All For Me Grog

A popular sea shanty and drinking song that has been found mainly in England, but also in Canada and Australia. Ironically, as it's often thought to be an Irish song, no traditional versions have been found in Ireland. Presumably it became an Irish drinking song when recorded by The Clancy Brothers, and The Dubliners ensured its reputation as a part of the Irish tradition. Here is an Australian version, performed by The Mucky Duck Bush Band.

My rendition is the clean version, leaving out some of the verses I used to sing with The Belaiters in Brunei.

And here are the lyrics.

Anne Boleyn (R.L. Weston and Bert Lee)

Anne Boleyn was one of the wives of King Henry VIII. He had her beheaded, and this classic music hall song is about how she wanders the Tower of London seeking revenge.

It was written in 1934 and originally performed by Stanley Holloway. Since then it has been recorded by Rudy Vallee, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, The Kingston Trio and the Chad Mitchell Trio.

Here is my video and here are the lyrics.

The Ash Grove

This is a traditional Welsh song called Llwyn Onn, which has been translated into English several times. The lyrics of the version here were written by John Oxenford in the nineteenth century.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

Away With Rum

Also known as The Song of the Salvation Army, or The Song of the Temperance Union. Dating back to at least 1941, and possibly the nineteenth century, it probably began as a serious temperance song, but is now generally known in one of a number of satirical versions.

It has been recorded by Theodore Bikel and The Chad Mitchell Trio.

Here is a good rendition by YouTube singer alonzogarbanzo.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

Ballad (John Stuart Calverley)

John Stuart Calverley (1831-1884) was regarded in his own day as a satirist in the same league as Henry Fielding, Jonathan Swift, Laurence Sterne, Lewis Carroll and Thomas Hood. In fact he never achieved the success of these contemporaries, though he was an exceptional translator of Greek and Latin literature and did write some excellent parodies of poets such as Browning and Tennyson.

In this poem, he was not actually attacking the ballads themselves, but the ballad-like verse of popular poetess (and friend of Tennyson), Jean Ingelow (1820-1897), particularly mannerisms such as the use of false archaism and unnecessary synonyms for simple objects.

I first found this in a book of nonsense verse. Because it was written as a poem rather than a song, I sing it to my own tune. Here are the words.

The Bird in the Bush

A popular erotic song. This version is from the "Marrowbones" collection of English folksongs.

Here is my rendition.

Here is the tune:



And here are the lyrics.

The Blacksmith

This song was collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams from the singing of a Mrs Powell in 1909. It appears to be related to the English song Brisk Young Widow and the American (or Canadian) song Brave Wolfe. Sometimes the blacksmith is a shoemaker, which I suppose is not so different.

It has been recorded by Steeleye Span (1970), Planxty (1973), Shirley Collins, Loreena McKennit and Linda Ronstadt, among others. Here is Andy Irvine doing it solo, and here it is sung by The Holohan Sisters.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

Blaydon Races

This well-known Geordie song was written in the 19th century by Geordie Ridley for a concert in Balmbra's Music Hall on 5 June 1862. The final verse was probably added for a later performance on 9th June. Though the story of the trip itself is fictional, the heavy rain and missing horses (cuddy) were reported in the local press. Blaydon is a small town in Gateshead in the North East of England. The Blaydon races were discontinued in 1916 and a power station was built on the site.

The fighting men of the Northumberland Fusiliers (a Royal regiment from 1935) of Fenham Barracks, Newcastle upon Tyne adopted the song as its marching anthem. It is considered to be the unofficial anthem of Tyneside and is often sung by supporters of Newcastle United Football Club and Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

Bless 'Em All

This song is generally attributed to Fred Godfrey who claimed to have written it in 1916 while serving with the Royal Naval Air Service at Dunkirk during WW1, though his service records show he did not join the RNAS until 1917, and Godfrey's name does not appear on any of the published sheet music. However, the song's publisher was sufficiently satisfied as to Godfrey's involvement that he received (and the current owners of the rights continue to receive) an equal share of the songwriting royalties accruing from it. The original title was actually "F*ck 'Em All", which is why the song was not published until a watered-down version appeared.

The song, under it's original title, was popular among Royal Air Force personnel in the 1920s on the North West Frontier of India and it may have originated there. It was widely sung by British and Commonwealth troops during WW2 and was soon adapted to the milder version, "Bless 'em All," which was seen as a patriotic item of light entertainment. It was sung by performers like Gracie Fields, and was also recorded by George Formby in 1940.

Of course, versions of the original lyrics continued to be sung on the battlefield. Like so many of these songs, they were a kind of protest against being placed in a situation over which they had no control, often with incompetent and overbearing military leaders.

Though I generally like to sing the original versions of songs I'm sticking to the bowdlerized "Bless 'Em All" partly because my YouTube videos are a family channel, but also because I think it still works very well as a protest song as the irony seems to be glaringly obvious.

