John Gaudie

John Duddy was a fine young man in Shetland so it's told
When as the crowd in Lerwick town his fiddle hand he did hold
They've danced it up and they've danced
It down as he fiddled the tunes around
Of all the players in Shetland that was no better could be found

When John broke the prison door
The jailor hadn't seen his like before
He ran back to the Levenwick shore
And wrote himself a tune

John had his eye on a fair young girl that lived not far away
His were not the only eyes so the rumors say
It happened down the Sandwick Mines hewing the copper bed
His rival dropped a hammer down which struck John on the head

When John broke the prison door
The jailor hadn't seen his like before
He ran back to the Levenwick shore
And wrote himself a tune

It struck him such a fearful blow weakening his mind
Left him with his fiddling still but a job he couldn't find
For now he was prone to a fearful
Rage like the heat of the blazing sun
He would warn friends nearby, "Find her coming on"

One day while in Lerwick town on Commercial Street
He was fiddling between the trams and the half napkin
When he felt this terrible heat
He was seized by many hands and locked in the tall room
Under Sergeant Nichol's eye his fury tried to soothe

When John broke the prison door
The jailor hadn't seen his like before
He ran back to the Levenwick shore
And wrote himself a tune

Waking up on the prison floor his temper got much worse
Feeling stuff being behind the door he began to swear and curse
Pushing then with all of his strength the door at last gave way
He ran and he ran across the fields at home he meant to stay

When John broke the prison door
The jailor hadn't seen his like before
He ran back to the Levenwick shore
And wrote himself a tune

When John broke the prison door
The jailor hadn't seen his like before
He ran back to the Levenwick shore
And wrote himself a tune

When John broke the prison door
The jailor hadn't seen his like before
He ran back to the Levenwick shore
And wrote himself a tune