(recorded at Patcham, Sussex by Mike Yates, 1989) Bob had this well-known and well-loved song from his mother. It's one of those songs about true lovers overcoming all that is put in their way, so that the couple can be united at the end. Just about every known 19th century broadside printer issued the song (the earliest being from around 1820) and versions have been collected from singers throughout Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Canada and America.

In the Bushes at the Bottom of the Garden

Father’s got a garden and taken such a pride
Cutting bushes at the bottom just to hide
Views of ugly houses, chimneys and the such
And now there is a forest and we thank him very much

Cos every night when the moon shines bright
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden
Every night it’s a lovely sight
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden
By the light of the moon all the couples all spoon
And they don’t say beg your pardon
And the old tomcat takes the tabby next door
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden.

Father’s little bushes are getting quite a name.
People do exaggerate and though it is a game
Getting more historic nearly every hour
People talk about them like the Abbey or the Tower

Washing day is a sight they say
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden
Wet or fine they hang the washing line
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden
There’s baby’s shawls and father’s smalls
And sister’s I beg your pardon
There’s a shirt of brother Tom’s and a pair of mother’s gloves
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden.

They say, I believe, that Adam met Eve
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden
King Charles, it is said, he went and lost his head
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden.
When Godiva bare, except for the hair
All around her beg you pardon,
Peeping Tom, its true, had a darn good view
From the bushes at the bottom of the garden.

Years ago, old King Pharaoh
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden
Found his daughter coy with a brand new baby boy
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden.
He said “this is ruin, what have you been a-doin’?”
But she said “I’ll beg your pardon.
You’re making a mistake, cos I found it by the lake
In the bushes at the bottom of the garden”.

(recorded at Sudbury, Derbyshire by Mike Yates, 1984) In the Bushes at the Bottom of the Garden was written c.1925 by Clarkson Rose. In 1931 it was recorded by Norman Long (Columbia DB-738) and in the following year at least three other recordings appeared. These were by Leonard Henry (Sterno 905), Leslie Sarony (Decca F-2896) and Randolph Sutton (Imperial 2683). George told me that his family learnt the song via a song-sheet.

(recorded at Whittlesbury, Northamptonshire by John Howson, 1988) This is probably quite a recent composition. Jeff heard it being sung on the television. Originally the story was told from the girl's point of view, but Jeff changed it round, making the boy the storyteller. Hoveton, mentioned in the song, is near Wroxham in the Norfolk Broads.

(recorded at Brighton, Sussex by Mike Yates, 1977) Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger published a version of this in their book Travellers' Songs from England and Scotland (London, 1977. pp. 137 38) along with the following comment. 'This is probably one of the most frequently reported songs in the British Isles and, undoubtedly, one of the least printed. Texts show considerable regional variation, though the refrains remain consistent and most versions retain the stanza which begins, "When I was single I wore a black shawl". This would seem to indicate a relationship with "The Joyful Maid and Sorrowful Wife", a song in which a wife's loss of youth and freedom are symbolically represented through juxtaposed items from her premarital and post marital wardrobe.' For a text of The Joyful Maid and the Sorrowful Wife, see Sam Cowell's ‘120 Comic Songs’ (London, 1850) or Dave Harker's ‘Songs from the Manuscript Collection of John Bell’ (Durham, 1985. P.342).

Chainmaker Lad

Oh, chainmaker lad he’s a masher,
He’s always a-smoking his pipe.
He’s always a-whistling the wenches
Especially on Saturday night.

Saturday night is my delight,
Sunday morning too.
Monday morning going to school
He’s always after me.

But collier boys, collier boys,
Collier boys come in,
Down the road as black as coal
And that’s the chap for me.

(recorded at Warley, Worcestershire by Mike Yates, c.1976) Lucy Woodall and her fellow female chain-makers used to sing this song in the chain-making shops, where they worked. The song may have been a local composition, or it could have been an adaptation of another song that was originally unconnected to the chain-making trade. The song probably dates from the end of the 19th century. Eric Partridge dates the term masher, meaning a lady-killer, to 1882-83 (’Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English’. London, 2002 edition. p.725)..

