Song Meaning
This Scottish folk song paints a darkly humorous picture of a town celebrating the devil's abduction of an exciseman. The opening lines immediately set a fantastical scene: the devil himself arrives, not with brimstone and fire, but with a fiddle, leading the exciseman away. The townspeople's reaction is surprisingly jovial, with every wife wishing the devil well with his 'prize.' This immediate embrace of the supernatural event by the community establishes a tone of gleeful liberation.
The central tension here is the town's collective relief at the removal of an oppressive figure. The exciseman, a symbol of taxation and regulation, is depicted as a burden. His departure, orchestrated by the devil, is not mourned but celebrated. The repeated chorus, "The deil's awa, the deil's awa, / The deil's awa wi' the Exciseman," acts as a triumphant chant, reinforcing the town's newfound freedom from his duties.
The song's craft lies in its playful subversion of typical folklore. Instead of fearing the devil, the narrator and the town embrace him as a liberator. The imagery of dancing and revelry, particularly the mention of various Scottish dances like 'threesome reels' and 'strathspeys,' contrasts sharply with the sinister nature of the devil's act. The line, "But the ae best dance ere came to the land / Was—the deil's awa wi' th' Exciseman," elevates this specific, devil-induced departure to the pinnacle of celebratory dances, highlighting the extreme level of the town's joy.
What makes these lyrics so effective is the sheer audacity of the celebration. The song taps into a primal desire to be free from unwanted authority, personifying that freedom through a supernatural, albeit wicked, agent. The lyrics suggest that sometimes, the most unlikely forces can bring about the most desired outcomes, turning a potentially terrifying event into a cause for widespread rejoicing and a 'monie braw thanks' to the 'meikle black deil.'
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