1. |
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Here I sit on Buttermilk Hill
Who can blame me, cryin' my fill
And ev'ry tear would turn a mill
My Johnny has gone for a soldier
Me, oh my, I loved him so
Broke my heart to see him go
And only time will heal my woe
My Johnny has gone for a soldier
I'll sell my rock I'll sell my reel
Likewise I’ll sell my spinning wheel
And buy my love a sword of steel
Johnny has gone for a soldier
I'll dye my dress, I'll dye it red
And through the world I’ll bake my bread
‘Til I find my love alive or dead
My Johnny has gone for a soldier
Johnny my love he went away
He won’t be back for many a day
If he comes back I know he’ll stay
My Johnny has gone for a soldier
Here I sit on Buttermilk Hill
Who can blame me, cryin' my fill
And ev'ry tear would turn a mill
My Johnny has gone for a soldier
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2. |
Whistling Dancer
02:45
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Me father was a barber, a bully through and through
To parlance was me destiny, as me mother truly knew
I ran away to dance and sing for sixpence at a ball
Imprisoned for me prigging, I learned the whistle squall
Me shoes are worn from shuffling
Me chest is all but done
I dance and prig to live me life
But money I have none
I’d dance and whistle for you, there's no one quite like me
A jig, a shuffle, back snatch, straight fives a hornpipe free
Sang the girl I left behind me and double stepping to
A twisting and a turning and a rattling I would do
I played please don’t tease me, my pretty little dear
Gambled all me earnings spent the rest on beer
The doss house turned me out and a roving I began
I travelled with me whistle, from Hull to Birmingham
I knew me time was up, when me stage was just a cart
Small mop up and a nobbing, I lost me own true heart
No pudden for me breakfast no mutton for me tea
Broken boozed and helpless, I joined the Queen’s navy
No more the whistle or the dance nor the hope that I once had
A line to fish a deck to clean and the rigging to unclad
I dream of selling whistles for a shilling at a time
Of making money from me feet and free from bloody slime
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3. |
John Riley
03:12
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Fair young maid all in a garden
Strange young man passer by
Says fair maid will you marry me
This then sir was her reply
Oh no kind sir I cannot marry thee
For I’ve love who sails all on the sea
He’s been gone for seven years
Still no man shall marry me
What if he's in some battle slain
Or drownded in the deep South Sea
What if he's found another love
And he and his love both married be
If he's on some battle slain
I will die when the moon doth wain
If he’s drowned in the deep South Sea
I’ll be true to his memory
And if he's found another love
And he and his love both married be
I wish them health and happiness
Where they dwell across the sea
He’s picked her up all in his arms
And kisses gave her one two three
Saying weep no more my own true love
I am your own John Riley
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4. |
Mystery of the Gaul
02:35
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In the early light of a January morning
Nineteen hundred and seventy four
The trawler Gaul left the dockside of Hull
For to seek a fortune in a northern shoal
We’re seeking the Grimsby lads manning the Gaul
Seeking the trawler that left Humbers shore
Seeking the captain and brave crew on board
Along the coast of Norway
The skipper aboard knew the line he had cast
More than a thousand miles the path
A crew of 36 men set the task
Just wanting to get the job done
On the 8th of February with sea state severe
Waves 10 yards high were said to be near
The captain had said she was set for the storm
No mayday came forth from the Gaul
Many’s the claim of the vessel’s demise
Sunk by a sub as she was a spy
For the families the truth is a long time denied
The mystery has yet to be broken
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5. |
The Clock Maker
03:26
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They wanted a clock / for a big celebration
To mark the event of the grand coronation
The cost was so great, Jack would make it for free
He'd make it from scrap he had said wait and see
The villagers view, he can't do it they thought
But they took him scrap metal and he made a start
Though all he owned was a lathe with a rest
With bed frames and threshers he ran his first test
Chorus
From prams and irons, brasses and steel He made the clocks parts from the pinion to the wheel
They laughed and they mocked, it just can't be done
But Jack of all trades was the man who then won
Jack was the man who won
He began to try casting,the springs and the wheel
And with flat files he cut cogs made of steel
Pinions were made from the spindles of bikes
A sledgehammer used to make sure the bell strikes
He then used a handle for the pendulum rod
And his wife melted lead, sixty pounds for the bob
He made all the tools and the parts he then fired
No need for a purchase he'd all he required
