1
1
A wager, a wager...... 187
Across the Miles...... 171
Adieu to Old England...... 78
Against the Snow...... 77
All the Little Chickens...... 134
Annan Water...... 159
Antelope...... 87
Aragon Mill...... 85
As I Roved Out...... 67
Banks of the Bann...... 32
Battle of Sowerby Bridge...... 130
Benjamin Bowmaneer...... 131
Bitter Withy...... 121
Black is the colour...... 138
Bold Reynolds...... 148
Bonny Bunch of Roses...... 79
Bonny Hawthorn...... 48
Brigg Fair...... 33
Bring us a Barrel...... 15
Bringing in the Sheaves...... 142
Broken Token...... 30
By Creekwater Side...... 161
Byker Hill...... 95
Candlelight Fisherman...... 169
Cap't Ward and the Rainbow...... 61
Carrying Nelson Home...... 186
City Lament...... 140
Claudy Banks...... 149
Cold and Lonely Winter...... 59
Constant Lovers...... 21
Cruel Mother...... 100
Dark Eyed Sailor...... 34
Derby Ram...... 62
Distant Hills...... 147
Dockyard Gate...... 37
Doin' the Manch...... 12
Drift from the Land...... 156
Drowned Sailor...... 35
English Ale...... 151
Fakenham Fair...... 58
Farewell to the Gold...... 178
Farmer's Arms...... 38
Farmer's Boy...... 44
Feed the Children...... 20
Fiddlers Green...... 139
Fisherman’s Song...... 98
Flandyke Shore...... 180
Flash Company...... 1
Flowers of the forest...... 41
Foggy Dew...... 26
Follow Me Home...... 80
Friar in the Well...... 91
Frisco Bay...... 146
Funeral Song...... 53
God on Our Side...... 112
Grandfathers Clock...... 127
Gray Funnel Line...... 96
Green Banks of Grain...... 157
Happy as a Baby...... 68
Hey that's no way to say goodbye...... 132
Holly and the Ivy...... 183
Home Lads Home...... 24
I wish there were no prisons...... 179
I would the war were over...... 27
It came upon a Midnight Clear...... 117
January Man...... 110
Jim Johnson...... 82
Jim Jones...... 73
John Barleycorn...... 2
John Barleycorn #2...... 28
Jolly Fellows as Follows the Plough...... 175
Joy of Living...... 133
Jukebox as she Turned...... 182
Kathy’s Song...... 181
King George Hunt...... 168
Laidly Worm...... 8
Laundralovamat...... 71
Leaving of Liverpool...... 173
Left Left Right Steady Man...... 83
Length of Yarn...... 10
Lily Marlene...... 55
Linden Lea...... 101
Lish Young Buy-a-Broom...... 60
Little Musgrave...... 16
London Danny...... 192
Lord Franklin...... 177
Lovely Joan...... 43
Lover’s Ghost...... 135
Luckiest Sailor...... 152
Mad Tom of Bedlam...... 42
Man of Double Deed...... 189
Mary Hamilton...... 153
Masters of War...... 113
Morley Main...... 81
Mutton Pie...... 49
My Eldorado...... 119
My flower, my companion and me...... 166
New York Gals...... 106
No More World to Live In...... 145
Normandy Orchards...... 25
Northern Tide...... 155
Nutting Girl...... 69
Nutting Time...... 170
Old Black Mare...... 63
Old Brown Hen...... 93
Old Man’s Retreat...... 194
One Too Many Mornings...... 160
Paddy the Swagman...... 124
Ploughboys...... 31
Polly's father...... 45
Poor Old Horse...... 107
Prospect Providence...... 6
Pull Down Lads...... 162
Put Another Log On The Fire...... 176
Raglan Road...... 86
Rambling Comber...... 56
Recruited Collier...... 65
Rolling Home...... 128
Rose of Allandale...... 174
Sailor Cut Down...... 74
Sailor Home From Sea...... 188
Sally Free and Easy...... 66
Sally Gardens...... 47
Sammy Shuttleworth's Party...... 103
Seeds of Love...... 52
Severn to the Somme...... 108
Shelter...... 150
Shenandoah...... 105
Shining down on Sennen...... 109
Shipyard Apprentice...... 193
Shropshire Lad...... 54
Sir Eglamore...... 190