Song transcribed by Dan Quinn

(recorded in Kenton, Suffolk by John Howson, 1986) The words to this extremely popular song were written by the Music Hall singer Leo Dryden (1863 -1939), with music by Will Godwin. According to Music Hall specialist Tony Barker, "Dryden must immediately have realised the song's immense appeal for, in an Era advert, dated 31st October, 1891, he announced it as a 'song that will be sung in every home where the mother tongue is spoken'. The rousing melody and sentimental lyrics telling of a homesick prospector dreaming of 'England's valleys and dells', certainly made such an impact with the British public that it passed almost at once into the canon of popular song. Dryden claimed that Francis, Day and Hunter paid £20, the most they had paid up to that time, for the publication right. Its fame was so great that it was remembered long after the name of its singer had been forgotten. Such was Dryden's eventual eclipse that, after the First World War, he sang the song in the streets unrecognised." Dryden made a cylinder recording of The Miner's Dream of Home in 1898 (Berliner E2013). Fred Whiting always said that it was his favourite song.

(recorded at Patcham, Sussex by Mike Yates, 1989) Both John Pitts and James Catnach issued a broadside song Young Colin Stole My Heart Away during the first quarter of the 19th century, but this is not the song that Bob sings here. In fact, Bob is only the third singer to supply us with the song and, as all the known versions are from singers in Sussex, perhaps it is the work of a local Sussex printer. The other versions came from Henry Hills of Lodsworth, and George Townsend of Lewes, and the latter's version can be heard on MTCD304 ‘Come, Hand to Me the Glass’.

The Codfish

There was little man and he had a little horse
And he saddled it and bridled it and cocked his leg across

Ch: With an eye-ti-eye, eye-ti-eye, eye-tiddley-eye-tiddley-eye-ti-eye

Now he rode and he rode till he came to a brook
And there he saw a fisherman a-fishing with a hook

“Fisherman, fisherman, fisherman” said he,
“Have you a codfish to sell me?”

“Yes, sir, yes, sir, I have two
One for me and one for you”.

Now he got the codfish by the backbone
Slung it across his shoulder and went off home.

Now when he got home, he couldn’t find a dish
So he put it in the place where the old woman pissed.

Now all that night the old woman cried
“There’s a devil in the pisspot, I can see his eyes”.

Now one got the shovel, the other got the broom
And they chased the poor cow son all around the room.

Now they hit him in the head, they hit him in the side,
And they hit him in the knackers till the poor sod died.

Now this is the end of the never-no-more
There’s an apple up your gongapooch and you can have the core.

(recorded at Hayes, Middlesex by John Howson, 1989) The earliest known British version of this song can be dated to 1620 - 1650 and can be found in Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript, now housed in the British Library, London. The song is there titled The Sea Crabb and it is clearly the same song that George Bregenzer picked up from some soldiers in the 1930s. It was first known as a tale, rather than a song, and there are early versions from Italy (c.1330 -1400) and France (c.1610 - 20). The tale was also widespread, with versions being noted in the Far East (Korea, Indonesia and India), in the Near East (Turkey and Bosnia) and in both northern and southern Europe. For a full study of the song, see Roger deV. Renwick's Recentering Anglo /American Folksong’ (University Press of Mississippi, Jackson. 2001. pp. 116 150).

(recorded at Sudbury, Derbyshire by Mike Yates, 1984) Jones's Ale is a song with a veritable pedigree. Tom D'Urfey included it in his early 18th century song collection ‘Pills to Purge Melancholy’ (1719 - 20), and it was also listed in Thackeray's 17th century broadside catalogue. Robert Bell included a 19th century broadside text in his ‘Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England’ (1857), together with a note that the song was probably originally a lampoon levelled at Oliver Cromwell and his wife, who were named 'Nolly and Joan' by the Royalist Party (the names found in D'Urfey's set).

