Mucking of Geordie's Byre

The Mucking of Geordie's Byre is one of those Scottish melodies whose age far exceeds the comic title most commonly attached to it. The tune appears to be of Hebridean origin, linked to the Gaelic air Eilean Mo Chridhe, and appears in Allan Ramsay's The Gentle Shepherd as early as 1725. It was already considered old when it appeared in David Herd's collection Scottish Songs in 1769, set to lyrics described as "vulgar" and depicting a young woman of rank who falls for a farmer.

Robert Burns himself was fond of this melody: in 1793, he wrote to George Thomson that he considered it one of his favourite airs, and that he had tried to improve its words — with results he himself found unconvincing.

The tune leads a double life: the comic version popularised in the twentieth century by Willie Kemp and later Andy Stewart — with its lyrics about chaos and drunkenness during the mucking out of Geordie McIntyre's byre — actually uses a different melody, closely related to Bonnie Strathyre and Westering Home. The original melody also circulates in Ireland under the title Trasna na dTonnta, where it is taught in Irish primary schools. As a 6/8 jig, it remains a well-loved piece in sessions and ceilidhs on both sides of the Irish Sea.