in the song of Jennie’s Bawbee: Sir Alexander took the hint of his song from a much older one: 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 James Ballantine published in 1856 (see Luckenbooths article). The word was still current in the 20th century and continues to be used to refer to bawbee baps or cakes in Aberdeen (i.e. low-priced baps). A popular song, "The Crookit Bawbee", was recorded by The Alexander Brothers and Kenneth McKellar amongst others, and the tune remains a staple for Scottish country dance band music. The song has a rich suitor asking why his "bright gowd" and "hame... in bonnie Glenshee" are being turned down, the lady referring to a laddie when she was a young "bairnie", and her heart "Was gi'en him lang-syne, for this crookit bawbee." Inevitably the rich suitor turns out to be the laddie returned to his love. The bawbee is referred to in the popular Scots song "Coulter's Candy": Kirkmahoe 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 See also Bodle Plack Pound Scots Scottish coinage Footnotes References Holmes, Nicholas. Scottish Coins: A History of Small Change in Scotland. NMS Publishing (1998) MacKay, Charles. A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch (1888) Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable External links Bawbee at Brewers Phrase and Fable Coins of Scotland Scots language