A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man, also known as The Workman’s Friend, is a humorous poem written by Brian O’Nolan (writing under the pseudonym Flann O’Brien) in his first novel At Swim-Two-Birds ( 1939) A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man, anche The Workman’s Friend, è una poesia umoristica scritta da Brian O’Nolan (sotto lo pseudonimo di Flann O’Brien) nel suo primo romanzo At Swim-Two-Birds ( 1939)
The Dubliners in The Workman’s Friend – with each member reciting a verse – The Dubliners’ Guide to Dublin City
Eamon Morrissey
Garry McGowan
I When things go wrong and will not come right, Though you do the best you can, When life looks black as the hour of night – A pint of plain (1) is your only man. II When money’s tight and hard to get And your horse has also ran (2), When all you have is a heap of debt – A pint of plain is your only man. III When health is bad and your heart feels strange, And your face is pale and wan, When doctors say “you need a change”, A pint of plain is your only man. IV When food is scarce and your larder bare And no rashers grease your pan, When hunger grows as your meals are rare – A pint of plain is your only man. V In time of trouble and lousy strife, You have still got a darling plan You still can turn to a brighter life – A pint of plain is your only man.
Traduzione italiano Cattia Salto I Quando tutto va storto e non si raddrizza, sebbene tu faccia il possibile quando la vita sembra nera come la notte fonda una pinta di guinness è il tuo solo uomo II Quando i soldi sono scarsi e difficili da ottenere e il tuo cavallo è al palo Quando tutto ciò che hai è un mucchio di debiti una pinta di guinness è il tuo solo uomo III Quando la salute non è buona e il cuore ammalato e la faccia è pallida e smunta quando i dottori dicono che devi cambiare una pinta di guinness è il tuo solo uomo IV Quando il cibo è scarso e la dispensa è vuota e niente grasso ad ungere la padella quando la fame cresce mentre i pasti sono rari una pinta di guinness è il tuo solo uomo V In tempi di guai e conflitti schifosi hai ancora un buon piano puoi svoltare verso una vita più brillante- una pinta di guinness è il tuo solo uomo
NOTE 1) a pint of stout will solve all your problems: “the usual” “the ordinary” “the customary” i.e. in contrast to some other drink that might be ordered less frequently. una pinta di stout risolverà tutti i tuoi problemi: “il solito” “l’ordinario” “il consueto”, cioè in contrasto con qualche altra bevanda che potrebbe essere ordinata meno frequentemente. 2) letteralmente: il tuo cavallo ha già corso
“An Anacreontic” or “Fill, Fill, the Merry Bowl” is a poem composed by Robert Tannahill (1774-1810) in the wake of ‘When time who steals our years away’ written by the Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779-1852). The genre was very popular in the century of the Rococo, when the whole art was under the banner of the pursuit of pleasure, so they became fashionable the anacreontic poems , from the name of Anacreon the poet of ancient Greece who sang the triumph of love of wine and all the pleasures of the banquet. “An Anacreontic” o “Fill, Fill, the Merry Bowl” è una poesia composta da Robert Tannahill (1774-1810) sulla scia di ‘When time who steals our years away’ scritta dal poeta irlandese Thomas Moore (1779-1852). Il genere fu molto popolare nel secolo del Rococò, quando l’arte tutta era all’insegna della ricerca del piacere, così diventarono di moda le poesie anacreontiche, dal nome di Anacreonte il poeto dell’antica Grecia che cantò il trionfo dell’amore e del vino e tutti i piaceri del convivio.
Rod Paterson modifies the structure of the song by omitting part of the stanzas and taking the last four verses of the first stanza as refrain, the melody is very similar to Robert Burns’ Toast to the Lasses (Green grow the rashes) [Rod Paterson modifica la struttura della canzone omettendo parte delle strofe e prendendo gli ultimi quattro versi della prima strofa come ritornello, la melodia è molto simile al Toast to the Lasses (Green grow the rashes) di Robert Burns]
I Fill, fill, the merry bowl, Drown corrosive care and sorrow, Why, why clog the soul, By caring for to-morrow ? Chorus Fill your glasses, toast your lasses, Blythe Anacreon (1) bids you live ; Love with friendship far surpasses All the pleasures life can give. II Come, join the social glee, Give the reins to festive pleasure ; While fancy, light and free, Dances to the measure. III Now, since our cares are drowned, Spite of what the sages tell us (2), Hoary Time (3), in all his round, Ne’er saw such happy fellows.
Traduzione italiano Cattia Salto I Riempite, riempite la boccia affogate il dolore e i pensieri corrosivi, perché, perché ostacolare lo spirito preoccupandosi del domani? Coro Riempite il bicchiere, brindate alle vostre ragazze l’allegro Anacreonte vi invita a vivere; L’amore con l’amicizia superano di gran lunga Tutti i piaceri che la vita può dare. II Venite, unitevi al gaudio della festa date le briglie al piacere festoso mentre fantasia, lieve e libera, danza a tempo III Ora poiché le nostre tribolazioni sono (state) annegate, nonostante il parere dei saggi, le Ore in girotondo, non han mai visto una compagnia più felice
NOTE 1) the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, known for his celebrations of love and wine [il poeta dell’antica Grecia Anacreonte celebre per gli elogi all’amore e al vino] 2) letteralmente “nonostante ciò che ci dicono i saggi” 3) Hoary Time are the Horai, (the Hours) personification of the passing of time and Seasons [le Horai, (le Ore) personificazione dello scorrere del tempo e delle Stagioni]
Original version sung by Jennifer Goltz [la versione originaria cantata da Jennifer Goltz]
Fred Freeman writes in his recording project on the songs of Robert Tannahill: “Tannahill, the weaver, plying the shuttle and formulating his words with the beat of the Scottish dances deeply etched in his mind.” So this song “Coggie thou heals me” a drinking song between the humorous and the bitter, was written on the rhythm of a scottish dance Scrive Fred Freeman nel suo progetto discografico sulle canzoni di Robert Tannahill: “Tannahill, il tessitore, manovrava la spoletta e formulava le sue parole con il ritmo delle danze scozzesi profondamente impresse nella sua mente. “ Così questa canzone “Coggie thou heals me” una drinking song tra l’umoristico e l’amaro, è stata scritta sul ritmo di una danza
Although she had a good dowry and a pleasant appearance, our Dorothy remained a spinster because of her bad temper, so when all the suitors ran away she is crawling in the bottle! Nonostante avesse una buona dote e aspetto piacente la nostra Dorotea è rimasta zitella a causa del suo pessimo carattere, così quando tutti i pretendenti sono scappati lei si è attaccata alla bottiglia!
I, IV Dorothy sits i the caul ingle neuk, Her red rosy neb’s like a labster tae, Wi girnin, her mou’s like the gab o the fleuk (1),/ Wi smokin, her teeth’s like the jet o the slae (2). Chorus (3) aye she sings “Weel’s me,” aye she sings “Weel’s me, (4) Coggie (5), thou heals me ! Coggie, thou heals me ! Aye my best frien whan there’s onything ails me, Ne’er shall we pairt till the day that I dee.” II Dorothy ance was a weel-tocher’d lass (6), Had charms like her neebours, and lovers enou, But she spited them sae, wi her pride an her sauce, They left her for thretty lang simmers to rue. III Dorothy, dozen’t wi leevin her lane, Pu’d at her rock (7), wi the tear in her ee She thocht on the braw merry days that war gane, And caft a wee coggie for companie.
English translation Cattia Salto I Dorothy sits in the cold chimney-corner, Her rose-red beak’s like a the claw of a lobster, With grumbling, her mouth’s like a flounder’s mouth (1), With smoking, her teeth’s like the jet of the cane (2) ./Chorus (3) ever she sings “happy am I (4)” ever she sings “happy am I, bowl (5), you heals me ! bowl, you heals me ! Always my best friend whanever there’s anything ails me, Never shall we part till the day that I die.” II Dorothy once was a well-dowry (6) lass, Had charms like her neighbours, and lovers in a short time, But she scorned them so, with her pride and her sauce, They left her for thirty long summers to rue. III Dorothy, stupefied with leaving her lone, Pulled at her rock (7), with the tear in her eyes She thought on the fine merry days that was gone, And buyed a little bowl for companie.