Spencer The Rover...... 22
Squire of Tamworth...... 75
St. Aubin Sur Mer...... 50
Streams of Lovely Nancy...... 99
Sweet Minerva...... 184
Tattooed Lady...... 185
Thank you for the Years...... 23
The Drovers...... 51
The First Time...... 97
The King...... 29
The last of the widows...... 191
The New Road...... 136
The Snow it Melts the Soonest...... 40
Three Day Millionaire...... 126
Three Maids a- Milking...... 158
Tomahawking Fred...... 163
Universal Soldier...... 88
Up in the North...... 89
Valentine's Day...... 39
Volunteer Organist...... 64
Waltzing Matilda...... 4
War Song...... 167
Wassail...... 143, 164
We shepherds are...... 46
Wedding Song...... 57
When first I came to Caledonia...... 102
When the Ship Comes In...... 115
When The Snows Of Winter Fall...... 172
Where brumbies come to water...... 129
Where Raven Feed...... 165
Whitby Lad...... 123
White Cockade...... 144
Willey 'Ole Lad...... 36
Winds of Freedom...... 70
Yarmouth Town...... 111
You are my Morning...... 120
1
1
Flash Company
1.
Once I loved a young girl as I loved my life,
And I thought in my mind I could make her my wife,
With her white cotton stockings and her high ankle shoes,
And she wears a yellow handkerchief wherever she goes.
Chorus
So wear this yellow handkerchief in remembrance of me,
And wear it round your neck love, in flash company,
Flash company my boys, like a great many more,
If it hadn't been for flash company I'd never have been so poor.
2.
Fiddling and dancing were all my delight,
But keeping flash company has ruined me quite,
Has ruined me quite, my love, like a great many more,
If it hadn't have been for flash company, I'd never have been so poor.
3.
Once I had a colour as red as the rose,
But now I'm as pale as the lily that grows,
Like a flower in the garden all my colour has gone,
Don't you see what I have come to from loving this one.
John Barleycorn
1.
Oh there were three men out of Kent, my boys,
For to plough for corn and rye,
And they made a vow and a solemn vow,
John Barleycorn would die.
2.
So they sowed him into furrows,
And they sowed rye o'er his head,
And these three men home rejoicing went,
John Barleycorn was dead.
3.
But the sun shone warm and the wind blew soft,
And it rained in a day or so,
John Barleycorn felt the sun and rain,
And he soon began to grow.
4.
But the rye began to grow as well,
The rye grew slow but tall,
John Barleycorn grew short and strong,
And he proved them liars all.
5.
So they hired men with sickles,
To cut him off at the knee,
They rolled him and bound him around the waist,
Served him most barbarously.
6.
So they hired men with pikels,
To toss him on to a load,
And when they'd tossed poor John Barleycorn,
They tied him down with cords,
7.
So they hired men with threshels,
To beat him high and low,
They camesmiksmak upon poor Jack's back,
Till the flesh began to flow.
John Barleycorn (2)
8.
Then they put him into the kiln, me boys,
Thinking to dry his bones,
But the miller served him worse than that,
For he ground him between two stones.
9.
Then they put him into the mashing tub,
Thinking to burn his tail,
And when he came out they changed his name,
And they called him home brewed ale.
10.
So put your wine into glasses,
And your cider into pewter cans,
Put little Sir John in the old brown jug,
For he proved the strongest man.
11.
To me right-fol-derry, fol-de-diddle-oh,
To me right-fol-derry-oh,
To me right-fol-derry, fol-de-diddle-oh,
To me right-fol-derry-oh,
Waltzing MatildaEric Bogle
1.
When I was a young man I carried my pack,
And I lived the free life of a rover,
From the Murray’s green basin to the dusty outback,
I waltzed my Matilda all over,
Then in nineteen fourteen, the country said son,
It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done,
And they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun,
And they sent me away to the war,
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amid all the cheers, the flag waving and tears,
We sailed off to Galipoli.
2.
How well I remember that terrible day,
How blood stained the sand and the water,
And how in that hell-hole they called Suavla Bay,
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter,
Johnny Turk he was ready, he'd primed himself well,
He chased us with bullets and rained us with shell,
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us to hell,
Nearly blew us right back to Australia,
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
As we stopped to bury our slain,
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.
3.
Well those that were left, we tried to survive,
In that hell-hole of blood, death and fire,
And for nine weary weeks I kept myself alive,
Though around me the corpses piled higher,
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
And when I awoke in my hospital bed,
When I saw what they'd done, I wished myself dead,
Never knew there were worse things than dying,
Waltzing Matilda [2]
For I'll go no more waltzing Matilda,
All along the green bush far and near,
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs,
No more waltzing Matilda for me.
4.
So they collected the crippled, the wounded and lame,
And they shipped us right home to Australia,
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane,
Those proud wounded heros of Suavla,
And as the ship pulled into circular quay,
I looked at the place where my legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
To cry and to mourn and to pity,
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
As they carried us down the gangway,
But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared,
And they turned all their faces away.
5.
And now every April I sit on my porch,
And I see the parade pass before me,
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Re-living old dreams and past glory,
And the old men walk slowly, all bent stiff and sore,
The tired old men of a forgotten war,
And the young men ask me, what are they marching for,
And I ask myself the same question,
And the band play Waltzing Matilda,
And the old men still answer the call,
But year by year, the old men disappear,
Soon no-one will march there at all.
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a'waltzing Matilda with me,
And their ghosts can be heard as they pass by the billabong,
Who'll come a'waltzing Matilda with me.
Prospect ProvidenceKeith Marsden
1.
Fifty years, man and boy, have I worked the mill,
Though I never could stand the place,
I got to the top by my own boot strap,
And not 'cos they liked my face,
I've made a good life for my child and wife,
I've respect from my fellow men,
But the gaffer's giving me the gold watch next week,
And he'll never see me again.
Chorus
Prospect, Providence, Perseverance, Albert, Valley and Crank,
I've spent my time in the dust and grime, with never a word of thanks,
Though the wages were low and the hours were long,
And the gaffers were hard lads, hard,
But the last time's coming, thank god, coming soon,
When I'll walk up the damn mill yard.
2.
There'll be no more sweating on a sea coil dam,
In the heat of a summer day,
There'll be no more choking on the rag 'oil dust,
There'll be no more thratching for pay,
There'll be no more tryin' to mend a clapped out loom,
When the noise makes you climb the wall,
There'll be no more measuring the gaffer's boot,
With the seat of your overall.
3.
There'll be no more bawling of a weaver out,
When her piece make's the menders grieve,
"Well me shuttles where all cracked and I'd too many trapped,
And the weft wasn't fit to weave",
Then the spinner finds fault with the willeyer's blend,
Who says that his rags were too cheap,
And the blame get's passed on down the line ,
Till the gaffer goes and kicks the sheep.
Prospect Providence [2]
4.
Though the pension's low, I've a bit put by,
That'll do for the wife and me,
With enough left over for the odd glass of beer,
And a few days by the sea,
And I'll roll a few woods and I'll now find time,
For the jobs that I use to shirk,
I'll have so much on that I'll wonder then,
How I ever found time for work.
5.
Though the pension's low, still the prices rise,
My wife's going out of her mind,
And I'm no longer sure what it's all been for,
The year-long, life-long grind,
And I'd dust so long, that my lungs have gone,
And I cannot get my breath,
I can't laugh or talk or even walk,
And I long for the peace of death.
The Laidly Worm
The king has gone from Bamburgh castle, long may the princess mourn,
Long may she stand at her castle wall awaiting his return.
Now as it came out on a day that the king had brought the queen with him home,
And all the lords in our country to welcome them did come.
The king said, wondering while he spake, this princess of the North,
Surpasses all of female kind in beauty and in worth.
The envious queen replied to this, well he might have excepted me,
Now in a few hours I will bring her down to a low degree.
I will turn her into a worm that warps about the stone,
And one she will never be till Childe Wynd's return.
The lady stood at her bower door, laughing, who would her blame,
But 'ere the next day's sun went down a long worm she became.
And seven miles east and seven miles west and seven miles north and south
No blade of grass or corn would grow, so venomous was her mouth.
So news went east and news went west and over the sea did go,
Where the child of Winde got whit of it which filled his heart with woe.
He called then to his merry men, they thirty were and three,
I wish I was at Spindleston this desperate worm to see.
We have no time now here to waste, now quickly let us sail,
For my only sister Margaret I think something doth ail
So they built a ship without delay, with masts of the rowan tree,
And shimmering sails of silk so fine and set her on the sea.
Now the queen stood at her castle walls to see what she could see,
And there she spied the gallant ship come sailing on the sea.
When she spied the silken sails full glancing in the sun,
To sink the ship she sent away her witch wives every one.
Laidly Worm [2]
But their spells were vain and the hags returned to the queen in sorrowful mood,
Saying that witches have no power where there is rowan tree wood.
Well the worm jumped up and the worm jumped down and plaited around a stone,
And as the ship came to the land she banged it off again.
So the Childe ran out of her reach and beached on Budle sands,
And jumping into the shallow water he quickly got to land.
And there he drew his berry brown sword and laid it at her head,
Saying that if you do me harm then I will strike you dead.
Oh quit thy sword, and bend thy bow, and give me kisses three,
For if I'm not one 'er the sun goes down, then one I shall never be.
So he quit his sword and bent his bow and he gave her kisses three,
She crept into a hole, a worm, and out stepped a lady.
So he's taken his mantle from him about, and it he's wrapped her in,
And they have up to Bamburghcastle as fast as they can win.
Now his absence and her serpent shape the king had long deplored,
And now rejoiced to see them both again to him restored.
But the queen they wanted, whom they found was sick and sore afraid,
Because she saw her power must yield to Childe Wynd's who said.
Woe be to thee thou wicked witch, and an ill death way thou die,
As thou has likened Margaret, then likened thou shalt be.
I will turn you into a toad that on the ground does wend,
And one thou shalt never be till this world has an end.
Now on the ground near Ida's tower there crawls a loathsome toad,
That venom spits on every maid it meets upon the road.
Length of YarnJohn Kirkpatrick
1.
All through the town, in a hundred houses,
In every one the light still burns,
All through the town by a hundred hearths,
For a word of news the hearts are yearning,
Deaf to the log fires hissing and cracking,
Deaf to the kettle singing and whistling,
Only one sound fills their ears,
And that's the sound of the storm waves crashing.
2.
An old one sits in her empty room,
And grim she glares at the candle flame,
No need to watch her hands at work,
Or the ball of wool at her feet unrolling,
It's a year to the day since the carrier's cart,
Brought home her son all drenched from drowning,
Brought him home to his new young wife,
And paid no heed to his mother's mourning.
3.
Oh cursed be the creaking waggoner's wheels,
That freeze my blood each time they pass,
Cursed be the sea who's angry waves,
Robbed me of my son, robbed me of my sleeping,
And cursed and cursed be the sweet young wife,
Who stole a son from his mother's loving,
Stole him living, stole him dead,
And scarcely gave him three months mourning.
4.
Nine months I held him in my womb,
And my son's blood ran free with mine,