Get Up and Bar The Door

WEEK
Unit 1. Lesson 6. Get Up and Bar the Door
Tell us what you already know. (Activating prior knowledge)
1. What particular chore/s at home do you dislike most? Why?

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2. Characterize the wife and the husband in the poem Get Up and Bar the Door.
Wife:________________________________________________________________
Husband:_____________________________________________________________
Find out what happened to the couple in the Lesson below.
Unit 1. Lesson 6. Get Up and Bar the Door
About the author:

The poem originally came from Herd's The Ancient and Modern Scots Songs (1769):
330. David Herd is a poet, critic, and teacher. His collections of poetry include All
Just (Carcanet 2012), Outwith (Bookthug 2012), and Through (Carcanet 2016), and
his recent writings on the politics of human movement have appeared in Los Angeles
Review of Books, Parallax and Almost Island. He is Professor of Modern Literature at
the University of Kent, has worked with Kent Refugee Help since 2009, and is a
coordinator of Refugee
Anonymous, (1100 - 2010)

Original Text: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, ed. Francis James Child, 5
vols. (1884-1898: New York: Dover, 1965), V: 98 (275A); from Herd's The Ancient
and Modern Scots Songs (1769): 330.
1 It fell about the Martinmas time,

2 And a gay time it was then,
3 When our goodwife got puddings to make,
4 And she 's boild them in the pan.
5 The wind sae cauld blew south and north,

6 And blew into the floor;
7 Quoth our goodman to our goodwife,
8 "Gae out and bar the door.."
9 "My hand is in my hussyfskap,

10 Goodman, as ye may see;
11 An it shoud nae be barrd this hundred year,
12 It 's no be barrd for me.."
13 They made a paction tween them twa,

14 They made it firm and sure,
Lit 205C Anglo-American Literature/ Dr. Victoria V. Albacete 1

WEEK
15 That the first word whaeer shoud speak,

16 Shoud rise and bar the door.
17 Then by there came two gentlemen,

18 At twelve o clock at night,
19 And they could neither see house nor hall,
20 Nor coal nor candle-light.
21 "Now whether is this a rich man's house,

22 Or whether is it a poor?."
23 But neer a word wad ane o them speak,
24 For barring of the door.
25 And first they ate the white puddings,

26 And then they ate the black;
27 Tho muckle thought the goodwife to hersel,
28 Yet neer a word she spake.
29 Then said the one unto the other,

30 "Here, man, tak ye my knife;
31 Do ye tak aff the auld man's beard,
32 And I 'll kiss the goodwife.."
33 "But there 's nae water in the house,

34 And what shall we do than?."
35 "What ails thee at the pudding-broo,
36 That boils into the pan?."
37 O up then started our goodman,

38 An angry man was he:
39 "Will ye kiss my wife before my een,
40 And scad me wi pudding-bree?."
41 Then up and started our goodwife,

42 Gied three skips on the floor:
43 "Goodman, you've spoken the foremost word,
44 Get up and bar the door.."
Vocabulary
 Martinmass (n.)-November 11, the feast of St. Martin.
 sae: so (adv.)- to a degree that is suggested or stated
 scad: scald (v.) -to burn (someone or something) with hot liquid or steam
 cauld: cold
 Gae: go.
 hussyfskap: housewifery.
 paction: compact.
 whaeer: whoever.
 wad: would.
 ane: one (of the husband and the wife).
 muckle: much.
 pudding-broo: pudding-broth.

WEEK
 Gied: gave.
Symbols:
 Door- the door symbolizes the safety of the couple. Since the door was open,
danger came when two thieves broke into their house.
Figures of speech
- Personification: time being happy
- Imagery: "pudding" being boiled & consumed, the house's interior & the wife
skipping
- Metaphor: "my hand is in my hussyfskap" - I'm busy doing chores "It shoyuld
nae be barrd this hundred year, it's no be barrd for me"
- I won't lock the door even if it stays open for a hundered years
There are many Literay devices in this ballad. One example of imagery is used in line
5 "the wind sae could blew south and north, and blew into the floor" The ballard also
contains irony as it takes a home invasion to settle a argument on who should guard
the door.
The ballad is basically about a couple being stubborn. The husband and wife’s refusal
to guard the door results in two thieves breaking in. The author is trying to say that
couples shouldn’t let stupid arguments like "guarding the door" because small fights
can end badly. The overall tone of the ballad is humor as a silly argument over
locking up the house leads to the couple getting robbed. The theme of the story is
stubbornness and laziness. Neither husband nor wife will close the door. Though
humorous, the ballad has a serious theme: One's stubbornness can inadvertently
cause harm to himself or others.

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What argument do the husband and wife have?

What argument do the husband and wife have?

What happens when two thieves enter the home?

What happens when two thieves enter the home?

WEEK

Unit 1. Lesson 6. Get Up and Bar the Door

Tell us what you already know. (Activating prior knowledge)

1. What particular chore/s at home do you dislike most? Why?

Find out what happened to the couple in the Lesson below.

Unit 1. Lesson 6. Get Up and Bar the Door

About the author:

Anonymous, (1100 - 2010)

1 It fell about the Martinmas time,

5 The wind sae cauld blew south and north,

9 "My hand is in my hussyfskap,

13 They made a paction tween them twa,

Lit 205C Anglo-American Literature/ Dr. Victoria V. Albacete 1

15 That the first word whaeer shoud speak,

17 Then by there came two gentlemen,

21 "Now whether is this a rich man's house,

25 And first they ate the white puddings,

29 Then said the one unto the other,

33 "But there 's nae water in the house,

37 O up then started our goodman,

41 Then up and started our goodwife,

Lit 205C Anglo-American Literature/ Dr. Victoria V. Albacete 2

Lit 205C Anglo-American Literature/ Dr. Victoria V. Albacete 3

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