Traduzione italiano Cattia Salto I Dorotea siede nell’angolo freddo del caminotto il suo naso rosso come la chela di un’aragosta con il lamento, la bocca come quella di un rombo con il fumo, i denti come legno di giaietto Coro Sempre lei canta “Felice sono” sempre lei canta “Felice sono, boccia tu mi guarisci boccia tu mi guarisci! Sempre la migliore compagnia, quando c’è qualcosa che mi affligge, non ci separeremo mai fino alla morte” II Dorotea una volta era una fanciulla con una buona dote, ebbe fascino sui vicini e amanti in poco tempo,/ ma li sdegnò tanto con il suo orgoglio e la sua impertinenza, che la lasciarono una trentina di lunghe estati a rammaricarsi III Dorotea, stupefatta per essere lasciata sola gettò la conocchia, con le lacrime agli occhi pensò ai bei giorni felici che erano passati e prese una boccia per compagnia
NOTE 1) lukie-mou’d= a mouth like a flounder, i.e. large and drooping [bocca simile a un rombo, cioè grande e cadente] 2) Slay , Sla (i) e= red(e), reyd =An instrument used in weaving to beat up the weft, the stalk or stem of a reed; a cane 3) Ross Kennedy sings the same choir even though in the Tannahill version the chorus text differs from each strophe [Ross Kennedy canta lo stesso coro anche se nella versione di Tannahill il testo del coro differisce di strofa in strofa] 4) weel’s me (on), weel is on=as an expression of pleasure or relief: happy am I (because of), blessings on 5) coggie – n., diminutive of “cog,” meaning cup, or wooden bowl to drink; a drinking vessel [coggie (vezzeggiativo) di cog è la scodella, ciotola di legno per bere. L’espressione “tip your coggie” significa bere un sorso, ho tradotto con bow=boccia perchè anche in italiano è sottinteso “boccia di vino” anche se per gli scozzesi si tratta di whisky/birra] 6) a very beautiful woman and / or with a good dowry was lucky because she easily combined a good marriage. The others hoped to find a husband as soon as possible, the twenty-year-olds not yet married were in serious danger of becoming sour spins !! [una donna molto bella e/o con una buona dote era fortunata perché facilmente combinava un buon matrimonio. Le altre speravano di trovare marito al più presto, le ventenni non ancora sposate correvano seri rischi di diventare delle acide zitelle!!] 7) rock in this context means distaff, the instrument which, paired with the spindle, allowed women to spin wool or a vegetable fiber such as hemp and linen [rock in questo contesto significa rocca lo strumento che in coppia con il fuso permetteva alle donne di filare la lana o una fibra vegetale come canapa e lino]
“Carrickfergus” comes from a Gaelic song titled Do Bhí Bean Uasal (see) or “There Was a Noblewoman” and is also known by the name of “The Sick Young Lover”, which appeared in a broadside distributed in Cork and dated 1840 and also in the collection of George Petrie “Ancient Music of Ireland” 1855 with the name of “The Young Lady”. Text and melody passed through the oral tradition have spread and changed, without leaving a consistent trace in the collections printed in the nineteenth century. This song has been attributed to the irish bard Cathal “Buí”
IRISH BREIFNE Cathal “Buí” Mac Giolla Ghunna (c1680-c1756) a rake-poet from Co. Cavan.
Curious character nicknamed “Buil” the yellow, a bard vagabond storyteller and composer of poems, which have spread throughout Ireland and are still sung today.
The scholar Breandán Ó Buachalla has published his collection in the book “Cathal Bui: Amhráin” in 1975. In Blacklion County of Cavan there is also a small stele in his memory and it is celebrated the Cathal Bui Festival (month of June).
A incomplete priest able with words and with women, he also had a lot of “irish humor” and was obviously a heavy drinker, he went around Breifne, the Irish name of the area including Cavan, Leitrim, and south of Fermanagh ( one of the many traveler with his caravan or even less).
PETER O’TOOLE
But it is the version known by Peter O’Toole that was the origin of the version of Dominic Behan recorded in the mid-1960s under the title “The Kerry Boatman“, and also the version recorded by Sean o’Shea always in the same years with the title “Do Bhí Bean Uasal”. Also the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem made their own version with the title “Carrickfergus” in the 1964 “The First Hurray” LP.
This version has been attributed musically to Seán Ó Riada (John Reidy 1931-1971) it is not clear if it is only an arrangement or a real writing of the melody. Certainly the text is taken from the poetry of Cathal “Buí” Mac Giolla Ghunna.
Sean o’Shea in “Ò Riada Sa Gaiety” live in Dublino with the Ceoltóirí Chualann, 1969.
English translation
I
A lady was betrothed to me for a while And she refused me, oh my hundred woes
I went to towns with her
And she made a cuckold (or a fool ) of me before the world,
If I had got that head of hers into the church
And if I were again n command of myself,
But now I’ weak and sore, and there’s no getting of a cure for me,
And my people will be weeping after me
II
I wish I had you in Carrickfergus
not far from that place ‘Quiet Town”
Sailing over the deep blue waters
my bright love from a northern sky
For the seas are deep, love, and I can’t swim over
And neither have I wings to fly,
I wish I met with a handy boatman,
Who would ferry over my love and I
III
The cold and the heat are going together [in me]
and I can’t quench my thirst
And if I took my oath from November to February
I wouldn’t be ready until Michaelmas
I’m seldom drunk though I’m never sober!
A handsome rover from town to town.
But now I am dead and my days are over
Come Molly, my little darling, now lay me down!
I
Do bhí bean uasal seal dá lua liom,
‘s do chuir sí suas díomsa faraoir géar;
Do ghabhas lastuas di sna bailte móra
Ach d’fhag sí ann é os comhair an tsaoil.
Dá bhfaighinnse a ceannsa faoi áirsí an teampaill,
Do bheinnse gan amhras im ‘ábhar féin;
Ach anois táim tinn lag is gan fáil ar leigheas agam.
Is beidh mo mhuintir ag gol im’ dhéidh.
II
I wish I had you in Carrickfergus
Ní fada ón áit sin go Baile Uí Chuain(1)/Sailing over the deep blue waters/ I ndiaidh mo ghrá geal is í ag ealó uaim./For the seas are deep, love, and I can’t swim over
And neither have I wings to fly,
I wish I met with a handy boatman,
Who would ferry over my love and I.
III
Tá an fuacht ag teacht is an teas ag tréigint
An tart ní féidir liom féin é do chlaoi,
Is go bhfuil an leabhar orm ó Shamhain go Fébur
Is ní bheidh sí reidh liom go Féil’ Mhichíl;/I’m seldom drunk though I’m never sober!
A handsome rover from town to town.
But now I am dead and my days are over
Come Molly, a stóirín, now lay me down!
NOTE
1) “baile cuain”= “quiet town” or Harbour Town
THE VERSION OF THE YEARS 60 AND MEANING
And we come to what remains of this song in our day, that is the version of Carrickfergus spread by the major interpreters of Celtic music.
The sweet melancholy of the melody and its uncertain textual interpretation have made the song very popular, some capture the romantic side and also play it at weddings, others at the funeral (for example that of John F. Kennedy Jr -1999).
Certainly it has something magical, sad and nostalgic, the man drowns in alcohol the pain of separation from his beloved (or more likely he drinks because he has a particular predilection for alcohol): a vast ocean divides them (or a stretch of sea) and he would like to be in Ireland, in Carrickfergus: he would like to have wings or to swim across the sea or more realistically find a boatman to take him to her, and finally he can die in her arms ( or at her tombstone) now that he is old and tired.
In my opinion, the general meaning of the text remains clear enough, but if you go into detail then many doubts arise, which I tried to summarize in the notes.
I
I wish I was
in Carrighfergus (1)
Only for nights
in Ballygrant (2)
I would swim over
the deepest ocean
Only for nights in Ballygrant.