So from April the thirtieth to August thirty one
His clock was all made put up and all done
The worldwide press were amazed, that's a fact
By the wonder of the timepiece made by Jack Spratt
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6. |
High Germany
02:56
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Oh Polly love, oh Polly, the rout has now begun
And we must go a-marching to the beating of the drum
Go dress yourself all in your best and come for a walk with me
I'll take you to the wars me love in High Germany
Oh William love, oh William, come list what I do say
My feet they are so tender, I cannot march away
And besides, my dearest William I am with child by thee
Not fitted for the war, me love, in High Germany
I'll buy for you a horse, me love, and on it you shall ride
And all of my delight shall be in riding by your side
We'll stop at every alehouse and drink when we are dry
Be true to one another, get married by and by
Oh, cursed be them cruel wars that ever they should rise
And out of Merry England press many a man likewise
They pressed my true love from me, likewise my brothers three
And sent them to the war, me love, in High Germany
My friends I do not value my foes I do not fear
For now my love has left me I wander far and near
And when my baby it is born a-smiling on my knee
I'll think on lovely William in High Germany
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7. |
The Molecatcher
02:56
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In old Tawney Common there’s a pub and a cow There lives a molecatcher and I'll tell you how
Well, he goes a-molecatching from morning till night
While the jolly young farmer goes playing with his wife
And it’s there he goes a sporting all night
There he goes till the morning light
Oh the molecatcher jealous of the very same thing
So he hid in the alehouse and watched him come in
And when that young farmer jumped over the stile
Well, it caused the molecatcher to laugh and to smile
He knocked at the door and thus he did say
Oh where is your husband? Good woman, I pray.
Well, he's gone a-mole catching so you need not fear.
But little did she think the molecatcher was near
She went upstairs and he followed the sign
But the molecatcher followed them closely behind
And when they got into the middle of their sport
Well, the molecatcher grabbed him quite fast by his coat
He clapped his hands and he laughed at the sight
Saying, Here's the best mole that I've caught in my life
And I'll make you pay well for ploughing my ground
And the money it shall be no less than ten pound
Very well, said the farmer, the money I don't mind
For it only works out about tuppence a time
So come all you farmers and mind where you're at
Don't you ever get caught in a molecatcher's trap
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8. |
William the Trapper
04:19
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Little William lies a sleeping, curled up in his bed
Mam shakes him hard, time to head for the pit
With a lump of bread he trudges towards his shift
Walks with men, smells of slums there's no hope in the air
Little Trapper William, is only five years old
Cage drops, always bent double, walks way beneath the earth
To pull a string back and forth, anxious from the start
He’s a trapper giving air helping crawlers to descend
Can’t sleep nor fail as on him the lives of men depend
For 14 hours he’s crouching in waterdeep and rank
Just ears and nose for sensing can’t afford to fail
He rarely sees the sun, is always tired and cold
Never time to play, dreading every gloomy day
Loose, loose, all done the Guvnor calls, shift changing
Back to the shaft, William’s face a sickening black
There’s nothing in the future but working on the seam
When eight he gets a happeny rise, not much of a dream
Goes to church on Sunday thanks his God for nowt
Wants to learn to read and write, to sign his name or something
Feels guilty that he prays for marbles, not food for all his family
Nor less chance of death or surviving a fall
Thinks he’s lucky to share as bed with his brother
Though soon he’s told, they’ll be a third and probably more
Glad for a cellar for slops and a shared pump at the back
Grateful that he’s not crippled, even though his lungs are black
But William’s luck will run out, and he’ll not make six
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9. |
I Live not Where I Love
03:37
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Come all ye maids who live at a distance
Many's a mile from off your swain
Come and assist me this very moment
For to pass away some time
Singing sweetly and completely
Songs of pleasure and of love
For me heart is with him altogether
Though I live not where I love
When I sleep I dream about you
When I wake I take no rest
Every moment thinking on you
My heart is fixed in your breast
Though far distance may be of assistance if
from my mind your love remove
For me heart is with him altogether
Though I live not where I love
All the world shall be of one religion
All living things shall cease to die
If ever I prove false to my jewel
Or any way his love deny
