Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Tossing The Caber (Duncan's Own Song) - Sung by Duncan Williamson (1928-2007), a Traveller of Furnace, Argyllshire, Scotland, later settled in Fife. Filmed and recorded by David Kotyk as part of the John D. Niles folklore research team for the "Scottish Voices" project in the sitting room of Duncan's home at Kincraigie Farm Cottage, near Strathmiglo, Fife, where he was living with his wife Linda and their two children Betsy and Thomas, on August 8th, 1986.
00:00:00 Tells the Story
00:01:46 Sings The Caber
00:04:39 Demonstrates How Jack Falls on his Back
00:05:24 Video Ends
The original movie can be watched here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A6SOLSRJEQ7IVJ8S
A biography of Duncan Williamson can be read here:
tobarandualchais.co.uk/person/4292?l=en
Linda Williamson's thesis on Scottish Traveller singing can be read here, it's well worth your time if you're interested in Duncan Williamson's song repertoire: era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/8223
I used my knowledge on video editing to share the films on Youtube in the highest possible quality, I used manual video upscaling (no AI was used!) for this, to further document variants of traditional ballads and songs which has been my hobby for many years. I claim no ownership of the video, all the rights belong with the University of Wisconsin which houses the John D. Niles Collection.
Note by Kevin W.:
I was delighted to discover these videos of Scotland's great tradition bearers in the John D. Niles Collection. The often poorly treated Scottish Travellers honor the memories of their ancestors through songs, music and storytelling. They are proud of their culture and kept old traditions alive for hundreds of years. Many of our most gifted traditional singers and storytellers are Travellers.
Scottish Travellers are an indigenous ethnic minority in Scotland who live or traditionally lived a nomadic lifestyle and for centuries were unfairly shunned by the settled population. For that reason the singing culture of the Travelling people had not been well documented before the 20th century when non-Travellers with an interest in folklore visited and befriended Travellers and started recording their songs, music and stories.
The videos give us an impression of what Duncan Williamson was like as a person and they show us how he performed his songs and stories to an audience. The visual aspect of performance is completely missed when we listen to sound recordings.
My main interest are the songs and ballads from Traveller tradition which Duncan kept alive. His interest in folklore led him to seek out other Traveller singers and storytellers and learn songs and stories from them, many of which were on the verge of being lost forever. In a way Duncan was a folklore collector himself.
"The Caber" tells of a young bothy worker whose fellow farmworkers persuade him to try to toss the caber -- a tree trunk that resembles a telephone-pole -- at the local Highland Games. The results are predictably comic.
Song transcription:
He said, "Noo I'm tired o my fairm wark,
Noo I'm tired o my labor,
I'm gang awa doon tae the Games,
I'm-a try and toss the caber.
Chorus:
Wi my doo dum dae, my diddie dum da,
My diddie dum doo dum duddie-O.
I gangs doon tae the Games park,
The first thing I did see
Was twenty kilted Highland lads
A-gaithered roond a tree.
Chorus
They were fairmers in their Sunday best,
Babies in their prams,
But me jist like a muckle fool
There in my nickie tams.
Chorus
Then a lassie she cries oot,
"Oh Jeck," she cries to me,
"Come show these kilted Highland lads
The way tae toss the tree!"
Chorus
Noo I been fed on tattie kail
An I been fed on brose, [**]
But hoo I'm gonnae toss that tree
Oh God he only knows!
Chorus
So I took twa steps forward,
My banes begin tae crack,
Oh and the next thing that I kent
I was lying on ma back.
Chorus
Noo I hae courted a maiden
Aroond the barn door,
But tae lie an cuddle a big pine tree
I never done before!
Chorus
Tae mak your fortune at the Games
Is a thing you cannae do.
So I warn all youse plooman lads
Just bide around your ploo!
Wi my doo dum dae, my diddae dum da,
My diddae dum doo dum duddie-O.
[*] "Like David here: this is David Kotyk, one of the volunteers on Niles's research team. David was operating the video camera.
[**] "Tattie kail": a mixed dish of potatoes and kail. "Brose": oatmeal, mixed with boiling water and allowed to stand for a while, then customarily eaten with salt and a serving of milk.