But the sea is wide,
and I can’t swim over
Neither have I wings to fly
If I could find me a handsome boatman
To ferry me over
to my love and die(3)
II
Now in Kilkenny (4), it is reported
They’ve marble stones there as black as ink,
With gold and silver
I would transport her (5)
But I’ll sing no more now,
till I get a drink
I’m drunk today,
but I’m seldom sober
A handsome rover
from town to town
Ah, but I am sick now,
my days are over
Come all you young lads
and lay me down.(6)
NOTES
1) Carrickfergus (from the Gaelic Carraig Fhearghais, ‘Rocca di Fergus’) is a coastal town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, one of the oldest settlements in Northern Ireland. Here the protagonist says he wants to be at Carrickfergus (but evidently he is somewhere else) while in other versionssays “I wish I had you in Carrickfergus”: the meaning of the song changes completely.
Some want to set the story in the South of Ireland and they see the name of Fergus,as the river that runs through Ennis County of Clare.
2) Ballygran – Ballygrant – Ballygrand. There are three interpretations: the first that Ballygrant is in Scotland on the Hebrides (Islay island), the second that is the village of Ballygrot (from the Gaelic Baile gCrot means “settlement of hills”), near Helen’s Bay that it is practically in front of Carrickfergus over the stretch of sea that creeps over the north-east coast of Ireland (the Belfast Lough). It seems that the locals call it “Ballygrat” or Ballygrant “and that it is an ancient settlement and that at one time there were some races with the Carrickfergus boats at Ballygrat.The third is a corrupt translation from the Gaelic” baile cuain “of the eighteenth-century version and therefore both a generic quiet location, a small village.
But between the two sentences there is already an incongruity or better there is need of an interpretation, ascertained that Ballygrant is not a particular place of Carrickfergus for which the protagonist feels nostalgia for some specific connection with his love story passed in youth, then it is the place where it is at the moment. So the protagonist could be an Irishman who found himself in the Hebrides, but who would like to return to Carrickfergus from his old love or he is a Scot (who was a young soldier in Ireland) and remembers with regret the Irish woman loved in youth.
The protagonist could be in Helen’s Bay on the opposite side of the inlet that separates it from Carrickfergus: if he were healthy and young nothing would prevent him to go to Carrickfergus even on foot, but he is tired and he is dying and so in his fantasy or delirium he is looking at the sea in the direction of Carrickfergus deaming of flying towards his love of the past or he wants to be ferried by a boatman to be able to die next to her.
3) “and die” tells us that the protagonist who is in Ballygrant (wherever he is) would like to go to Carrickfergus to die in the arms of his love of youth.
In other versions the phrase is written as “To ferry me over my love and I” the protagonist would like to be transported by the boatman, together with his woman, to Carrickfergus. So nostalgia is about the place where the protagonist is supposed to have spent his youth and would like to see again before he died.
4) and 5) Now on the Kilkenny stone it is written, on black marble like ink, with gold and silver I would like to comfort her
Replacing the verb “to transport” used by Loreena with “to support” more used in other versions. That is: on the black stone of Kilkenny (in the sense that it is usually a type of stone such as Carrara marble, the black stone extracted from Kilkenny but also used in Ballygrant, wherever it is) that will be my tombstone where I have recorded my epitaph, I also wrote a sentence of comfort for my love
4) Kilkenny = Kilmeny some see a typo and note that Kilmeny is the parish church of Ballygrant (Islay Island) formerly a medieval church, also here there is a stone quarry, which was the main industry of Ballygrant in the eighteenth century and XIX. Now I ask myself: but with all these references to the Islay Island, (where at least there should be the tomb of the protagonist) how is it that the song is not known in the local tradition of the Hebrides and instead is it in Belfast?
6) the protagonist urges his friends to bury him
Nella versione live aggiunge anche la strofa intermedia che è stata scritta da Dominic Behan per la sua versione registrata a metà degli anni 1960 con il titolo di “The Kerry Boatman”.
Jim McCann in Dubliners Now 1975 (I and III)
Jim McCann live (with the second stanza written by Dominic Behan for his version recorded in the mid-1960s under the title “The Kerry Boatman”.
JIM MCCANN
I
I wish I was
in Carrickfergus (1)
Only for nights
in Ballygrand(2)
I would swim
over the deepest ocean
Only for nights in Ballygrand.
But the sea is wide
and I cannot swim over
And neither have I the wings to fly
I wish I had a handsome boatman
To ferry me over my love and I(3)
II
My childhood days
bring back sad reflections
Of happy time there spent so long ago
My boyhood friends
and my own relations
Have all passed on now
like the melting snow
And I’ll spend my days
in this endless roving
Soft is the grass and my bed is free
How to be back now
in Carrickfergus
On the long road down to the sea
III
And in Kilkenny
it is reported
On marble stone
there as black as ink
With gold and silver
I would support her (5)
But I’ll sing no more now
till I get a drink
‘cause I’m drunk today
and I’m seldom sober
A handsome rover
from town to town
Ah but I am sick now
my days are numbered
Come all me young men
and lay me down
John Barleycorn (in Italian Giovanni Chicco d’Orzo) is a traditional song spread in England and Scotland, focused on this popular character, embodiment of the spirit of beer and whiskey. (see)
There are several text versions collected at different times; the oldest known is from 1460.
As often happens with the most popular ballads we talk about family in reference to a set of texts and melodies connected to each other or related.
The plot traced by Pete Wood is well documented and we refer you to his John Barleycorn revisited for the deepening: the first ballad that identifies a man as the spirit of barley is Allan-a-Maut (Allan del Malto) and it comes from Scotland .
The first ballad that bears the name John Barleycorn is instead of 1624, printed in London “A Pleasant new Ballad.To be sung evening and morn, of the bloody murder of Sir John Barleycorn” shortened in The Pleasant Ballad: as Pete Wood points out, all the elements that characterize the current version of the ballad are already present, the oath of the knights to kill John, the rain that quenches him, and the sun that warms him to give him energy, the miller who grinds him between two stones.
It is narrated the death of the King of Barley according to myths and beliefs that date back to the beginning of the peasant culture, customs that were followed in England in these forms until the early decades of the ‘900.
According to James George Frazier in “The Golden Bough“, anciently “John” was chosen among the youth of the tribe and treated like a king for a year; at the appointed time, however, he was killed, following a macabre ritual: his body was dragged across the fields so that the blood soaked the earth and fed the barley.
More recently in the Celtic peasant tradition the spirit of the wheat entered the reaper who cut the last sheaf (who symbolically killed the god) and he had to be sacrificed just as described in the song (or at least figuratively and symbolically). see more
However, the spirit of the Wheat-Barley never dies because it is reborn the following year with the new crop, its strength and its ardor are contained in the whiskey that is obtained from the distillation of barley malt!
JOHN BARLEYCORN
“The Pleasant ballad” was set to the tune “Shall I Lie Beyond Thee?” on the broadside.63 This tune is quoted by a number of sources by a variety of very similar titles, including “Lie Lulling Beyond Thee” . It is this writer’s belief from a variety of considerations, including Simpson 64 that these are one and the same tune. There has been some confusion regarding the use of the tune “Stingo” for various members of the family. Several publications say that John Barleycorn should be sung to this tune, (including Dixon), and some people have assumed this was the tune for “The Pleasant Ballad.” These impressions seem to have originated from Chappell 65, who meant that “Stingo” was the tune for another member of the family “The Little Barleycorne”, a view which accords with his own comments on the version in the Roxburghe Ballads 66, with Simpson, and Baring-Gould who says ‘[Stingo] is not the air used in the broadsides nor in the west of England’ 67. Two further tunes, “The Friar & the Nun” and “Twas when the seas were roaring”, are mentioned by Simpson. Mas Mault has been suggested to be set to the tune “Triumph and Joy”, the original title of “Greensleeves”. 68 (Pete Wood)
In fact, as many as 45 different melodies have been used for centuries for this ballad, and Pete Wood analyzes the four most common melodies.
MELODY 1
The 1906 version of John Stafford published by Sharp in English Folk Songs is probably the melody that comes closest to the time of James I The Young Tradition
MELODY DIVES AND LAZARUS
The Shepherd Haden version became “standard” for being included in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.T
Traffic (Learned by Mike Waterson)
Traffic lyrics
I
There was three men come out of the West
Their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn(1) must die.
II
They ploughed, they sowed, they harrowed him in
Throwing clods all on his head
And these three men made a solemn vow
John barleycorn was Dead.