You can watch my video here and here are the lyrics.

Blow the Candles Out

The earliest known printed version of this traditional English ballad is The London 'Prentice from the 17th Century collection, Pills to Purge Melancholy. It has been recorded by Richard Dyer-Bennet and Cisco Houston among others.

Here is my video and here are the lyrics.

The Bold Fisherman (G. W. Hunt)

This song is originally English, though it is well-known in the United States and Canada. It was written for theatrical performance by G. W. Hunt, and performed by George Leybourn. I first heard it sung by Ed McCurdy, in a version which was sung by Humphrey Bogart at the end of African Queen.

This is one of ten songs I recorded with Matthew Vaughan in Bangkok on March 11th, 2013.

Here is our video of the song and here are the lyrics.

Botany Bay

This is usually categorised as an Australian ballad but it actually comes from the English Music Hall tradition.

I first heard this sung by Burl Ives on one of my parents' 78 records. It was probably one of the first songs I ever learnt. I also remember that when I was a small child my father sang it to me when he took me out in a rowing boat on Lake Wendouree in Ballarat.

Here is my performance. And here are the lyrics.

The British Soldier (Harvey Andrews)

This song was written as a tribute to a British hero, who made the ultimate sacrifice in going beyond the call of duty to save the lives of Irish civilians.

On the evening of the 25th May 1971 a member of the IRA entered the reception hall of Springfield Road Police station in Belfast, carrying a suitcase from which a smoking fuse protruded. He dumped the case on the floor and he fled outside. In the room were a man, a woman, two children and several police officers. One of the police officers raised the alarm, then began organising an evacuation of the hall through the reception office.

Twenty-seven-year-old Sergeant Michael G. Willets was on duty in the inner hall. On hearing the alarm he sent an NCO to the first floor to warn those above and, though his duty did not require him to enter the threatened area, hastened to the reception hall and office and held the door open for the evacuees, using his body to shield those taking cover.

The next moment the bomb exploded with terrible force, killing Sgt Willetts. All the evacuees agreed that if they had had to stop to open the door, they would have perished.

Sgt Michael Willetts was awarded the George Cross, posthumously, for his act of bravery in giving his life to save those Catholic civilians and children.

Here is my cover of the song, requested by PodexperfectusEs, and here are the lyrics.

The Butcher Boy

This sad little ballad is known by various names including Railroad Boy, In Tarrytown and Wild Goose Grasses, and has been recorded by many singers, including Buell Kazee (1928), Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Peggy Seeger, Ed McCurdy, Almeda Riddle, The Ludlow Trio and Tommy Makem.

Here is my video and here are the lyrics.

The Chinese Bumboat Man

I can find very little information about this politically incorrect little ballad, also known as Wing Chang Lu (or Wing Chang Loo), except that it has been recorded by a folk group called Clam Chowder. I have this song in an old Penguin book - "The Weekend Book, Volume 2," which was first published in 1924. It seems to be well-known to the English members of the Hong Kong Folk Society.

Here it is sung by Dave Ellis, who has a huge repertoire of songs, always sung a capella. He's also pretty good on the tin whistle.

Here are the lyrics.

The Court of King Caractacus

Sometimes spelt Karactacus, this is an old music hall song, which was popularised by Australian performer, Rolf Harris, in 1964. Rolf claims to have found it in a Boy Scouts song book and made some additions to the words. Caractacus was an actual British king, but obviously the song has nothing to do with him apart from using his name. Apparently the earliest recording known is King of Karactacus sung by Rich and Rich, which is available on a compilation album called Cockney Kings of Music Hall.

Here is my performance of the song, and here is a live performance at The Gryphon d'Or in Montreal.

Here are the lyrics.

A Dalesman's Litany (F W Moorman / Dave Keddie)

F W Moorman was the president of the Yorkshire Dialect Society in about 1900. He wrote, or possibly collected, this song which was published in Songs of the Ridings. It makes use of an old Yorkshire Proverb: From Hull, Halifax, and Hell, good Lord deliver us. (Hull and Halifax were the last places in Yorkshire to have a gibbet.)

It can also be found in Roy Palmer's Touch On The Times: Songs of Social Change 1770 to 1914 (Penguin, 1974, pp. 71-72), with minor differences and with the tune, which was written by Dave Keddie of Bradford (English Folk Dance and Song Society) in about 1960.)

Here is a recording by Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. And here it is performed by Dave Ellis at a session of the Hong Kong Folk Society at The Canny Man in Wanchai.

Here are the lyrics.

The Drunken Sailor

A shanty (possibly for hauling a halyard) going back to about 1840. The verses are often improvised. The song has had a few problems with political correctness, such as being banned from singing by school choirs, etc.

