John Gaudie

Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia

John Gaudie - younger folks may know a song of this title recorded by – and since then and for ever connected with – the band Fairport Convention although they have only covered the title. In fact the modern lyrics of the song are by fiddler Chris Leslie, originally added to a traditional Shetland tune by English folk revivalists Whippersnapper.

The song is about a Shetlander called John Gaudie, the original tunes are by the said John Gaudie, also known as Johnnie Brood da Prison Door, or Jack Brook da Prison. The song tells the following story:

John Gaudie was a fine young man in Shetland, so it's told.

Many's the crowd in Lerwick town his fiddle and 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 Isles, no better could be found.

CHORUS: When John broke the prison door,

The jailer 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 rumours say.

It happened down the Sandwick mines hewing the copper bed.

His rival dropped a hammer down which struck John on the head.

CHORUS

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, "I find her coming on."

One day while in Lerwick town on Commercial Street,

Between the trance and the half napkin, he felt this terrible heat.

He was seized by many hands and locked in the tollbooth,

Under Sergeant Nicols' eye, his fury tried to soothe.

CHORUS

Waking up on the prison floor, his temper got much worse.

Kicking and stamping behind the door, he began to swear and curse.

Pushing then with all his strength, the door at last gave way.

He ran and ran across the fields. At home he meant to stay.

The facts behind the song can be summarized like this: ^[1]

The tune was written by one John Gaudie, born in Levenwick, Shetland. Little is known about his youth in Levenwick in the 19th century, except that he grew to a youngster of uncommon strength and that he was a talented fiddler. As a young man John worked in the Sandwick copper mines. Things went quite normally until he had an unfortunate accident.

John was struck by a hammer falling down the mine shaft he was ascending after his shift. Some said that the hammer was dropped down by a rival for the affections of a young woman, but there was no real proof for this view.

John survived the severe concussion but was ever after plagued with "serious neurological problems" as we would say today. These problems manifested as "spasms of violent madness" if not "violence", but they, luckily, left his musical abilities untouched. He suffered from his disability for the rest of his life. He found only little employment leaving him plenty of time which he spent with his fiddle.

John Gaudie was soon acknowledged to be the best fiddler in Shetland of those days, but he was still a strong young man unfortunately hampered by his disability "to the extent that he sometimes became belligerent". It seems that he ran madly after spending some time among a bigger crowd or within a loud pub. At one time he committed a breach of the peace and was seized by the constables and local citizens. He was arrested in "Nicol's Hotel," the local jail in the Old Tolbooth, which took its name from a Sergeant Nicol, an old soldier who ran the "hotel".

When he realised that he was in prison, his fury increased untill he somehow managed with hand and foot only to smash the door of his cell. Once free again he hasted back to his home in Levenwick. Here (according to Nelson) he took his fiddle and composed that lively Shetland reel.