III
They’ve left him in the ground for a very long time
Till the rains from heaven did fall
Then little Sir John’s sprung up his head
And so amazed them all
IV
They’ve left him in the ground till the Midsummer
Till he’s grown both pale and wan
Then little Sir John’s grown a long, long beard
And so become a man.
V
They hire’d men with their scythes so sharp
To cut him off at the knee.
They’ve bound him and tied him around the waist
Serving him most barb’rously
VI
They hire’d men with their sharp pitch-forks
To prick him to the heart
But the drover he served him worse than that
For he’s bound him to the cart.
VII
They’ve rolled him around and around the field
Till they came unto a barn
And there they made a solemn mow
Of Little Sir John Barleycorn
VIII
They’ve hire’d men with their crab-tree sticks
To strip him skin from bone
But the miller, he served him worse than that,
For he’s ground him between two stones.
IX
Here’s Little sir John in the nut-brown bowl(2)
And brandy in the glass
But Little Sir John in the nut-brown bowl’s
Proved the stronger man at last
X
For the hunts man he can’t hunt the fox
Nor so loudly blow his horn
And the tinker, he can’t mend Kettles or pots
Without a little of Sir John Barleycorn.
NOTES
1) the spirit of beer and whiskey
2) The cask of walnut or oak used today to age the whiskey
Jetro Tull live
Damh The Bard from The Hills They Are Hollow
JOHN BARLEYCORN, MELODY 3
The version of Robert Pope taken by Vaughan Williams in his Folk Song Suite
version for choir and orchestra
The version published by Robert Burns in 1782, reworks the ancient folk song and becomes the basis of subsequent versions
The first 3 stanzas are similar to the standard version, apart from the three kings coming from the east to make the solemn oath to kill John Barleycorn, in fact in the English version the three men arrive from the West: to me personally the hypothesis that Burnes he wanted to point out the 3 Magi Kings … it does not seem pertinent to the deep pagan substratum of history: Christianity (or the cult of the God of Light) doesnt want to kill the King of the Wheat, unless you identify the king of the Grain with the Christ (a “blasphemous” comparison that was immediately removed from subsequent versions).
History is the detailed transformation of the grain spirit, grown strong and healthy during the summer, reaped and threshed as soon as autumn arrives, and turned into alcohol; and the much more detailed description (always compared to the standard version) of the pleasures that it provides to men, so that they can draw from the drink, intoxication and inspiration. Burns was notoriously a great connoisseur of whiskey and the last verse is right in his style!
The indicated melody is Lull [e] Me Beyond Thee; other melodies that fit the lyrics are “Stingo” (John Playford, 1650) and “Up in the Morning Early”
The version of the Tickawinda takes up part of the text by singing the stanzas I, II, III, V, VII, XV
Robert Burns I There was three kings into the east,
Three kings both great and high,
And they hae sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn should die.
II They took a plough and plough’d him down,
Put clods upon his head,
And they hae sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn was dead
III But the cheerful Spring came kindly on,
And show’rs began to fall;
John Barleycorn got up again,
And sore surpris’d them all IV The sultry suns of Summer came,
And he grew thick and strong,
His head weel arm’d wi’ pointed spears,
That no one should him wrong. V The sober Autumn enter’d mild,
When he grew wan and pale;
His bending joints and drooping head
Show’d he began to fail. VI His coulour sicken’d more and more,
He faded into age;
And then his enemies began
To show their deadly rage. VII They’ve taen a weapon, long and sharp,
And cut him by the knee;
Then ty’d him fast upon a cart,
Like a rogue for forgerie(1). VIII They laid him down upon his back,
And cudgell’d him full sore;
They hung him up before the storm,
And turn’d him o’er and o’er. IX They filled up a darksome pit
With water to the brim,
They heaved in John Barleycorn,
There let him sink or swim X They laid him out upon the floor,
To work him farther woe,
And still, as signs of life appear’d,
They toss’d him to and fro. XI They wasted, o’er a scorching flame,
The marrow of his bones;
But a Miller us’d him worst of all,
For he crush’d him between two stones. XII And they hae taen his very heart’s blood,
And drank it round and round;
And still the more and more they drank,
Their joy did more abound. XIII John Barleycorn was a hero bold,
Of noble enterprise,
For if you do but taste his blood,
‘Twill make your courage rise. XIV ‘Twill make a man forget his woe;
‘Twill heighten all his joy:
‘Twill make the widow’s heart to sing,
Tho’ the tear were in her eye. XV Then let us toast John Barleycorn,
Each man a glass in hand;
And may his great posterity
Ne’er fail in old Scotland!
NOTES
1) the condemned to death were transported to the place of the gallows on a cart for the public mockery
Steeleye Span from Below the Salt 1972
I (Spoken)
There were three men
Came from the west
Their fortunes for to tell,
And the life of John Barleycorn as well.
II
They laid him in three furrows deep,
Laid clods upon his head,
Then these three man made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn was dead.
III
The let him die for a very long time
Till the rain from heaven did fall,
Then little Sir John sprang up his head
And he did amaze them all.
IV
They let him stand till the midsummer day,
Till he looked both pale and wan.
The little Sir John he grew a long beard
And so became a man. CHORUS: Fa la la la, it’s a lovely day Fa la la la lay o Fa la la la, it’s a lovely day Sing fa la la la lay
V
They have hired men with the scythes so sharp,
To cut him off at the knee,
The rolled him and they tied him around the waist,
They served him barbarously.
VI
They have hired men with the crab-tree sticks,
To cut him skin from bone,
And the miller has served him worse than that,
For he’s ground him between two stones.
VII
They’ve wheeled him here,
they’ve wheeled him there,
They’ve wheeled him to a barn,
And thy have served him worse than that,
They’ve bunged him in a vat.
VIII
They have worked their will on John Barleycorn
But he lived to tell the tale,
For they pour him out of an old brown jug
And they call him home brewed ale(1).
NOTES
1) The oldest drink in the world obtained from the fermentation of various cereals. The beer originally was classified out as “beer” (with hops) and “ale” (without hops) . Its processing processes start with a spontaneous fermentation of the starch (ie the sugar) that is the main component in cereals, when they come into contact with water, due to wild yeasts contained in the air. And just as in bread, female food, EARTH, WATER, AIR and FIRE combine magically to give life to a divine food that strengthens and inebriates.
The English term of homebrewing or the art of home-made beer translates into Italian with an abstruse word: domozimurgia and domozimurgo is the producer of homemade beer in which domo, is the Latin root for “home”; zimurgo is the one who practices “zimurgy”, or the science of fermentation processes. The domozimurgo is therefore the one who, within his own home, studies, applies and experiments the alchemy of fermentation. Making beer for your own consumption (including that of the inevitable friends and relatives) is absolutely legal as well as fun and relatively simple although you never stop learning through the exchange of experiences and experimentation see more
And finally the COLLAGE of the versions of Tickawinda, Avalon Rising, John Renbourn, Lanterna Lucis Viriditatis, Xenis Emputae, Travelling Band, Louis Killen, Traffic
A popular drinking song from rural England, Ireland and Scotland (and the Americas) that could not miss after the “crying of the neck” or during a “Harvest supper“; this auspicious song is also a tavern game: the most common form of the game sees only one singer, while the audience lifts the glass to drink twice in the refrain responding to the auspicious verse with a joyful “Good luck!”; in the second version a soloist intones the first stanza and all the participants sing in chorus the progressive refrain, whom that mistakes the words, or takes a breath to sing, must drink. Obviously the goal of the game is to drink more and more, as you make mistakes!
Harvest Scene, Barrow-on-Trent, Derbyshire, George Turner II 1881
GIVE US ONCE A DRINKE
The song is very ancient as the rituals inherent to the harvest of wheat / barley are ancient (see traditional methods); the first known publication dates back to 1609, in the Deuteromelia by Thomas Ravenscroft, with the title “Give Us Once A Drinke” is transcribed as it was sung in the Elizabethan taverns.