Here it is sung by Dave Ellis and played on the accordion by Sue Ellis preceded by two other sailor songs. And here is a fun collaboration by hultonclint, which I had the honour to take part in.

Here are the lyrics.

D-Day Dodgers (Hamish Henderson)

This song was inspired by an apocryphal remark supposed to have been made by Lady Astor, accusing the Eighth Army of avoiding taking part in the Normandy invasions. Nancy, Lady Astor, was Britain's first woman MP and an American-born Tory matron who campaigned tirelessly against sex and drink. In October 1944 she was a member of an all-party Parliament delegation that visited Italy to study the troops' living conditions. She was said to have not only described the troops as 'D-Day Dodgers', but described them as drunken and dissolute and ridden with VD from the Italian brothels, to the extent that they should be made to wear yellow arm-bands when on leave as a warning to the good women of Britain to keep away from them.

Lady Astor always denied ever having made any such remarks and there is indeed no record of them. This didn't stop just about every British serviceman in Italy from believing she did say it, and seeing her comments as typical of the slurs being made against them back home.

The song was put together by Hamish Henderson, using verses that were already circulating. Hearing a verse sung to the tune of Lili Marlene he grouped the verses together into its present form.

Some people thought the last verse was too sentimental and out of character with the rest of the song, but Henderson believed that, coming after the Lady Astor verse, it is a very powerful ending. I think he was right about that.

Here is the song sung by a choir of schoolgirls, and a rather more explicit version of the song with some good visuals.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

Don't Jump Off the Roof, Dad (Cy Coben)

Though this is best known as a popular song by Tommy Cooper, it was actually written by an American composer, so you will find the details under American Songs.

Early One Morning

This English lament goes back to either the 17th or 18th century. It has always been popular with music teachers in primary school, which is where I first came across it.

Here is my rendition, and you can find the lyrics here.

Eddystone Light

England's Eddystone Light is probably the most famous lighthouse in the world. The first Eddystone Light, on Eddystone Rocks, a reef south of Plymouth, was the first lighthouse anywhere to be built on an exposed rock in the open ocean. It was originally built in 1698, but the song refers to the fourth lighthouse, built by James Smeaton between 1756 and 1759, which lasted until cracks appeared in the base 127 years later and it had to be dismantled.

I first heard this song sung by Burl Ives, and later Shirley Abicair. It has been recorded many times since then, for example, by Richard Dyer-Bennet, The Weavers, The Brothers Four and Peter, Paul and Mary.

Here is my performance and here are the lyrics.

The False Bride

This song, also known as The Week Before Easter or I Once Loved a Lass, was collected by Cecil Sharp in 1904 from Lucy White, Hambridge, Somerset, and published in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

In 1960, it was recorded by A.L. who wrote the following in the sleeve notes:
A version of this sad, tender song was printed on a Newcastle broadsheet in the 1680s, but it may be more than three hundred years old. A feeble prettied version, called The False Nymph, was current in concert halls in the eighteenth century. But as often happens, the common people preserved the song in much finer form than fashionable folk had it. It seems to have lasted best in the South, for several sets have turned up in Somerset, Devon and Sussex.

Other recordings are by John Bowden (vocals, concertina) with Martin Carthy (guitar), Shirley Collins (1963), June Tabor (1971, but not releasd until 2005), Sandy Denny (2005).

The tune was used by Richard Farina for his song, Birmingham Sunday.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

Fare Thee Well

This ballad, also known as Ten Thousand Miles, which presents the exaggerated vows of two lovers who are about to be parted as the man is about to set off on a journey, was first published in 1710. Apparently, the verses were originally written by a Lieutenant Hinches as a farewell to his sweetheart. It was the source of one of Robert Burns' best known poems - My Love is Like a Red Red Rose.

I first heard it sung by Joan Baez, but it has also been recorded by Nic Jones, Doc Watson, Mary Black, Eliza Carthy and others.

Here is my performance of the song and here are the lyrics.

Father's Whiskers

I know nothing about the origin of this little ditty, which is sometimes described as a children's song. The version we sing here is from Frank Lynn's Songs for Singing.

This is one of ten songs I recorded with Matthew Vaughan in Bangkok on March 11th, 2013.

Here is our video of the song and here are the lyrics.

Fennario

See Songs From Scotland

Foggy, Foggy Dew

This love song was popularised by Burl Ives in the 1940s though it goes back to at least the early nineteenth century.

Burl Ives reported that he spent a night in jail in Utah for singing it, as it was considered a bawdy song! It has also been recorded by Marty Robbins, and, perhaps more authentically, A.L. Lloyd.

Here is my performance of the song, and here are the lyrics.

The Fox

A popular traditional children's song about a fox that steals a farmer's grey goose. The earliest known appearance of the song is two Middle English versions in R. H. Robbins' Secular Lyrics of the 14th and 15th Centuries. It seems to have disappeared for two and a half centuries, reappearing in an Edinburgh songbook of 1832, reprinted in Logan's The Pedlar's Pack of Ballads and Songs.

