me,
I'm a man you don't meet every day.
Well, I took out my dog,
And with him I did shoot,
All down in the County Kildare.
So be easy and free,
When you're drinking with me,
I'm a man you don't meet every day.
So come fill up your glasses,
With brandy and wine,
Whatever the cost, I will pay.
So be easy and free,
When you're drinking with me,
I'm a man you don't meet every day.
Oh, my name is Jock Stewart,
I'm a canny gaun man,
And a roving young fellow I've been.
So be easy and free,
When you're drinking with me,
I'm a man you don't meet every day.
####.... Author unknown. Variant of a British broadside ballad, I'm The Man You Don't Meet Every Day, published without a printer's name or date, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Harding B 11(1734) ....####
This variant arranged by Jacqui St. Croix and recorded by Rankin Street (Pre-GBS tape - Live At The Blarneystone Pub in St. John's, NL, trk#18, 1991, NRA Productions, Ltd).
From the Pogues we learn: In Scots gaelic, gaun means going, and canny in this context, means warily. In other words the canny gaun man means something like an easy going or cautious man, who in his younger days wasn't quite so cautious (but a roving young fellow).
The YouTube video above features an excellent performance of a variant by Stephen Rowe of Gander and Heart's Content, NL.