The song started with: “Give us once a drink for and the black bole(1)
Sing gentle Butler(2) “balla moy”(3)
For and the black bole,
Sing gentle Butler balla moy” and it ended with: “Give us once a drink for and the tunne
Sing gentle Butler balla moy
The tunne, the butt The pipe, the hogshead The barrel, the kilderkin The verkin, the gallon pot The pottle pot, the quart pot, The pint pot,
for and the black bole
Sing gentle Butler balla moy”
NOTES
1) What were the beer glass like in medieval taverns? The three most common materials at the time were metal (pewter), glass and ceramics. In Italy in the fourteenth century, for example in the taverns, glass was more common. Here we quote a black bowl that makes one think more properly of a dark bowl or cup, perhaps made of wood? In the wassaling songs, which are also very old, the material of the toast cups carved in the wood is often described. Later, the use of pewter is more likely.
2) bottler
3) the scholars believe it could be for ‘Bell Ami’, only later the song became part of the songs during the Harvest festival and the verse was changed to ‘Barley Mow’, others believe that it is a Mondegreen.
BARLEY MOW
Over time, new strophes have been added and especially in the nineteenth century there are many transcriptions in the collections of old traditional songs such as in “Songs of the Peasantry of England”, by Robert Bell 1857 : This song is sung at country meetings in Devon and Cornwall, particularly on completing the carrying of the barley, when the rick, or mow of barley, is finished. On putting up the last sheaf, which is called the craw (or crow) sheaf, the man who has it cries out ‘I have it, I have it, I have it;’ another demands, ‘What have ’ee, what have ’ee, what have ’ee?’ and the answer is, ‘A craw! a craw! a craw!’ upon which there is some cheering,& c., and a supper afterwards. The effect of the Barley-mow Song cannot be given in words; it should be heard, to be appreciated properly, – particularly with the West-country dialect.”
Robert Bell transcribes the widespread version in West England and also the variant sung in Suffolk
Here’s a health to the barley mow!
Here’s a health to the man
Who very well can
Both harrow and plow and sow!
When it is well sown
See it is well mown,
Both raked and gavelled clean,
And a barn to lay it in.
He’s a health to the man
Who very well can
Both thrash (1) and fan it clean!
NOTES
1) in the Middle Ages there were two ways to separate the wheat grains from the ear: the farmer beat the sheaves with a stick or a whip or they were trampled by the draft animals.
The sifting: wheat and chaff were separated first by placing them in a sieve and then throwing them in the air (it must of course be a breezy day) the chaff flew away and the grain returned to the sieve.
The master of drinking Adriaen Brouwer (1606-1638)
The Barley Mow is one of the best-known cumulative songs from the English folk repertoire and was usually sung at harvest suppers, often as a test of sobriety. Alfred Williams, who noted a splendid set in the Wiltshire village of Inglesham some time prior to the Great War, wrote that he was “unable to fix its age, or even to suggest it, though doubtless the piece has existed for several centuries.” Robert Bell found the song being sung in Devon and Cornwall during the middle part of the 19th century, especially after “completing the carrying of the barley, when the rick, or mow, of barley is finished.” Bell’s comment that “the effect of The Barley Mow cannot be given in words; it should be heard, to be appreciated properly” is certainly true, and most singers who know the song pride themselves on being able to get through it without making a mistake.(Mike Yates)
So we toast to all the dimensions in which beer is marketed (and are indicated in all the existing measures in the past times from the barrel to the “bowl” and to the health of all those who “manipulate” the beer and of all the “merry brigade” who drinks it!
Here’s good luck to the pint pot, good luck to the barley mow, (1)
Jolly good luck to the pint pot, good luck to the barley mow; Oh, the pint pot, half a pint, gill, (2) half a gill, quarter gill Nipperkin (3) and a round bowl(4) Here’s good luck, (5) good luck, good luck to the barley mow.
Here’s good luck to the half gallon, good luck to the barley mow,
Jolly good luck to the half gallon, good luck to the barley mow;
Oh, the half gallon, pint pot, half a pint, gill, half a gill …
Here’s good luck to the gallon,
Here’s good luck to the half barrel,
Here’s good luck to the barrel,
Here’s good luck to the daughter(6),
Here’s good luck to the landlord,
Here’s good luck to the landlady,
Jolly good luck to the landlady,
Jolly good luck to the brewer, (7)
Here’s good luck to the company, good luck to the barley mow,
Jolly good luck to the company,
good luck to the barley mow;
Oh, the company, brewer, landlady, landlord, daughter, barrel,
Half barrel, gallon, half gallon, pint pot, half a pint, gill,
Half a gill, quarter gill, nipperkin and a round bowl,
Here’s good luck, good luck,
good luck to the barley mow.
NOTES
1) [shout GOOD LUCK and drink a sip!]
2) they are all units of measure ordered by the largest (barrel) to the smallest (round bowl).
But as for all units of measurement of the peasant tradition there are local differences in the measured quantity
“a gill is a half-pint in a northern pub, but a quarter-pint down south“.
3) “The nipperkin is a unit of measurement of volume, equal to one-half of a quarter-gill, one-eighth of a gill, or one thirty-second of an English pint.
In other estimations, one nip (an abbreviation that originated in 1796) is either one-third of a pint, or any amount less than or equal to half a pint“.[wiki] “A nip was also used by brewers to refer to a small bottle of ale (usually a strong one such as Barley Wine or Russian Stout) which was sold in 1/3 pint bottles“.
4) “The round bowl” sometimes also “hand-around bowl”, “brown bowl” or “bonny bowl” could be the typical cup with which toasted in the wassailing evidently a unit of measure that has been lost over time.
5) [shout GOOD LUCK, drinking is optional!]
6) the daughter of the tavern owner or more generally she is a waitress serving at the tables
7) there are those who add “the slavey” and “the drayer” to the list; “slavery” means a servant and “the draye” is the one who pulls (or guides) the cart that is the man of deliveries that in fact supplies the tavern with beer. The name derives from the fact that once such a cart was wheelless and was dragged like a sled.
The draft beer is marketed in the Anglo-Saxon countries starting from the pint that in England and Ireland corresponds to 20 ounces (568 ml ie roughly 50cl). The American pint instead corresponds to 16 ounces; so the standard glass for beer contains exactly a pint (as we call Italian “big beer”); the shapes vary according to the time and the fashions, but the capacity of the glass is always a pint! A law by the British parliament in 1698 stated that “ale and beer” (ie beer without hops and beer with hops) must be served in public only in “pints, full quarts (two pints) * or multiples thereof”. The rule was further reiterated in 1824 by imposing the imperial unit as a unit of measure for all beverages. * The glass that contains 2 imperial pints (1.14 liters) is the yard or a narrow and long glass just a yard. Today with the adaptation to European regulations the British government has “restricted” the pint to “schooner” (as it is called in Australia, but we are still waiting for the nickname that will be given in England to the new measure!) The glass equal to 2/3 pint (400 ml)
THE BARLEY MOW (ROUD 10722)
A variant always from Suffolk
I
Well we ploughed the land and we planted it,
and we watched the barley grow.
We rolled it and we harrowed it
and we cleaned it with a hoe.(1)
Then we waited ‘til the farmer said,
“It’s time for harvest now.
Get out your axes and sharpen, boys,
it’s time for barley mow.” Chorus Well, here’s luck to barley mow and the land that makes it grow. We’ll drink to old John Barleycorn(2), here’s luck to barley mow. So fill up all the glasses, lads, and stand them in a row: A gill, a half a pint, a pint, a pint and a quart and here’s luck to barley mow.
II
Well we went and mowed the barley
and we left it on the ground.
We left it in the sun and rain ‘til it was nicely brown.
Then one day off to the maltsters,
then John Barleycorn did go.
The day he went away, we all did say,
“Here’s luck to barley mow.”
III
Have no fear of old John Barleycorn
when he’s as green as grass.
But old John Barleycorn is strong enough
to sit you on your arse.
But there’s nothing better ever brewed
than we are drinking now,
Fill them up: we’ll have another round,
here’s good luck to barley mow.
Paddy Lay Back is a kilometer sea shanty, variant wedge, sung by sailors both as a recreational song and as a song to the winch to raise the anchor (capstan shanty).
