Bawbee

Bawbee from the reign of Queen Mary
+MARIA D G REGINA SCOTORV, crowned thistle flanked by M R	(lis)OPPIDVM EDINBVRGI, saltire cross with crown and cinquefoils
BI 21 mm, 2.35 g, 12 h. First issue, minted circa 1542–1558. Mint: Edinburgh

A bawbee was a Scottish sixpence. The word means a debased copper coin, valued at six pence Scots (equal at the time to an English half-penny), issued from the reign of James V of Scotland to the reign of William II of Scotland. They were hammered until 1677, when they were produced upon screw presses.

Issues

The bawbee was introduced by

According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,

The word "bawbee" is derived from the Laird of Sillebawby, a mint-master. That there was such a laird is quite certain from the Treasurer's account, September 7th, 1541, "In argento receptis a Jacobo Atzinsone, et Alexandro Orok de Sillebawby respective."

This Master of the Mint, appointed by James V, was responsible for the introduction of a silver coin valued at six, later three, pence Scots, which was named after his estate. Sillebawby was a farm in the parish of Burntisland in Fife, a moorland portion of the farm of Balbie (pronounced 'bawbee' (/bɔː biː/)).^[3] Its name takes various forms throughout its recorded history: Sybbable (1328), Slebalbe (1328 and 1458), Selybawbey (1517) are some early examples. The later examples Silverbabie (1642), Silver-baby (1654) and Silverbarton (1828 and current) may have arisen from a nickname marking the connection to the silver coin.^[4]

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable also gives an alternative etymology, and states its origin from "French, bas billon, (debased copper money)", but this is a kind of speculative folk-etymology.

Literary references

The bawbee was metaphorically used for a fortune by

Quoth he, "My goddess, nymph, and queen,
Your beauty dazzles baith my e'en",
But deil a beauty had he seen
But Jennie’s bawbee

Sir Alexander took the hint of his song from a much older one:

A' that e'er my Jeanie had,
My Jeanie had, my Jeanie had,
A' that e'er my Jeanie had
Was ae bawbie
There's your plack, and my plack,
And your plack, and my plack,
And Jeanie's bawbie.

Brewer's Dictionary lists "Jenny's Bawbee" as meaning a "marriage portion".

After 1707 the Pound Scots was phased out. England and Scotland then shared what had been the English coinage, and in Scotland the term "bawbee" took on the meaning of a halfpenny, as can be seen in the poem Lament for Ancient Edinburgh by

The bawbee is referred to in the popular Scots song "Coulter's Candy":

Ally Bally Ally Bally Bee
Sittin on your mammy's knee
Greetin for a wee bawbee
Tae buy some Coulter's candy

Kirkmahoe

Wha'll hire, wha'll hire, whall hire me?
Three plumps and a wallop for ae bawbee.

The tale is that the people of Kirkmahoe were so poor, they could not afford to put any meat into their broth. A 'cute cobbler invested all his money in buying four sheep-shanks, and when a neighbour wanted to make mutton broth, for the payment of one halfpenny the cobbler would "plump" one of the sheep-shanks into the boiling water, and give it a "wallop" or whisk round. He then wrapped it in a cabbage-leaf and took it home. This was called a gustin bone, and was supposed to give a rich "gust" to the broth. The cobbler found his gustin bone very profitable.

Skipping rhyme

Ma Mam sez that Ah maun go
Wi ma Daddy's dinner-o
Chappit tatties, beef an steak
Twa reid herrin an a bawbee cake^[7]

See also

• Bodle
• Plack
• Pound Scots
• Scottish coinage

Footnotes

References

• Holmes, Nicholas. Scottish Coins: A History of Small Change in Scotland. NMS Publishing (1998)
  ISBN 1-901663-02-7
• MacKay, Charles. A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch (1888)
• Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

External links

• Bawbee at Brewers Phrase and Fable