I fell in love with this song as a child, when I had a 45 rpm record by Dorothy Olsen. I remember the B-side was Polly Wolly Doodle.

Other artists who have recorded it include Odetta (1957), Burl Ives, Harry Belafonte (1954), The Brothers Four (1960), The Smothers Brothers (1963), Peter, Paul and Mary (1993) and Nickel Creek (2000)

Here is my video of the song and here are the lyrics.

Gentleman Soldier

Also known as Soldier's Cloak, the earliest known version of this is a broadside printed some time between 1797 and 1807. These days it is often thought of as an Irish song as it was popularised by The Dubliners and The Pogues. It was recorded earlier by several singers and groups, including The Spinners and Alex Campbell.

There are several songs with a similar theme, such as To Hear the Nightingale Sing and Soldier, Soldier, Will You Marry Me.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

Gently Johnny, My Jingalo

I know little about this pleasant song, but I believe it is of English origin. The only recording I have heard was on an album by Terrea Lea. There are various bawdy versions, but this one is spotlessly clean. I don't know what a jingalo is, though I'm pretty sure it's not the same as a gigolo!

One of the bawdy versions was originally used in the film The Wicker Man.

Here is my performance and here are the lyrics.

Gossip Calypso (Trevor Peacock)

Here are a couple of kids dancing to Bernard Cribbins' original recording.

My performance is here and here are the lyrics.

The Green-Eyed Dragon With the Thirteen Tails

(Words by Greatrix Newman, Music by Wolseley Charles)

This song, composed in 1926, was one of the songs that intrigued me in my childhood as I explored my parents' collection of 78 rpm recordings. I knew little about dragons, but I had a vivid mental picture of this thirteen-tailed monster.

The recording I knew was probably the one by John Charles Thomas. It was also recorded by Stanley Holloway, Jerome Hines and Joseph Shore.

Here is my interpretation of the song, and here are the lyrics.

Greensleeves

The first mention of this famous song is as an entry in the Stationers' Register as "A newe northern Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" on Sept. 3, 1580. Though there have been claims that it was written by Henry VIII, he died more than twenty-five years before this date.

Though the tune has deservedly been used for many songs, this song is rarely sung in its entirety, with good reason. The original lyrics must make this one of the worst songs in the English language. It is basically a long list of complaints by someone whose girl has left him, despite all the expensive gifts he gave her. By the end of the song, we can well understand why she left.

Here is my performance and here are the lyrics.

He Played his Ukulele as the Ship Went Down (Arthur Le Clerq)

Also known as The Wreck of the Nancy Lee, this song was published as a "comedy Fox-Trot by Arthur Le Clerq" in 1932. Probably the earliest recording was a double-sided 78 by Leslie Sarony, released on the Eclipse label in 1933. It has also been recorded by Tom Lewis, among others.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

Here's to Cheshire, Here's to Cheese (Leslie Haworth)

This is one of many variations on the popular children's song known variously as The Frog Went a-Courting, Kimo Kemo, The Frog Who Lived in a Well, A Frog, He Would a Wooing Go and so on. It was adapted by Leslie Haworth, a farmer from Kelsall, a village in Cheshire, England. He included a chorus paying homage to the farm produce of Cheshire. The tune is very similar to that of the Kimo Kemo variant.

This is one of ten songs I recorded with Matthew Vaughan in Bangkok on March 11th, 2013.

Here is our video of the song and here are the lyrics.

Hey Ho Nobody Home

This very old song appears in Pammelia's Mvsicks Miscellanie, published in 1609.

It is normally sung as a round. Peter, Paul and Mary included it in their song A-Soulin'.

Here is a video of me singing it with my sister, Annette.

Here are the lyrics.

Home, Dearest Home

This song has been known variously as The Servant of Rosemary Lane, The Boys of Cork City, The Lass That Loved a Sailor and the Clancy Brothers version, Home, Boys, Home.

The song was well known in the nineteenth century, with several versions printed as broadsides. The earliest appeared around 1830 and consisted of seven verses, but without any chorus. The line "And the ash, and the oak, and the bonny willow tree" appeared for the first time in the late nineteenth century, though not as a chorus. In oral tradition, the third tree accompanying the "oak and the ash" varies a lot, but usually it's willow, birch, ivy or elm. The chorus is much older than the song itself, going back at least to 1640, in a song called Wanton Northern Lasse.

Variations on the song have been collected in many parts of the English-speaking world, with a number of parodies appearing in America. The version that I sing here is from the Marrowbones collection of English folk songs. The narrative perspective is a bit confusing as it starts off from the sailor's point of view, but in later verse it is the girl speaking.

Here are the lyrics.

