"Coulter's Candy", also known as "Ally Bally" or "Ally Bally Bee, is a Scots

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

Origin

This song dates to the mid to late-19th century by a former

Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...

weaver, Robert Coltart. Coltart made

aniseed Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, ...

-flavoured

sweets Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum, and sugar can ...

Melrose Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...

and sold them around the markets of the

Border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

towns. While the song refers to the type of confectionery used, the recipe was lost after Coltart's death (c. 1880). He died of a brain tumour, penniless, and was buried in an unmarked ("pauper's") grave in Eastlands Cemetery, in Galashiels. In 2019, the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

Council erected a statue in honour of Coulter's Candy in Galashiels, as part of a town centre regeneration project. Created by Angela Hunter, the statue became part of a new town trail. On 2 April 2024, a headstone was unveiled on the 144th anniversary of Coltart’s death; the headstone was a fundraising effort.

Lyrics

Ally bally, ally bally bee, Sittin' on yer mammy's knee, Greetin' for a wee

bawbee A bawbee was a Scottish sixpence. The word means a debased copper coin, valued at six pence Scots (equal at the time to an English half-penny), issued from the reign of James V of Scotland to the reign of William II of Scotland. They were hamme ...

, Tae buy some Coulter's candy. Poor wee Jeanie's gettin' awfy thin, A rickle o' banes covered ower wi' skin, Noo she's gettin' a wee double chin, Wi' sookin' Coulter's Candy. Mammy gie's ma thrifty doon, Here's auld Coulter comin' roon', Wi' a basket on his croon, Selling Coulter's Candy. When you grow old, a man to be, you'll work hard and you'll sail the seas, an' bring hame pennies for your faither and me, Tae buy mair Coulter's Candy. Coulter he's a affa funny man, He maks his candy in a pan, Awa an greet to yer ma, Tae buy some Coulter's candy. Little Annie's greetin' tae, Sae whit can puir wee Mammy dae, But gie them a penny atween them twae, Tae buy mair Coulter's Candy. The following verse is also sung, at least in

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

since before the 1920s: Coulter's Candy, a penny a lump, 'At's i' stuff tae mak ye jump. If ye jump you're sure tae fa', Coulter's Candy, a penny fur a'

Modern recordings

Coulter's Candy was recorded by several notable artists during the late

American folk music revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Early folk music performers include Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Ewan MacColl (UK), Richard Dyer-Bennet, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie ...

, which was concurrent to the second

British folk revival The British folk revival incorporates a number of movements for the collection, preservation and performance of folk music in the United Kingdom and related territories and countries, which had origins as early as the 18th century. It is particu ...

Robin Hall Robin Hall (27 June 1936 – 18 November 1998) was a Scottish folksinger, best known as half of a singing duo with Jimmie Macgregor. Hall was a direct descendant of the famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor as well as of t ...

and

Jimmie Macgregor Jimmie Macgregor (born 10 March 1930) is a Scottish folksinger and broadcaster, best known as half of a singing duo with Robin Hall. Biography Jimmie Macgregor was born in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in a tenement and then a ...

with The Galliards sang it on their 1961 ''Scottish Choice'' album,

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

, ACL 1065. In 1962,

Norman Buchan Norman Findlay Buchan (27 October 1922 – 23 October 1990) was a Labour Party politician, who was on the left-wing of the party, and represented the West Renfrewshire seat from 1964 until 1983 and the Paisley South seat from 1983 until his de ...

published Coulter's Candy in ''101 Scottish Songs,'' stating: "This song probably produced more correspondence than any other when I printed it in ''The Weekly Scotsman'' a few years ago. Robert Coultart – the 'Coulter' of the song – made and sold his own candy round all the country fairs and markets in the Borders... etc. I first heard it from Scots actor, playwright and folk singer

Roddy McMillan Roddy McMillan OBE (23 March 1923 – 9 July 1979) was a British actor and playwright, possibly most famous for his comedy role as Para Handy for BBC Scotland's television series, ''The Vital Spark''. He also played the lead role in Edwar ...

." It was later collected in a children's playground in 1964 by James T. R. Ritchie, who published it in a book called ''

The Singing Street "The Singing Street", is a short film made in 1950 in Edinburgh, Scotland and first shown in 1951. It was created by a group of teachers from Norton Park School, who filmed some of their pupils playing street games, accompanied by traditional ch ...

''. A Danish version titled "Storkespringvandet" was released 1965 by the folksinger " Cæsar" (aka Bjarne Bøgesø Rasmussen). Lyrics by Thøger Olesen. Canadian singer

Catherine McKinnon Catherine McKinnon (born May 14, 1944) is a Canadian actress and folk/ pop singer. Early life and education Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, McKinnon began as a child performer, making her debut radio broadcast at age eight and her televisio ...

also recorded a version of the song on her album ''Voice of an Angel'' (1965).

The Irish Rovers The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that formed in Toronto, Canada in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and named after the ...

included the song on their album '' The First of the Irish Rovers'' (1966). A version of the song was released by The Kerries in 1967 on

Major Minor Records Major Minor Records was a British record label started by Phil Solomon in 1966. In the early summer of 1966, he had courted a number of British independent labels for a label tentatively named Caroline, after the pirate radio station he owned, wh ...

45 MM541, the song was produced by Tommy Scott. It was recorded by

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

on '' HMS Donovan'' (1971).

Parody

Hamish Imlach Hamish Imlach (10 February 1940 – 1 January 1996) was a Scottish folk singer. Imlach was born in Calcutta to Scottish parents, although he claimed to have been conceived in Glasgow, Scotland. His commercial success was limited, but he influence ...

recorded a parody version, in which a buyer complains about the poor quality of the candy. The song was also parodied on

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

by the comedy group Flying Pig Productions in their show ''Desperate Fishwives'', who related the song to the stereotypically poor Scottish diet.

References

External links

Coulter's Candy

Legend of sweetie salesman unwrapped

{{Authority control Scottish folk songs History of the Scottish Borders Advertising in the United Kingdom Songs based on jingles Scots-language works Year of song unknown