The Work of the Weavers (David Shaw, 1776 – 1856)

We are all met together here to sit and to crack With our glasses in our hands and our work upon our backs And there's not a trade among them all can neither mend nor mak If it wasn’t for the work of the weavers

[Chorus:] If it wasn’t for the weavers, what would you do You wouldn’t have cloth that's made o’ wool Ye wouldn’t have a coat neither black nor the blue If it wasn’t for the work o the the weavers

The ploughman lads they mock us and sling the mud about They call us mean and thin-faced bleached-like clouts But yet for all their mockery they canna do without For they all need the work of the weavers

[Chorus:]

There’s smiths and there’s wrights and there’s mason chiels an a’ There's doctors and there's ministers and them that live by law And our friends in South America though them we never saw But we know they wear the work of the weavers

[Chorus:]

There's our sailors and our soldiers, we know they're all bold But if they had no clothes, faith they couldn’t live for cold The high and low, the rich and poor, everbody young and old They all need the work of the weavers

[Chorus:]

There's folk that's independent of other tradesman work The women need no barbers and dykers need no clerk But none o them can do without a coat or a shirt No, they all need the work of the weavers

[Chorus:]

The weaving is a trade that never can fail As longs we need a cloth to keep another hale So let us all be merry over a bucket of good ale And drink a health to the weavers

[Chorus:]

#ScottishMusic #CelticMusic #weaving