Stan Hugill in his “Shanties from the Seven Seas”, testifies a long version with about twenty stanzas (see), here only those sung by himself for the album ” “Sea Songs: Newport, Rhode Island- Songs from the Age of Sail”, 1980: “It was both a forebitter and a capstan song and a very popular one too, especially in Liverpool ships. […] It is a fairly old song dating back to the Mobile cotton hoosiers and has two normal forms: one with an eight-line verse – this was the forebitter form; and the second with a four-line verse – the usual shanty pattern. Doerflinger gives a two-line verse pattern as the shanty – a rather unusual form, and further on in his book he gives the forebitter with both four- and eight-line verses. He gives the title of the shanty as Paddy, Get Back and both his versions of the forebitter as Mainsail Haul. Shay, Sampson and Bone all suggest that it was a fairly modern sea-song and give no indication that any form was sung as a shanty, but all my sailing-ship acquaintances always referred to it as a shanty, and it was certainly sung in the Liverpool-New York Packets as such – at least the four-line verse form. […] Verses from 11 onwards [of the 19 verses given, incl. v. 3, lines 1-4 above] are fairly modern and nothing to do with the Packet Ship seamen, but with the chorus of ‘For we’re bound for Vallaparaiser round the Horn’ are what were sung by Liverpool seamen engaged in the West Coast Guano Trade.” (Stan Hugill)
(all the strings except III) Stan Hugill
I
‘Twas a cold an’ dreary (frosty) mornin’ in December,
An’ all of me money it was spent
Where it went to Lord (Christ) I can’t remember
So down to the shippin’ office I went,
CHORUS Paddy, lay back (Paddy, lay back)!
Take in yer slack (take in yer slack)!
Take a turn around the capstan – heave a pawl (1) – (heave a pawl)
‘Bout ship’s stations, boys,
be handy (be handy)! (2)
For we’re bound for Valaparaiser(3)
‘round the Horn (4)!
II
That day there wuz a great demand for sailors
For the Colonies and for ‘Frisco(5) and for France
So I shipped aboard a Limey(6) barque (7) “the Hotspur”
An’ got paralytic drunk on my advance (8)
III
Now I joined her on a cold December mornin’,
A-frappin’ o’ me flippers to keep me warm.
With the south cone a-hoisted as a warnin’ (9),
To stand by the comin’ of a storm.
IV
Now some of our fellers had bin drinkin’,
An’ I meself wuz heavy on the booze;
An’ I wuz on me ol’ sea-chest a-thinkin’
I’d turn into me bunk an’ have a snooze.
V
I woke up in the mornin’ sick an’ sore,
An’ knew I wuz outward bound again;
When I heard a voice a-bawlin’ (calling) at the door,
‘Lay aft, men, an’ answer to yer names!’
VI
‘Twas on the quarterdeck where first I saw you,
Such an ugly bunch I’d niver seen afore;
For there wuz a bum an’ stiff from every quarter,
An’ it made me poor ol’ heart feel sick an’ sore.
VII
There wuz Spaniards an’ Dutchmen an’ Rooshians,
An’ Johnny Crapoos jist acrosst from France;
An’ most o’ ‘em couldn’t speak a word o’ English,
But answered to the name of ‘Month’s Advance’.
VIII
I knew that in me box I had a bottle,
By the boardin’-master ‘twas put there;
An’ I wanted something for to wet me throttle,
Somethin’ for to drive away dull care.
IX
So down upon me knees I went like thunder,
Put me hand into the bottom o’ the box,
An’ what wuz me great surprise an’ wonder,
Found only a bottle o’ medicine for the pox
NOTES
1) pawl – short bar of metal at the foot of a capstan or close to the barrel of a windlass which engage a serrated base so as to prevent the capstan or windlass ‘walking back’. […] The clanking of the pawls as the anchor cable was hove in was the only musical accompaniment a shanty ever had! (Hugill, Shanties 414)
2) it is a typical expression in maritime songs
3) Valparaiso – a seaport in central Chile on the Pacific Ocean west-northwest of Santiago.
4) the Horn – Cape Horn – a rocky headland on an island at the extreme Southern tip of South America, belonging to Chile. It is notorious for gales and heavy seas.
5) Frisco – San Francisco
6) limey – The origin of the Yanks calling English sailors ‘Limejuicers’ […] was the daily issuing of limejuice to British crews when they had been a certain number of days at sea, to prevent scurvy, according to the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act (Hugill, Shanties 54)
7) barque – a sailing ship of three or more masts having the foremasts rigged square and the aftermast rigged fore-and-aft; any boat, especially a small sailing vessel
8) the sailor has spent all the advance on high-alcohol drinking
9) A storm-cone is a visual signalling device made of black-painted canvas designed to be hoisted on a mast – if apex upwards, a gale is expected from the North, if from the South, apex downward. The storm cone was devised by Rear Admiral Robert Fitzroy, former commander of HMS Beagle, head of a department of the Board of Trade known today simply as the Met Office, and inventor of weather forecasts. “In 1860 he devised a system of issuing gale warnings by telegraph to the ports likely to be affected. The message contained of a list of places with the words: ‘North Cone’ or ‘South Cone’ – for northerly or southerly gales respectively ‘Drum’ – for when further gales were expected, Drum and North/South Cone’ – for particularly heavy gales or storms. ” (from herei) (see more)
FOLK VERSION: Valparaiso Round the Horn
For his title the song has become a traditional Irish song, a popular drinking song, connected to equally popular jigs (eg Irish washer woman)! Also known as “The Liverpool song” and “Valparaiso Round the Horn”. Among the favorite pirate song of course!
The Wolfe Tones from “Let The People Sing” 1972 make a folk version that has become the standard of a classic irish drinking song (Paddy Lie Back) The Irish Rovers live
Sons Of Erin
I
‘Twas a cold an’ dreary (frosty) mornin’ in December,
An’ all of me money it was spent
Where it went to Lord I can’t remember
So down to the shippin’ office I went,
CHORUS Paddy, lay back (Paddy, lay back)!
Take in yer slack (take in yer slack)!
Take a turn around the capstan – heave a pawl (1) – (heave a pawl)
About ships for England boys be handy(2)
For we’re bound for Valaparaiser
‘round the Horn!
II
That day there wuz a great demand for sailors
For the Colonies and for ‘Frisco and for France
So I shipped aboard a Limey barque (3) “the Hotspur”
An’ got paralytic drunk on my advance (4)
III
There were Frenchmen, there were Germans, there were Russians
And there was Jolly Jacques came just across from France
And not one of them could speak a word of English
But they’d answer to the name of Bill or Dan
IV
I woke up in the morning sick and sore (5)
I wished I’d never sailed away again
Then a voice it came thundering thru’ the floor
Get up and pay attention to your name
V
I wish that I was in the Jolly Sailor (6)
With Molly or with Kitty on me knee
Now I see most any men are sailors
And with me flipper I wipe away my tears
NOTES
1) see above
2) or Bout ship’s stations, boys
3) see above
4) see above
5) a euphemism to describe the hangover
6) the name varies at the discretion of the singer
A sea song with caustic humorism also entitled “Three Sailors from Bristol City” or “Little Boy Billee”, which deals with a disturbing subject for our civilization, but always around the corner: cannibalism!
The sea is a place of pitfalls and jokes of fate, a storm can take you off course, on a boat or raft, without food and water, it’s a subject also treated in great painting (Theodore Gericault, The raft of the Medusa see): human life poised between hope and despair.
The three sailors
The maritime songs can express the biggest fears with a good laugh! This song was born in 1863 with the title “The three sailors” written by William Makepeace Thackeray as a parody of “La Courte Paille” (= short straw) – that later became “Le Petit Navire” (The Little Corvette) as a nursery rhyme.(see first part): cases of cannibalism at sea as an extreme resource for survival were much debated by public opinion and the courts themselves were inclined to commute death sentences in detention.
The murder by necessity (or the sacrifice of one for the good of others) finds a justification in the terrible experience of death by starvation that pushes the human mind to despair and madness, but in 1884 the case of the sinking of Mignonette broke public opinion and the same home secretary Sir William Harcourt had to say “if these men are not condemned for the murder, we are giving carte blanche to the captain of any ship to eat the cabin boy every time the food is scarce “. (translated from here).