I Don't Want to be a Soldier

Also known as I Don't Want to Join the Army, this song was popular with the soldiers in both the first and second world wars. I first heard it in Joan Littlewood's Musical, Oh, What a Lovely War! (1963), a stage show based on a 1961 radio play by Charles Chilton and later made into a movie (in 1969). It is also in Frank Lynn's collection, Songs For Singing.

The song, or at least the second verse, is probably a parody of I'll Make a Man of You, another WW1 song featured in Oh, What a Lovely War!

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

I'm a Rake and a Rambling Boy

This song is a shortened version of a song called The Rambling Boy collected in 1930, from Emma L. Dusenbury, Mena, Arkansas, by Vance Randolph.

The song originated in England or Ireland and has a number of variations, including Newry Highwayman, Jolly Blade, Irish Robber and Wild and Wicked Youth. It probably appeared in America thanks to mid-19th century broadsides rather than being brought by immigrants.

My performance is here followed by a radio performance recorded forty years earlier.

The lyrics are here.

I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am (Fred Murray and R. P. Weston)

This British Music Hall song was written in 1910 and was a signature song of music hall star, Harry Champion, who is said to have sung the chorus in a very rapid and energetic manner. In later years he changed "Willie" to "William" in the line "She wouldn't have a Willie or a Sam" because of the slang meaning of the word in England.

It was revived in 1965 by Herman's Hermits, and became the fastest-selling song ever, becoming the group's second Number One hit. Their version was spelt without the extra "e" in "Henry" and used only the chorus. ("Second verse - same as the first!")

Here is another version - by Homer Simpson. And here is my rendition. Here are the lyrics.

Isn't it Grand to be Bloody Well Dead?

I first came across this song, under the title Ain't It Grand To be Bloody Well Dead?, in my copy of Frank Lynn's Songs For Singing" (1961), a title that always intrigued me, as I could never think of anything else you would want to be doing with songs.

Although this is an American songbook, the song appears to be English in origin, probably with Music Hall roots. The earliest recording I know of (thanks to YouTuber, blinddrunkal) is a 1932 recording by Leslie Sarony, with the title Ain't It Grand to be Bloomin' Well Dead. Here is a cover of his version from 78man's collection.

These days it is often thought to be an Irish song, since The Clancy Brothers sang it as Isn't It Grand, Boys?

Here is my rendition and the lyrics are here.

It's a Long Way to Tipperary (Jack Judge)

This was one of the most popular anthems sung by soldiers on their way to the Western Front during the first world war. It had its origins in the English music hall and is said to have been written for a 5 shilling bet on the 30 January 1912 and performed the next night at the local Stalybridge music hall. It was made popular in 1913 by music hall singer, Florrie Forde.

The first, and most popular recording was by John McCormack in 1914.

I remember it being sung in the 1960s musical, Oh, What a Lovely War, and later in the film of the same name.

The soldiers often sang a parody using these words:

That's the wrong way to tickle Mary
That's the wrong way to kiss
Don't you know that over here lad
They like it best like this
Hooray pour Les Francois
Farewell Angleterre
We didn't know how to tickle Mary
But we learnt how over there.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

And here is an excellent video about the drawings of Bruce Bairnsfather that uses my rendition on the sound track.This is Part Two. Part One uses my rendition of Mademoiselle from Armentieres.

It’s The Same the Whole World Over

A song from the British music hall tradition. This tragic tale of a poor girl taken advantage of by unscrupulous upper class men was popularised by Derek Lamb.

Here is my performance and here are the lyrics.

Jackaroe

This song, also known as Jack Monroe, Jackie Frazier, Jack the Sailor, Jack Went A-Sailing and The Love of Polly and Jack Monroe, is better known in America than Britain where it originated. It has a familiar cross-dressing theme, with the woman dressing as a man in order to go with her lover.

I first heard it sung by Joan Baez, but it has also been sung by Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead. Florence Reece adapted the tune for her song, Which Side Are You On? in 1931.

Here is an excellent rendition by YouTube folksinger, Marco Acca. I was pleased when Marco suggested we sing this one together when I met him in Rome.

Here are the lyrics.

Johnny Cuckoo

This song is generally known as an African-American children's activity song from the Georgia Isles. A description of how to perform the activities can be found in Step It Down: games, plays, songs, and stories from the Afro-American heritage (p. 71) by Bessie Jones' & Bess Lomax Hawes (1987). It has been argued that this song was used to build self-esteem among African-American children.

The song is probably based on an English game song called Dukes a-Riding, popular in Lancashire in the1820s. An early variation was The King's Arrival, adapted in Edinburgh to refer to the visit of George IV in 1822.

Other American adaptations include We're Riding Here to Get Married and Buffalo Boy, which I first heard sung by The Weavers.