Tossing The Caber (Duncan's Own Song) - Sung by Duncan Williamson (1928-2007), a Traveller of Furnace, Argyllshire, Scotland, later settled in Fife. Filmed and recorded by David Kotyk as part of the John D. Niles folklore research team for the "Scottish Voices" project in the sitting room of Duncan's home at Kincraigie Farm Cottage, near Strathmiglo, Fife, where he was living with his wife Linda and their two children Betsy and Thomas, on August 8th, 1986.
00:00:00 Tells the Story
00:01:46 Sings The Caber
00:04:39 Demonstrates How Jack Falls on his Back
00:05:24 Video Ends
The original movie can be watched here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A6SOLSRJEQ7IVJ8S
A biography of Duncan Williamson can be read here:
tobarandualchais.co.uk/person/4292?l=en
Linda Williamson's thesis on Scottish Traveller singing can be read here, it's well worth your time if you're interested in Duncan Williamson's song repertoire: era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/8223
I used my knowledge on video editing to share the films on Youtube in the highest possible quality, I used manual video upscaling (no AI was used!) for this, to further document variants of traditional ballads and songs which has been my hobby for many years. I claim no ownership of the video, all the rights belong with the University of Wisconsin which houses the John D. Niles Collection.
Note by Kevin W.:
I was delighted to discover these videos of Scotland's great tradition bearers in the John D. Niles Collection. The often poorly treated Scottish Travellers honor the memories of their ancestors through songs, music and storytelling. They are proud of their culture and kept old traditions alive for hundreds of years. Many of our most gifted traditional singers and storytellers are Travellers.
Scottish Travellers are an indigenous ethnic minority in Scotland who live or traditionally lived a nomadic lifestyle and for centuries were unfairly shunned by the settled population. For that reason the singing culture of the Travelling people had not been well documented before the 20th century when non-Travellers with an interest in folklore visited and befriended Travellers and started recording their songs, music and stories.
The videos give us an impression of what Duncan Williamson was like as a person and they show us how he performed his songs and stories to an audience. The visual aspect of performance is completely missed when we listen to sound recordings.
My main interest are the songs and ballads from Traveller tradition which Duncan kept alive. His interest in folklore led him to seek out other Traveller singers and storytellers and learn songs and stories from them, many of which were on the verge of being lost forever. In a way Duncan was a folklore collector himself.
"The Caber" tells of a young bothy worker whose fellow farmworkers persuade him to try to toss the caber -- a tree trunk that resembles a telephone-pole -- at the local Highland Games. The results are predictably comic.
Song transcription:
He said, "Noo I'm tired o my fairm wark,
Noo I'm tired o my labor,
I'm gang awa doon tae the Games,
I'm-a try and toss the caber.
Chorus:
Wi my doo dum dae, my diddie dum da,
My diddie dum doo dum duddie-O.
I gangs doon tae the Games park,
The first thing I did see
Was twenty kilted Highland lads
A-gaithered roond a tree.
Chorus
They were fairmers in their Sunday best,
Babies in their prams,
But me jist like a muckle fool
There in my nickie tams.
Chorus
Then a lassie she cries oot,
"Oh Jeck," she cries to me,
"Come show these kilted Highland lads
The way tae toss the tree!"
Chorus
Noo I been fed on tattie kail
An I been fed on brose, [**]
But hoo I'm gonnae toss that tree
Oh God he only knows!
Chorus
So I took twa steps forward,
My banes begin tae crack,
Oh and the next thing that I kent
I was lying on ma back.
Chorus
Noo I hae courted a maiden
Aroond the barn door,
But tae lie an cuddle a big pine tree
I never done before!
Chorus
Tae mak your fortune at the Games
Is a thing you cannae do.
So I warn all youse plooman lads
Just bide around your ploo!
Wi my doo dum dae, my diddae dum da,
My diddae dum doo dum duddie-O.
[*] "Like David here: this is David Kotyk, one of the volunteers on Niles's research team. David was operating the video camera.
[**] "Tattie kail": a mixed dish of potatoes and kail. "Brose": oatmeal, mixed with boiling water and allowed to stand for a while, then customarily eaten with salt and a serving of milk.
