<P> Get Up and Bar the Door is a medieval Scots ballad about a battle of wills between a husband and wife . It is Child ballad 275 . According to Child, it was first published by David Herd . </P> <P> The song begins with the wife busy in her cooking and other chores . As the wind picks up, the husband tells her to close and bar the door . They make a pact that the next person who speaks must bar the door, and the door remains open . At midnight two thieves enter the house and eat the puddings that the wife has just made . The husband and wife watch them, but still neither speaks out of stubborn pride . Amazed, one of the thieves proposes to molest the wife . Finally, the husband shouts "Will ye kiss my wife before my een, and scad me wi pudding bree?" The wife, having won the pact, tells the husband, "Goodman, you've spoken the foremost word; Get up and bar the door ." </P> <P> In some versions, the husband is named as Johnie Blunt of Crawford Moor . Child notes that the song was used by Prince Hoare to provide one of the principal scenes in his musical entertainment, No Song, No Supper, performed at Drury Lane in 1790 . </P>

What is the meaning of the poem get up and bar the door