Song transcribed by Dan Quinn

(recorded at Whittlesbury, Northamptonshire by John Howson, 1988) This is another song that turns up all over the place, and yet, surprisingly, there are only a couple of broadsides known; one printed by an obscure printer in Gateshead (Stephenson), the other by Fortey of London, who gave it the rather clumsy title of I Changed the Green Willow for the Orange and Blue. Scholars, unlike singers, have argued for years over the song. According to Lucy Broadwood, 'the orange and the blue' refers to the girl's wedding dress. Anne Gilchrist, on the other hand, noted a resemblance between the versions that use the phrase 'bonnets of blue' with the blue bonnets worn by the supporters of the Young Pretender, and so saw a connection with the Jacobite cause. But, Miss Gilchrist also suggested that, as the term 'orange and blue' was used in the Orange song The Protestant Boys, the song symbolised the union of Irish and English Protestants. Whatever the origin, though, it's a popular song and versions can be found in many British and American collections.

Song transcribed by Dan Quinn

(recorded in Gloucestershire by Mike Yates, c.1975) Cecil Sharp collected no fewer than twenty-seven Wassail songs in the West Country. Maud Karpeles recounts the following story from Bratton in Somerset: 'The wassailers used to meet in the orchard about seven or eight o'clock in the evening, join hands, and dance in a ring round an apple tree singing the song. At the conclusion they stamped on the ground, fired off their guns, and made as much noise as they could while they shouted in unison the words appended to the song. Having placed some pieces of toast soaked in cider on one of the branches, they proceeded to another tree, around which they repeated the ceremony. When Cecil Sharp asked the singer what happened to the toast, he replied. "All gone in the morning; some say the birds eat it, but…" (’Cecil Sharp's Collection of English Folk Songs’ edited by Maud Karples. London, 1972. Volume 2, p. 635.) Wassail songs, and the related mid-winter visiting songs that can be found throughout Europe, are often very ancient affairs. They mix both Christian and Pagan elements (Len's mention of the ox reminds us of the bull-cults that once flourished around the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, for example) and, at one time, were well-known in many parts of England.

Song transcribed by Dan Quinn

(recorded at Bampton, Oxfordshire by John Howson, 1987) Versions of this well-known nursery rhyme have long been popular in the Thames Valley. Alfred Williams noted versions prior to the Great War, though he failed to print them in his ‘Folk Songs of the Upper Thames’ (1923) and in the early 1950s the BBC recorded a set from a singer in Burford. Whilst the song is clearly of British origin, it must be said that most collected versions are from the United States. For an American version, listen to the Ozark singer Almeda Riddle singing My Little Rooster on the 4 CD set 'Sounds of the South' (Atlantic 7 82496 2).

(recorded at Patcham, Sussex by Mike Yates, 1989) True Love Requited; or, The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington was printed as a blackletter broadside by P. Brooksby, at the Golden Ball in London's Pye-Corner sometime towards the end of the 17th century. Fifty years later Cluer Dicey, a printer then working in Bow Churchyard, included the song in his catalogue. In 1764 Dicey joined up with Richard Marshall and the pair continued to issue ballads, including The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington, at Aldermary Churchyard. A couple of 19th century printers, Jackson of Birmingham and Shelmerdine of Manchester, kept the song in print and versions have been collected throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and America. Most versions seem to be very similar; both in text and tune, and this may be because the words were printed in various issues of the ‘Music Hall Monthly Song Book’ (probably dating from the end of the 19th century) and in such books as ‘The News Chronicle Songbook’ c.1930. It was also popularised by Music Hall singer Ernest Pike, who also sang The Gypsy's Warning and There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding. As this latter song was written in 1913, Pike must have been singing The Bailiff's Daughter around that time. Bob's minor tune however, learnt from his mother, is not the one commonly heard today, but is one that, over the years, has more usually been used for a number of folk carols.