The world shall change and be more strange
If from my mind your love remove
For me heart is with him altogether
Though I live not where I love
So farewell lads and farewell lasses
Now I think I've made my choice
I will away to yonder mountain
Where I think I hear his voice
If he beckons I will follow
Round the world that it is so wide
For young Thomas he did promise
I should be his lawful bride
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10. |
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There were three brothers in merry Scotland
In merry Scotland there were three
And they did cast lots which of them should go, should go
And turn robber all on the salt sea
The lot it fell first upon Henry Martin
The youngest of all the three
That he should turn robber all on the salt sea, salt sea
To maintain his two brothers and he
Beware of Henry Martin all on the deep salt sea
They had not been sailing but for a night
And part of a short winter's day
When he did espy a stout lofty ship, lofty ship
Come abibbing down on him straight way
Hullo! Hullo! cried Henry Martin
What makes you sail so nigh
I'm a rich merchant ship bound for fair London Town, London Town
Would you please for to let me pass by
Oh no! Oh no! cried Henry Martin
This thing it never could be
For I have turned robber all on the salt sea,salt sea
To maintain my two brothers and me
Come lower your tops'l and brail up your mizz'n
And bring your ship under my lee
Or I will give to you a full cannon ball, cannon ball
And your bodies will drown in the sea
Then broadside and broadside and at it they went
For fully two hours or three
Till Henry Martin gave to them the deathshot, the deathshot
And straight down to the bottom went she
Bad news, bad news, to old England came
Bad news to fair London Town
There's been a rich vessel and she's cast away, cast away
And all of her merry men drown'd
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11. |
The Whaling Trade
03:10
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My name is captain Scoresby
Champion whaler from Greenland to Spain
Born and bred in Whitby
Now the icey sea’s where I spend all my days
Coming home
For eighty years now Whitby has whaled
Ropemakers, sailmakers, carpenters, coopers
Knitters and chandlers butchers and baker
Blacksmiths and storekeepers, joiners and wrights
Working for whaling all day and all night
Henrietta set sail in the winter seas
Battling with waves of one hundred feet
Frostbite, scurvy and drownings
To be crushed in the ice was always a fear
Coming home
For eighty years now Whitby has whaled
Shriek of the harpoon gun blaring
Blubber cut like wads of pound notes
Back once more on shore
Walking as heroes all through the town
Coming home
For eighty years now Whitby has whaled
Oil for lamps, paint, soap and glue
Bones for corsets , leather for shoes, killing twenty thousand seals
Harpooning more than three thousand whales
Coming home
For eighty years now Whitby has whaled
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12. |
The Labourer
02:54
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All hail to the night with my labour I’m weary
And gladly I see the day draw to a close
Tis a season of darkness but I love it dearly
Tis the time for retirement / for rest and repose
Oh oh with my labours I’m weary
It’s the working man’s call to the night
All hail to the night I’ll haste home to my family
And hold the dear cherubs I toil to maintain
Our cottage is mean and our diet is homely
But my boys are content and my girls don’t complain
All hail to the night by the fire snugly seated
I read or converse with the friend I love best
And life of its cares for a season is cheated
My mind I improve while my weary limbs rest
All hail to the night with its lunar light beaming
I retire to my bed,I forget to complain
I can sleep seven hours without waking or dreaming
And the morn finds me ready for labour again
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13. |
The Actor
02:58
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I’m an actor, sat with my dead friends
My lines are tweets and trills
I’m trained to lure the birds
Please come and sit by me
And sing your pretty songs
Until the curtain falls upon you
And I sing so sweetly for you,
Both my friends and foe
As I sit and listen I hear
The pretty warbling lark
The linnets twitterring still
Piping the finch
The Warm tones of the thrush
The blackbird’s mellow sound
My master and the man of crime
Waits upon the ground
Pulls the wire to catch the prey
Many caught for market day
He makes cash and I get seed
All light goes from my cage
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Jan and Paul Ramsey Grimsby, UK
Jan and Paul first began singing together when they were students. Jan plays guitar and sings lead vocals, and Paul plays single reed harmonica and vocals. They are renowned for their close harmonies. Over the years they have performed extensively in the UK and overseas. They have held various residencies in UK folk clubs and are currently residents at Grimsby Folk Club. ... more
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