The ruling stands as a leading case and puts life as a supreme good by not admitting murder for necessity as self-defense
Bernard Partridge Cartoons
From notes of “Penguin Book” (1959):
“The Portugese Ballad A Nau Caterineta and the French ballad La Courte Paille tell much the same story. The ship has been long at sea, and food has given out. Lots are drawn to see who shall be eaten, and the captain is left with the shortest straw. The cabin boy offers to be sacrificed in his stead, but begs first to be allowed to keep lookout till the next day. In the nick of time he sees land (“Je vois la tour de Babylone, Barbarie de l’autre côté”) and the men are saved. Thackeray burlesqued this song in his Little Billee. It is likely that the French ballad gave rise to The Ship in Distress, which appeared on 19th. century broadsides. George Butterworth obtained four versions in Sussex (FSJ vol.IV [issue 17] pp.320-2) and Sharp printed one from James Bishop of Priddy, Somerset (Folk Songs from Somerset, vol.III, p.64) with “in many respects the grandest air” which he had found in that county. The text comes partly from Mr. Bishop’s version, and partly from a broadside.” -R.V.W./A.L.L.
There were three men of Bristol City;
They stole a ship and went to sea.
There was Gorging Jack and Guzzling Jimmy
And also Little Boy Billee.
They stole a tin of captain’s biscuits
And one large bottle of whiskee.
But when they reached the broad Atlantic
They had nothing left but one split pea.
Said Gorging Jack to Guzzling Jimmy,
“We’ve nothing to eat so I’m going to eat thee.”
Said Guzzling Jimmy, “I’m old and toughest,
So let’s eat Little Boy Billee.”
“O Little Boy Billy, we’re going to kill and eat you,
So undo the top button of your little chemie.(1)”
“O may I say my catechism
That my dear mother taught to me?”
He climbed up to the main topgallant(2)
And there he fell upon his knee.
But when he reached the Eleventh(3) Commandment,
He cried “Yo Ho! for land I see.”
“I see Jerusalem and Madagascaar
And North and South Amerikee.”
“I see the British fleet at anchor
And Admiral Nelson, K.C.B. (4)”
They hung Gorging Jack and Guzzling Jimmy
But they made an admiral of Little Boy Billee.
NOTES
Thackeray lyrics here
1) from french chemise
2) or top fore-gallant
2) his companions did not have to be very attached to the Bible (and probably Billy would have invented new ones to save time!)
4) “Knight Commander of the Bath”, the chivalrous military order founded by George I in 1725
SEA SHANTY VERSION
According to Stan Hugill “Little Billee” was a sea shanty for pump work, a boring and monotonous job that could certainly be “cheered up” by this little song! Hugill only reports the text saying that the melody is like the French “The était a Petit Navire”, so the adaptation of Hulton Clint has the performance of a lullaby.
I
There were three sailors of Bristol City;
They stole a boat and went to sea.
But first with beef and hardtack biscuits
And pickled pork they loaded she. And pickled pork they loaded she
II
There was gorging Jack and guzzling Jimmy,
And likewise there was little Billee.
but when they got to the Equator
They’d only left but one split pea.
III
Then gorging Jack to guzzling Jimmy,
“I am confounded hungaree.”
Says guzzling Jimmy to gorging Jacky
“We’ve no wittles (1), so we must eat we.”
IV
Said Gorging Jack to Guzzling Jimmy,
“Oh Guzzling Jim what a fool you be..
There’s little Billy, who’s young and tender,
We’re old and tough, so let’s eat he.”
V
“Make haste, make haste” then say Guzzling Jimmy
as he drew his snickher snee (2)
“O Billy, we’re going to kill and eat you,
undo the collar of your chemie.”
VI
When William heard this information
he drope down on bended knee
“O let me say my catechism
which my dear mom taught to me”
VII
So up he went to the maintop-gallant
and he drope down on his bended knee
and than he said all his catechism
which his dear mamy once taught to he
VIII
He scarce had said his catechism
when up he jumps “There’s land I see
Jerusalem and Madagascaar
And North and South Amerikee.”
IX
“Jerusalem and Madagascar,
And North and South Amerikee;
There’s the British fleet a-riding at anchor,
With Admiral Napier, K.C.B.”
X
When they bordered to Admiral’s vessel,
He hanged fat Jack (3) and flogged Jimmee;
as for little Bill they make him
The Captain of a Seventy-three (4).
NOTES
1) It’s a mispronunciation of “vittles,” which is a corrupted form of “victuals,” which means “food.”
2) a particularly lethal big knife used as a weapon
3)in some versions the degree of guilt between the two sailors is distinguished, so only one is hanged
4) 73 cannon war vessel
And for corollary here is the French version “Un Petit Navire”
Entitled “Jolly Roving Tar” but more frequently “Get Up, Jack! John, Sit Down” here is a forebitter song that ironizes on the idle occupations of a sailor when he is ashore.
“For my money’s gone,” says the sailor who is well liked and fondled by the ladies when his pockets are full, but immediately put aside for another sailor when the money ends!
A similar song (we do not know if original or a traditional version rewriting) was written in New York in 1885 by Ed Harrigan & David Braham for the music hall entitled ‘Old Lavender‘ (text and score here); a version published by John and Alan Lomax in “American Ballads & Folk Songs” was attributed to John Thomas, a Welsh sailor who was on “the Philadelphian” in 1896. (text here), but the main source of the best known variant comes from “Grammy” Fish .
“GRAMMY” FISH
Mrs. Lena Bourne Fish (1873-1945) spent the first 24 years of her life in Black Brook, NY, not far from the Canadian border. Lena’s main source of songs was her own family, the Bourne; his ancestors were the first settlers of Cape Cod and a lot of songs (with many English and Irish traditional tunes) had passed to the family generations since emigration . As a lumber trader, her father collected many songs from the people he met in the New England woods in his travels.
Once married, Lena moved to Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Two collectors of traditional songs (Helen Harkness Flanders and Marguerite Olney) interviewed her in 1940 and recorded about 175 songs; the following year Anne and Frank Warner collected a hundred songs in four recording sessions half of which completly new ones.
“Grammy” Fish had taken her role as a witness of the past to heart so as to transcribe the “old songs” in many notebooks to leave them to the new generations.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue, Sea Shanty Edition
Bootstrappers live
I
Ships may come and ships may go
as long as the seas do roll
But a sailor lad just like his dad
he loves the flowing bowl
a woman ashore he does adore
a girl who’s plump and round when your money’s all gone, it’s the same old song “Get up, Jack! John, sit down!” CHORUS Come along, come along, me jolly brave boys, There’s plenty more grog(1) in the jar We’ll plough the briny ocean line like a jolly roving tar
II
When Jack’s ashore, he’ll make his way
To some old boarding house(2)
He’s welcomed in with rum and gin,
likewise with pork and scouse
He’ll spend and spend and never offend
Till he lies drunk on the ground When his money’s all gone…
III
Then Jack will slip(3) on board
some ship bound for India or Japan
and in Asia there, the ladies fair
all love a sailor man
He’ll go ashore and he’ll not scorn
to buy some girl her gown when his money’s all gone…
IV
When Jack is worn and weatherbeat
too old to cruise about
they’ll let him stop in some rum shop
Till eight bells(4) calls him out
Then he’ll raise hands high
and loud he’ll cry “Thank Christ, I’m homeward bound!” when his money’s all gone…
NOTES
1) grog= drink
2) Boarding houses are pensions for sailors, present in every large sea port. “They are held by boarding masters, of dubious reputation, which the sailors define as” recruiters “, who provide” indifferently lodging and boarding “. They often welcome sailors “on credit”. On the advance received by boarders at the time of enrollment, they recover for food and accommodation, and with the rest they provide them with poor quality clothing and equipment “. (Italo Ottonello)
3) or “He then will sail aboard some ship”
4)”When it’s the end” his watch on board is finished as well as his life. On the old vessels the ringing sound of a bell regulated the time, every 4-hour guard duty was signaled by 8 bell strokes. (the eight bells were ringed at 4, at 8, at 12, at 16, at 20 and at midnight). An hourglass was used to calculate the time.
Great Big Sea from Play 1997. Traditional American Folk Songs from the Anne & Frank Warner Collection, #71.
I
Ships may come and ships may go
As long as the sea does roll.