(recorded at Moreton Valence, Gloucestershire by Mike Yates, c.1975) The Reverend John Jackson, Rector of Ledbury in Herefordshire from 1860 to 1891, was the subject of a scandal in the year 1869. It seems that he was accused of fathering a child on one of his servants and he was suspended from duty for a period of two years. Although exonerated, he found that he could not live down the allegation. No doubt this song about his alleged nocturnal activities didn't help his peace of mind! A broadside about the cleric, titled The Frolicsome Parson Outwitted, can be found in Charles Hindley's ‘Curiosities of Street Literature’ (1871).

(recorded at Blaxhall, Suffolk by John Howson, 1985) R. Donnelly wrote this song in 1909, under the title You Wish Me to Forget You, and it doesn't appear to have been that popular with 'the folk'. Apart from Geoff Ling, only two other singers seem to have known the piece. David Occomore collected a set from a Mrs Knight of Chelmsford, Essex, and Nick and Mally Dow found it being sung in Dorset by Bill House of Beaminster.

(recorded at Whittlesbury, Northamptonshire by John Howson, 1988) This misogynistic piece is similar to the ballad The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin (Roud 117, Child 277) and belongs to a quite ancient Indo-European family of folktales and songs that also spawned Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew. Clearly audiences then had a different sense of humour from that found today! Jeff's version of the song is quite close to that collected by Cecil Sharp from Sister Emma of Clewer in Berkshire, although he first heard it sung by a local singer, Perce Foster from Perryend, who was born c.1905.

(recorded at West Hoathley, Sussex by Mike Yates, 1977) George probably picked this one up from an early 78rpm gramophone record. The song was clearly popular in 1929, when four different recordings appeared of the song. These were by Tommy Handley & Leslie Sarony (Columbia 5555), Ronald Frankau & Tommy Handley using the names 'North & South' - (Parlophone R-506), Clarkson Rose (Zonophone 5429) and Randolph Sutton (Edison Bell Radio 1253). Surprisingly, George seems to have been the only country singer to have had the song.

Master and Man

Oh master, oh master, don’t sack me today,
Cos I’ve been a good servant to you.
I’ve done all I can like a hard working man
What more can a hard working man do?
Now stop, hold your tongue. I won’t, it’s my own.
I can stop you from talking much faster.
So you’re always boozed, it’s talkings no use.
That’s the reason I’ve sacked you today.

Now what good do you do with the money you earn
Cos you’re always boozing in pubs.
These pubs, bear in mind, are much better you’ll find
What you calls your upper class club.
Stop, hold your tongue. I won’t, it’s my own
I can stop you from talking much faster.
You’ve got your wealth and I’ll have my strength
I can prove Jack’s as good as his master.

Now you’ve got a wife like a saint, you believe,
She believes in divorces in parting.
I’ve got a wife with a pair of hard working hands
And we smothers our troubles together.
Stop, hold your tongue. I won’t, it’s my own.
I can stop you from talking much faster.
Why, you’ve got your strength and I’ll have your wealth
And we’ve proved Jack’s as good as his master.

So can we shake hands, let’s be master and man
And we’ll smother our troubles together.
I’ve got a wife with a large family at home
So you know they are starving for bread.
Oh stop hold your tongue, I won’t it’s my own
You don’t stop I shan’t let you see.
So let us shake hands, let’s be master and man
And we’ll prove ones as good as the other.

(recorded at Brighton, Sussex by Mike Yates, 1974) Master and Man is something of a rarity. Apart from Mary's version, I have only come across the song once before and that was on a broadside without imprint that probably dated from the second half of the 19th century. According to the sheet, the song was 'a favourite duet by Wiggins & Monagan', two names that seem to be absent from the standard histories of the Music Hall.

Lankin


You can have my daughter Betsy so young and so sweet
You can have as much money as the stones in the street.

I don’t want your daughter Betsy or the stones in the street
I would rather see your life’s blood rolling down at my feet.

False Lankin nipped the baby and caused it to cry
And the nurse kept on singing “hush-a-baby-by-by”.