Johnny Cuckoo can be heard sung by Janie Hunter on the Smithsonian Folkways album, Been in the Storm So Long, a Johns Island collection. It was also sung by Joan Baez at one of the Newport Folk Festivals.

Here is my rendition, sung with Marco Acca, and here are the lyrics.

John Riley

There are many versions of this ballad in which a lover returns in disguise to his girl and woos her to test her faithfulness, finally revealing himself and rewarding her loyalty. Rather a sneaky thing to do!

Although English in origin, it is probably better known in America, where it has been recorded by Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Roscoe Holcomb, the New Lost City Ramblers and many others. As well as John, James or George Riley (or Reilly) it is also known as A Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden, The Sailor's Return among many other titles.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

The Keeper

I first heard this traditional English song when I was in primary school and have never thought of it much since then. But then I found it in one of Lew Dite's vast collection of song books. So we did it with him on the washtub bass.

Some say it is full of sexual innuendo - not something suitable for primary school students. Or maybe it's perfectly innocent. See what you think.

Here is our video and here are the lyrics.

Lady Mary

This song, also known as Palace Grand or simply The Sad Song was collected from a ballad singer in the Ozarks in the early twentieth century. Beyond that, little is known of its origins. This shortened version was recorded by Joan Baez.

French folk singer, nondepouk, has written his own French translation of this song. Here is his video of the song and here are his lyrics:

Il vint de son grand Palais
A la Porte de mon Cottage
Il parla peu mais son Image
Me restera à tout jamais
Le Regard de ses Yeux sombres et tristes
Et si tendre qu'on ne saurait le dire
Mais moi je n'étais rien pour lui
Pour moi il est l'Astre qui brille

Elle était là dans son Jardin
Vêtue de fin Satin, de Soie
Lady Mary si étrange et si froide
Ton Coeur n'a pas ravi le sien
Mais il savait combien je l'aimais
D'un Baiser en Gage pour la Vie
Mais moi je n'étais rien pour lui
Pour moi il est l'Astre qui brille

Et là dans son grand Palais
Il est couché sur des Fleurs de Lys
Ses Paupières sont fermées à jamais
Sur ses beaux Yeux si sombres et si tristes
Mais parmis tous ces Gens qui le pleurent
Pourquoi faudrait il que je pleure?
Car moi je n'étais rien pour lui
Pour moi il est l'Astre qui brille
Mais moi je n'étais rien pour lui
Pour moi il est l'Astre qui brille

He has made the following comments about the song:
Une chanson traditionnelle qui parle de l'amour d'une pauvre fille pour un homme de l'aristocratie. La dernière strophe de chaque couplet est un peu comme un refrain "I was nothing to him / but he was the world to me" - littéralement "Je n'étais rien pour lui, il était le Monde pour moi" que j'ai traduit par "mais moi je n'étais rien pour lui; pour moi il est l'Astre qui brille."

Here is my performance of the English version and here is me singing the French version! Here are the lyrics in both English and French.

Lily the Pink (The Scaffold)

The Scaffold were a comedy, poetry and music trio from Liverpool, England, consisting of Mike McGear (stage name of Peter Michael McCartney - brother of Paul McCartney), John Gorman and Roger McGough, who was well-known as one of the three so-called "Liverpool Poets". I had the pleasure of seeing McGough perform his poetry when he toured Australia.

Lily the Pink was their biggest hit and reached Number 1 on the UK charts in 1968. It is really a rewrite of the traditional song Lydia Pinkham, the main difference being that Lydia's was a "vegetable compound" rather than a "medicinal compound".

Here is the song as sung by The Scaffold and here is a cover by The Irish Rovers.

My performance is here and here are the lyrics.

Lord Franklin

Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin (1786 - 1847) was a famous nineteenth century British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. He also served as governor of Tasmania from 1836 to 1843, when he was removed from office for his unpopular humanist views. His final expedition, begun in 1846, undertaken when he was 59 years old, was an attempt to chart and navigate the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. It was quite normal for such expeditions to be out of contact for more than a year, but it eventually became clear that something had gone wrong. Franklin's wife ultimately commissioned another expedition to search for her husband. This song, also known, more accurately, as Lady Franklin's Lament or The Sailor's Dream tells this story, mainly from Lady Franklin's point of view. Some believe that she actually wrote the lyrics. The melody used is that of the Irish song, The Croppy Boy.

Dylan used this song for Bob Dylan's Dream, not only the tune, but incorporating some of the lyrics.

The song has been recorded by many artists, including John Renbourne, Nic Jones, Bert Jansch, the Clancy Brothers, Martin Carthy, A. L. Lloyd and Sinead O'Connor.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

Lyke-Wake Dirge

I first came across this ancient ballad in a poetry anthology when I was at school, one of several by that noted writer, "Anon". It was brought to life for me when I heard it sung by Buffy Sainte-Marie on her 1967 album Fire and Fleet and Candlelight. I loved her rendition of the song sung in her incredible vibrato style.

