The Wee Cock Sparra

A Scottish ditty that was made famous by the actor Duncan MacRae, who wrote it with Hugh Frater. He performed it ("sang it" doesn't quite capture the essence) and enchanted the nation, on a BBC Hogmanay broadcast of "The White Heather Club" show at some time in the late 1950s:

A wee cock sparra sat in a tree
A wee cock sparra sat in a tree
A wee cock sparra sat in a tree
An' it was chirpin' awa' as fine as could be

Alang came a boy, wi' a bow an' an arra
Alang came a boy, wi' a bow an' an arra
Alang came a boy, wi' a bow an' an arra
An' he took a shot, at the wee cock sparra

The arra missed the wee cock sparra
The arra missed the wee cock sparra
The arra missed the wee cock sparra
And it hit a man, whae was wheelin' a barra

The man hit the boy, though he wasnae his fatha
The man hit the boy, though he wasnae his fatha
The man hit the boy, though he wasnae his fatha
An' the boy gret, for he was hurt to the marra

An' all the time, the wee cock sparra
An' all the time, the wee cock sparra
An' all the time, the wee cock sparra
Sat chirpin' awa on the shaft o' the barra

ee also

Apologetic apostrophe