There was blood on the staircase, the was blood in the hall,
There was blood on the carpet where the lady did fall.

(recorded at Sudbury, Derbyshire by Mike Yates, 1984) A mason is owed money for building work on a Lord's castle. The mason, seeking revenge when the Lord is absent, kills the Lord's child and wife. The child's nurse is also implicated in the killings and, like the mason, is subsequently executed. So runs the story to one of the most gruesome ballads that Professor Child included in his English and Scottish Popular Ballads. The ballad may be based on an actual event that occurred at Balwearie Castle in Fife, which was built in the 15th century, although the story is also associated with other places in Perthshire, the Scottish Borders and in Northumberland. Over the years much has been written about this ballad. Anne Gilchrist, for instance, has ingeniously suggested that the name Lamkin /Lammikin (which Child saw as an epithet) possibly indicated that the murderer was pale-skinned and, as such, could possibly have been suffering from leprosy, which was well-known in medieval Britain. Gilchrist, adding that one supposed medieval 'cure' for the disease was to be obtained by taking human blood (obtained from an innocent child and preserved in a silver bowl), was thus able to offer a 'complete' explanation for the events described in this ballad. George's fragment probably comes originally from the broadside text printed in London by John Pitts c.1820.

Madge

Whilst walking down the street one day upon my pleasure bent
Was after business worries of the day,
I met a girl who shrank from me, in her I recognised
A schoolmate from the village far away.
“Is that you, Madge” I said to her. She quickly turned away.
“Don’t turn away, Madge, for I’m still your friend.
Tonight I’m going back home again to see the old folks and
Perhaps some message you would like to send”.

Ch: “Just tell them that you’ve seen me and they will know the rest.
Just tell them that I’m looking well, you know.
And whisper if you get a chance, to mother dear and say
I love her as I did long, long ago”.

“Your cheeks are pale, your eyes are dim, pray tell me are you ill,
When last I saw you they shone clear and bright.
Oh, won’t you come back home again, the change would do you good
Your mother wonders where you are tonight.”
“I’m gong to go back home again, but not just yet, you know.
It’s pride alone that’s keeping me away.
Tell them not to worry, for I’m all right, you know,
Just tell them I’ll be coming home some day”.

(recorded at Oxspring, Yorkshire by John Howson, 1992) Will had this Music Hall song from Clifford Robinson, a gamekeeper from the Holme Valley. The only other collected version seems to have been in 1962, when the Canadian collector Edith Fowke noted a set from Vince O'Toole of Peterborough, Ontario.

Lovely Joan

A noble knight it was indeed
Mounted on his milk white steed.
He rode he rode himself all alone
Until he came to lovely Joan.

“Good morning to you, pretty maid”
“And twice good morning, sir,” she said.
”What, are you milking all alone?”
“Oh, yes” replied sweet lovely Joan.

Then he pulled out a purse of gold.
He said “Pretty maid, all this behold.
All this I’ll give for your maidenhead”.
Her cheeks they blushed like roses so red.

“Oh no, noble knight, I pray you forebear,
To lie with you I do not care.
For on tomorrow, I’ll be wed
Unto my own true love instead”.

Then he did make a solemn vow
He would have her whether or no.
And this he said to frighten Joan
As she sat milking all alone.

“Then give the gold into my hand
And I shall be at your command.
For the gold it is more use to me
Than twenty husbands, sir” said she.

But as these very words she said
She mounted on his milk white steed.
She rode away and he called in vain
But Joan she ne’er looked back again.

Nor did she think herself quite safe
Not till she came to her true lover’s gate.
She’s robbed the lord of his steed and gold
And left him the empty purse to hold.

Now it pleased her true love to the heart
To think how well she played her part.
“Tomorrow morning we’ll be wed
And I shall be your knight instead”.