Each sailor lad just like his dad,
He loves the flowing bowl.
A trip on shore he does adore
With a girl who’s nice and round. When the money’s gone It’s the same old song, “Get up Jack! John, sit down!” [Chorus] Come along, come along, You jolly brave boys, There’s lots of grog(1) in the jar. We’ll plough the briny ocean With the jolly roving tar.
II
When Jack comes in, it’s then he’ll steer
To some old boarding house(2).
They’ll welcome him with rum and gin,
And feed him on pork scouse.
He’ll lend, spend and he’ll not offend (3) Till he’s lyin’ drunk on the ground When the money’s gone It’s the same old song, “Get up Jack! John, sit down!“
III
Jack, he then, oh then he’ll sail
Bound down for Newfoundland.
All the ladies fair in Placentia(4) there
They love that sailor man
He’ll go to shore out on a tear
And he’ll buy some girl a gown. When the money’s gone It’s the same old song, “Get up Jack! John, sit down!”
IV
When Jack gets old and weather beat,
Too old to roam about,
They’ll let him stop in some rum shop
Till eight bells(5) calls him out.
Then he’ll raise his eyes up to the skies,
Sayin’ “Boys, we’re homeward bound.” When the money’s gone It’s the same old song, “Get up Jack! John, sit down!“
NOTES
3) meaning that he will not offend the innkeeper with a refusal
4) Placentia is a small Canadian city formed by the union of the villages of Jerseyside, Townside, Freshwater, Dunville and Argentia .
5)”When it’s the end” his watch on board is finished as well as his life. On the old vessels the ringing sound of a bell regulated the time, every 4-hour guard duty was signaled by 8 bell strokes.
ENGLISH VERSION
In the nineteenth century there was a completely different version in which poor Susan was distraught because the fine William was still far from the sea, she decided to follow him as a sailor. The version is still popular in Newfoundland. As much as I searched the web at the moment I did not find a video to listen to. It was in the town of Liverpool, all in the month of May, I overheard a damsel, alone as she did stray, She did appear like Venus or some sweet, lovely star, As she walked toward the beach, lamenting for her jolly, roving Tar.
Jolly Roving Tar by “Irish Rovers”
The text was written by George Millar the founder of the “Irish Rovers” and although a different song borrows some phrases from “Get Up, Jack! John, Sit Down” other equally famous sea songs on sailors. The Irish Rover from Another Round 2005: various dances taken from fantasy films and animations
I
Well here we are, we’re back again
Safe upon the shore
In Belfast town we’d like to stay
And go to sea no more
We’ll go into a public house
And drink till we’re content
For the lassies they will love us
Till our money is all spent CORO So pass the flowin’ bowl Boys there’s whiskey in the jar And we’ll drink to all the lassies And the jolly roving tar
II
Oh Johnny did you miss me
When the nights were long and cold
Or did you find another love
In your arms to hold
Says he I thought of only you
While on the sea afar
So come up the stairs and cuddle
With your jolly roving tar
III
Well in each other’s arms they rolled
Till the break of day
When the sailor rose
and said farewell
I must be on me way
Ah don’t you leave me Johnny lad
I thought you’d marry my
Says he I can’t be married
For I’m married to the sea
IV
Well come all you bonnie lasses
And a warning take by me
And never trust an Irishman
An inch above your knee
He’ll tease you and he’ll squeeze you
And when he’s had his fun
He’ll leave you in the morning
With a daughter or a son
Yet another drinking song, “All for me Grog”, in which “Grog” is a drink based on rum, but also a colloquial term used in Ireland as a synonym for “drinking”. The song opens with the refrain, in which our wandering sailor specifies that it is precisely because of his love for alcohol, tobacco and girls, that he always finds himself penniless and full of trouble. To satisfy his own vices, johnny sells from his boots to his bed. More than a sea shanty it was a forebitter song or a tavern song; and our johnny could very well be enlisted in the Royal Navy, but also been boarded a pirate ship around the West Indies.
Nowadays it is a song that is depopulated in historical reenactments with corollaries of pirate chorus! Al Lloyd (II, I, III)
The Dubliners from The Dubliners Live,1974
AC4 Black Flag ( II, III, VI)
CHORUS And it’s all for me grog me jolly, jolly grog (1) All for my beer and tobacco Well, I spent all me tin with the lassies (2) drinkin’ gin Far across the Western Ocean
I must wander
I
I’m sick in the head
and I haven’t been to bed
Since first I came ashore with me plunder
I’ve seen centipedes and snakes and me head is full of aches
And I have to take a path for way out yonder (3)
II
Where are me boots,
me noggin’ (4), noggin’ boots
They’re all sold (gone) for beer and tobacco
See the soles they were thin
and the uppers were lettin’ in(5)
And the heels were lookin’ out for better weather
III
Where is me shirt,
me noggin’, noggin’ shirt
It’s all sold for beer and tobacco
You see the sleeves were all worn out and the collar been torn about
And the tail was lookin’ out for better weather
IV
Where is me wife,
me noggin’, noggin’ wife
She’s all sold for beer and tobacco
You see her front it was worn out
and her tail I kicked about
And I’m sure she’s lookin’ out for better weather
V
Where is me bed,
me noggin’, noggin’ bed
It’s all sold for beer and tobacco
You see I sold it to the girls until the springs were all in twirls(6)
And the sheets they’re lookin’ out for better weather
VI
Well I’m sick in the head
and I haven’t been to bed
Since I’ve been ashore for me slumber
Well I spent all me dough
On the lassies don’t ye know
Across the western ocean(7)
I will wander.
NOTES
1) grog: it is a very old term and means “liqueur” or “alcoholic beverage”. The grog is a drink introduced in the Royal Navy in 1740: rum after the British conquest of Jamaica had become the favorite drink of sailors, but to avoid any problems during navigation, the daily ration of rum was diluted with water.
2) lassies: widely used in Scotland, it is the plural of lassie or lassy, diminutive of lass, the archaic form for “lady”
4) nogging: in the standard English noun, the word means “head”, “pumpkin”, in an ironic sense. Being a colloquial expression, it becomes “stubborn” (qualifying adjective)
5) let in = open
6) the use of the mattress is implied not only for sleeping 7) western ocean: it is the term by which the sailors of the time referred to the Atlantic Ocean
A GROG JUG
1/4 or 1/3 of Jamaican rum half lemon juice (or orange or grapefruit) 1 or 2 teaspoons of brown sugar. Fill with water.
Even in the warm winter version: the water must be heated almost to boiling. Add a little spice (cinnamon stick, cloves) and lemon zest.
It is a classic Christmas drink especially in Northern Europe.
GROG
( Italo Ottonello)
The grog was a mixture of rum and water, later flavored with lemon juice, as an anti-scorb, and a little sugar. The adoption of the grog is due to Admiral Edward Vernon, to remedy the disciplinary problems created by an excessive ration of alcohol (*) on British warships. On 21 August 1740 he issued for his team an order that established the distribution of rum lengthened with water. The ration was obtained by mixing a quarter of gallon of water (liters 1.13) and a half pint of rum (0.28 liters) – in proportion 4 to 1 – and distributed half at noon and half in the evening. The term grog comes from ‘Old Grog’, the nickname of the Admiral, who used to wear trousers and a cloak of thick grogram fabric at sea. The use of grog, later, became common in Anglo-Saxon marines, and the deprivation of the ration (grog stop), was one of the most feared punishment by sailors. Temperance ships were called those merchant ships whose enlistment contract contained the “no spirits allowed” clause which excluded the distribution of grog or other alcohol to the crew. (*) The water, not always good already at the beginning of the journey, became rotten only after a few days of stay in the barrels.
In fact, nobody drank it because beer was available. It was light beer, of poor quality, which ended within a month and, only then, the captains allowed the distribution of wine or liqueurs. A pint of wine (just over half a liter) or half a pint of rum was considered the equivalent of a gallon (4.5 liters) of beer, the daily ration. It seems that the sailors preferred the white wines to the red ones that they called despicably black-strap (molasses). Being destined in the Mediterranean, where wine was embarked, was said to be blackstrapped. In the West Indies, however, rum was abundant.
“GRAMMY” FISH
GROG