Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice
"Cod Liver Oil an the Orange Juice" is a Scottish folk song written by Ron Clark and Carl MacDougall.[1] It was recorded by Scottish folk singer Hamish Imlach and released in 1966.
The song tells the story of Hairy Mary, a long-haired Gorbals girl, and her dalliance with the song's unnamed protagonist, known only as The Hard Man.
According to the song, the protagonist meets Hairy Mary in the Dennistoun Palais, a dance hall, and he tries various chat-up lines, culminating in an offer to run her home, "I've got a pair of sannies" (sandshoes). In the dunny of her tenement, their love-making is disturbed when her mother goes to the cludgie, and he flees. Hairy Mary searches for The Hard Man, but he has joined the French Foreign Legion. She has a baby, whose father's in the army.[2][3]
The song was greatly requested on British Forces Radio, but it was banned by the BBC for a short time from such programmes as Two Way Family Favourites due to its innuendoes and possible erotic content.[4]
Irish band The Mary Wallopers released a version of the song in 2022.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Originally written by Clark and McDougall - https://www.theballadeers.com/hi_2006_clo.htm
- ^ Chapbook. Aberdeen Folk-Song Club. Retrieved 16 May 2025. Digitised July 21, 2009.
- ^ Lyrics - https://genius.com/The-mary-wallopers-cod-liver-oil-and-the-orange-juice-lyrics
- ^ BBC ban - https://www.theballadeers.com/hi_2006_clo.htm
- ^ Mary Wallopers release - https://www.last.fm/music/The+Mary+Wallopers/+albums