The song is known to have been sung in 1616, but is probably much older. It tells of the soul's journey in the afterlife, where its fate depends on acts of charity during life, as related in Matthew 25:31-46. The lyrics were first collected by John Aubrey in 1686.

The title refers to the tradition of the "wake", which means a watch over the dead body before the funeral takes place. "Lyke" means a dead body, an old English word related to the German word leiche and the Dutch word lijk, which have the same meaning.

The custom of holding a wake grew from an ancient superstition that the soul may take some time to separate itself from the body after death, so this was a time when the soul was still present and able benefit from the mourners' prayers. The song may well have been sung at wakes to remind the departing soul and the mourners of the difficulties ahead.

The "Brig o' Dread" referred to is the final hurdle that determines whether the soul's destination is Heaven or Hell. Those who have shown charity to the poor can walk safely across the bridge while their meaner peers will fall off into the fires of Hell.

"Whinny-Muir" refers to a moor - a treeless land covered with brush. The meaning is that if you have not given shoes and stockings to others in your lifetime, you will have to cross this thorny landscape in your bare feet.

The meaning of "fleet" is unclear. There are various suggestions, one being that the word should be "sleet" and has been misinterpreted because of the similarity between the letters "f" and "s" in ancient English.

Apart from Buffy Sainte-Marie's rendition, other notable recordings are by Pentangle, on their album Basket of Light (1969), The Young Tradition and various recordings by Steeleye Span.

Here is my version, which is based on Buffy Sainte-Marie's rendition rather than the better-known Pentangle one.
And here are the lyrics.

Mademoiselle From Armentieres

This is one of those songs that everyone adds verses to, with varying degrees of suitability for family listening.

The melody was believed to be popular in the French army in the 1830s, but little is known about the origins of the song itself. The earliest known version tells the story of an inn-keeper's daughter, Mademoiselle de Bar le Luc, who meets up with two German officers. The tune regained its popularity during the Franco-Prussia war of 1870, and again in 1914.

One story is that Gits Rice, a Nova Scotian sergeant in the Canadian Army sat down in a little cafe in the small town of Armentieres, near Lille, in 1915 and, inspired by the barmaid serving drinks, wrote the words and performed it a few days later for the 5th Montreal battalion, which was stationed in France. The song has also been attributed to Harry Carlton and Joe Tunbridge, and also to Cecil H Winter, an Australian bush poet serving with the ANZACS in England and France in 1915-16. Of course it's possible that all these writers were responsible for different variations of the song.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

And here is an excellent video about the drawings of Bruce Bairnsfather that uses my rendition on the sound track. Part two of the video uses my rendition of It's a Long Way to Tipperary.

Maids, When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man

A popular folk song, probably of English origin. Sung by The Dubliners among many others.

Here is my video of the song and here are the lyrics.

The Man That Waters the Workers' Beer (Paddy Reilly)

The song was written to a traditional tune by Dr. R. E. W. Fisher in 1938, using the pseudonym, Paddy Ryan. He recorded it with The Topic Singers on Topic Records in 1939. Fisher is thought to have been a member of the Unity Theatre at the time and he may have written the song for a performance by them. The copyright is held by the Workers' Music Association.

This is one of ten songs I recorded with Matthew Vaughan in Bangkok on March 11th, 2013.

Here is our video of the song and here are the lyrics.

Moving Father's Grave

The origins of this song have been debated, but so far appear to be inconclusive. It is generally thought to have come from the British music hall tradition, though there is a reference in The Journal of the International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers and Iron Ship Builders of America, (Aug. 1, 1903), to "Bro. Tommy Ward" singing a song called We Had to Move Paddy's Grave to Dig a Sewer." The song was apparently sung by British soldiers in WW2.

Tom Paley sang it in 1955 and Peter Sellers recorded a version in about 1959 called They're Removing Grandpa's Grave to Build a Sewer. Oscar Brand recorded a rather longer version of the song, and it has also been sung by The Clancy Brothers, in a Maine PBS special in 1988, The only recording I have been able to find on YouTube.

I first discovered this song in my copy of Frank Lynn's songbook with the rather redundant title, Songs For Singing (1961).

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

My Boy Willie

This is the original English version of the American song Billy Boy. There is also an Irish version.

Apparently Francis James Child considered it was related to Lord Randall. (Child 12) If so, it must also be a distant relative of Dylan's Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall!

Here is my video of the song, and the lyrics are here.

My God, How the Money Rolls In

This song, to the tune of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean is found in all English-speaking countries. This version was probably first published by Carl Sandburg in his "American Songbag" (1927). There are many variants, including My father Was Hung For a Horse-Thief.

Possible early sources include Hewson's Lamentation, a broadsheet from the 1650s, and the Scottish song, Slichtit (Slighted) Nancy, thought to be from Ramsay's The Tea-Table Miscellany (1724).