A man on a horse sees a girl working in the hayfields. He offers her his gold ring in exchange for her maidenhead, but the girl tricks him and rides off with his ring and horse, leaving him to fume alone in the meadow. There are quite a number of similar folksongs where the girl surrenders to the young man's charms and then finds herself pregnant and jilted. But, in one or two of the earlier ballads, such as The Broomfield Hill (Roud 34, Child 43) or Blow Away the Morning Dew (Roud 11, Child 112), we find a more resourceful girl, one able to outwit her would-be seducer. And this is the background for the song Lovely Joan. It's a song that was published by at least sixteen 19th century broadside printers and several Edwardian collectors noted versions. Ralph Vaughan Williams was so taken by the tune that he used it as a counter-melody for his well-known arrangement of the tune Greensleeves. Bob had the song from his mother.

Bill the Weaver

“Oh mother dear I’ve just got married
Better had I longer tarried,
For my wife she does declare
That the britches she will wear”.

“Come loving son no more discover
I’ll have thee go home and love her
And give thy wife just what’s her due
For I don’t want no more of you”.

Now the neighbours they did tell him,
For they all did want to please him,
“I’ll tell thee where and I’ll tell thee how
Who I saw with your wife just now.

We saw her with Bill the Weaver
They were very close together
On the footpath by thy door
In they went and we saw no more”.

Now he went home all in a wonder
Knocking on the door like thunder.
“Who is there?” the weaver cried,
“It is my husband, thee must hide”.

Up the chimney then he ventured,
She opened the door and her husband entered.
He searched the rooms and the chambers round,
But not a soul could there be found.

Up the chimney then he gazed,
He stood there like one amazed.
There he saw that wretched soul
Perched on the top of the chimney pole.

“Now, Bill the Weaver, I have got thee,
I shall neither hang nor drown thee.
I shall stifle thee with smoke”.
Thus he thought, but he never spoke.

So he built up a roaring fire
Just to please his own desire,
Which made poor Bill to cough and sneeze
Where he sat at little ease.

As he stacked on more fuel,
His wife said “As I am your jewel.
As long as I am thy lawful wife
Please take him out and spare his life.
As long as I am thy lawful wife
Please take him out and spare his life”.

There was never a black devil or a chimney sweeper
Half as black as Bill the Weaver.
Hands and face and clothes likewise,
He sent him home with two black eyes.

(recorded at Badsey, Worcestershire by Mike Yates, c.1975) Bill, or Will, the Weaver seems to have been popping up and down lady's chimneys since the early part of the 18th century. There are quite a number of early 19th century broadsides - English, Scottish and American, and versions of the song have turned up all over the place, especially in America. Gavin Greig noted no fewer than eleven versions of the song in the north-east of Scotland and Sam Henry reported a single text from Ulster. In America the song is probably best known from the version recorded by Doc Watson of North Carolina (on Smithsonian-Folkways CD SF 40012) who had picked it up from a 1930s commercial recording by Dave McCarn.
 

(recorded at Whittlesbury, Northamptonshire by John Howson, 1988) This sounds like a song from the end of the Music Hall tradition. It is another song that Jeff picked up from Perce Foster of Perryend. Surprisingly, Jeff is the only singer who has recorded it. The tune is better known as In and Out the Windows.

(recorded at Stoney-in-Oxney, Kent by Mike Yates, 1984) The Folkestone Murder is based on an event that occurred in 1856 /57. Dedea Redanies, born in Belgrade in the 1830s, came to England and enlisted into the British Swiss Legion, then stationed at Dover castle. He began courting a young girl called Caroline Back, whose father worked as a dredger in Dover harbour. Redanies was apparently of a jealous nature and he accused Caroline of flirting with a sergeant in his unit. On 3rd August the couple took a walk to Shorncliffe Camp, accompanied by Caroline's sister Maria, and Redanies killed both girls at Steddy's Hole, some five miles from Dover. Redanies attempted to escape, but was captured the next day at a farm near Canterbury, after unsuccessfully trying to take his own life. He was hanged at Maidstone Prison on New Year's Day, 1857. Almost all of the collected versions of the song have come from either Kent or Sussex, although a couple of versions have turned up in Labrador and Newfoundland.