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There was a cooper they ca'd him Cuddy, He was the best cooper that ever I saw; He came to girth our landlady's tubbie, He bang'd her buttocks again the wa'. Cooper quo' she, hae ye ony mony? The deevil a penny, quo' Cuddy, at a'! She took out her purse, an' she gied him a guinea, For banging her buttocks again the wa'.
This is a song by Robert Burns. It is read here by Elaine C Smith.
Pauline Mackay'Cuddie the Cooper' first appeared in in the collection of bawdy songs The Merry Muses of Caledonia in 1799. While there is no manuscript evidence to attribute these verses to Robert Burns, it is likely that the poet collected the song.
In folk bawdry, coopers (barrel makers) commonly appear in humorous songs about illicit sex. Here the cooper's job is used as a euphemism for sexual activity. See also The Cooper o Cuddy.
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