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

My Old Man's a Dustman

The earliest version of this song appears to have been written in 1922 by JP Long, E Mayne and A LeFre, though it may also have evolved from a Liverpool song called My Old Man's a Fireman on the Elder Dempster Line, which includes the lines, 'He wears Gorblimey trousers / An a little gorblimey 'at'". One of the first performances was by Joe Brennan, who sang it in a J. C. Williamson pantomime, Forty Thieves.

The version that everyone knows now is the one adapted and sung by Lonnie Donegan, which was a big hit in 1960. The Smothers Brothers, in America, also did a popular cover of the song, with rather different lyrics.

The term "nana" is a short form of "banana" and may be related to the term "bananas", meaning crazy. It has also been suggested that it is rhyming slang. "Banana split" = "twit".

A "Gorblimey' was a common term in the early 1900s for an unwired, floppy, field-service cap worn in defiance of army Dress Regulations. It comes from a mild oath meaning "God blind me!"

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

No Nuts

This rude little song about the English language is from Marty Feldman's only LP, I Feel a Song Going Off. Feldman did not write his own songs. They were written by Dennis King, John Junkin and Bill Solly.

For anyone that doesn't know him, Martin Alan Feldman (1934 – 1982) was an English writer, comedian and actor, notable for his bulging eyes, the result of a thyroid condition known as Graves' disease.

Here is my rendition. The lyrics are here.

Nottamun Town

This rather surrealistic nonsense song probably dates from the late medieval period in England. The title probably refers to Nottingham. There are various theories about its origins. One is that it was inspired by the English Civil Wars of 1642-51, or possibly by the Great Plague. More likely is the suggestion that it may have been a "magic song" used in a mummers' play. There are many traditional English songs which use the same kind of topsy-turvy imagery, such as "Teague's Ramble", "Tom Tell-truth", "The Gray Mare" and "A Shoulder of Mutton Jumped Over From France".

Though it was largely forgotten in England, it was preserved in the USA in the Appalachian mountains, especially by the Ritchie family of Kentucky who migrated from the UK from 1768, bringing many old songs with them. Jean Ritchie copyrighted it in 1964 after changing some of the words, such as replacing "that was called a grey mare" with "mule roany mare" and completing an unfinished verse with the lines "They laughed and they smiled, not a soul did look gay; / They talked all the while, not a word did they say."

It was collected in Knott County, Kentucky, by Cecil Sharp in about 1917, from the singing of Jean's sister, Una.

It has been recorded by many artists, including Barry McGuire, Sandy Denny, Shirley Collins and Davy Graham, Bert Jansch and Fairport Convention.

Bob Dylan used the melody for his 1963 song "Masters of War", which was included on his album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan".

My rendition is here (coming) and here are the lyrics.

Oh, No John

This song, also known, in different variations, as No Sir No, The Spanish Merchant's Daughter, The Dumb Lady, and No no not I seems to have originated as a bawdy ballad in the seventeenth century. It was published as Consent at Last in Thomas D'Urfey's Wit and Mirth or Pills to Purge Melancholy in 1700.

The bowdlerised version I sing was collected by Cecil Sharpe.

Here is The Spanish Merchant's Daughter, sung by The Stoneman Family.

This is one of four videos I made with a young lady from Brunei when she and her mother visited us in Hong King. You can see our performance here, and the lyrics are here.

Once I Had a Sweetheart

This song, found mainly in America, appears to be a fragment of an early English ballad. Other versions are known as Soldier's Sweetheart and As Sylvie Went Walking.

It has been recorded by Cynthia Gooding, Carolyn Hester, Joan Baez and Pentangle.

Here is my rendition, and here are the lyrics.

Paddy McGInty's Goat (R. P. Weston, Bert Lee, B. Adams, and B. Allen)

Robert Patrick Weston was a prolific English songwriter, who wrote popular music hall songs. He and co-writer, Bert Lee, are said to have written a song a day. Two of his songs which I have uploaded before are Ann Boleyn (With her head tucked underneath her arm!) and I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am.

This song, written in 1917, with two other writers known as "the two Bobs", has become part of the folk tradition as it can now be found in several different versions, and has also been adopted as an Irish session tune.

Val Doonican had a hit with his recording of the song in the 1960s. I remember hearing an excellent rendition by Scottish folksinger, Jean Redpath.

Here is my rendition.

Paper of Pins

This song is a variant of Keys of Canterbury, which goes back to at least 1849. Many versions have been collected in England, Scotland and America, including three from the Ozarks, one of which is called The Keys of Heaven. Another variation was used in the Marilyn Monroe movie Bus Stop (1956), sung by The Four Lads. It is often considered a children's song.

It has been recorded by Oscar Brand and The Tossers among others.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics