Song
cupboard T1 g-n
The Golden Vanity
The goose and the gander
The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry
The grey hawk
The gypsy rover
The jackfish
The keeper
The lambs in the green fields
The lion is king of the jungle
The lost pony
The man in the moon as he sails
the sky
The merry green fields of the
lowland
Last updated: 10/25/2019
2:51 PM
The songs below are part of ‘Away we
go’
compiled,
adapted and illustrated by Dany Rosevear
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To listen to music from these
songs click on 🔊
To watch the
author sing a song click on the title at:
© Dany Rosevear 2008 All rights reserved
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The Golden
Vanity 🔊
Another school favourite. There are a huge number of versions of this
song. Find out more at: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=11747 This one is more or less, the chorus in particular differs, from:
‘English Folk-Songs for Schools’ collected and arranged by S Baring Gould,
M.A. and Cecil J. Sharp, B.A.. It was taken from ‘Songs of the West’
published in 1891 by S Baring Gould and H. Fleetwood Sheppard. |
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Oh, I have a ship in
the North Country, And she goes by the name
of the Golden Vanity, Oh, I fear she will be
taken by a Spanish Galalie, As she sails by the
lowlands, low, By the lowlands,
lowlands, As she sails by the
lowlands low. To the captain then up
spake the little cabin boy, He said "What is my
fee if the galley I destroy? The Spanish galleon,
if no more it shall annoy, As you sail by the
lowlands low… Of silver and of gold
I will give to you a store, And my pretty little
daughter that dwelleth on the shore, Of treasure and of fee
as well, I'll give to thee galore, As we sail by the
lowlands low… Then the boy bared his
chest and straightway leaped in, And he held in his
mouth, an auger sharp and thin, And he swam until he
came to the Spanish galleon As she lay along the
lowlands low... Well he bored with the
auger, he bored once and twice, And some were playing
cards, and some were playing dice; When the water it
flowed in, it dazzled in their eyes And she sank by the
lowland low… So the cabin boy swam
back all to the larboard side, Saying: "Captain,
take me up, for I'm drifting with the tide!” “No I'll shoot you,
and I'll drown you, if you claim my child as bride; You must drown by the
lowlands low…” Then the cabin boy did
swim all to the starboard side, Saying:
"Shipsmates, take me up, for I'm drifting with the tide,” Then they pulled him
on the deck, but he closed his eyes and died, As they sailed by the
lowland low… They wrapped him in
his hammock, it was so long and wide, And they cast the
gallant cabin boy, over the ship’s side, And they left him
without more ado, adrifting with the tide And to sink by the
lowland low... |
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The goose and
the gander 🔊
A traditional Yorkshire song from the Leeds area. Can be found in
Frank Kidson’s traditional tunes published in 1891. |
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O, the goose and the
gander walk'd over the green, O, the goose she went barefoot
for fear of being seen, For fear of being
seen, boys, for fear of being seen, O, the goose she went
barefoot for fear of being seen. I had a black hen and
she had a white foot, And she laid an egg in
a willow tree root, In a willow tree root,
in a willow tree root, And she laid a white
egg in a willow tree root. |
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The Great Silkie
of Sule Skerry 🔊
There are numerous tales of the ‘Silkies’ or seafolk knowm to those
who live on the Orkney Islands and the Hebrides off the Scottish coast. These
enchanted creatures live way under the sea but will remove their sealskins to
appear on land in human form. Nourris nurse - a woman who is employed to suckle
a small child - lily wean - lovely child, ken – know, grumbly = troubled,
frae - from Child ballad 113. Find out more at: https://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/songs/greatsilkieofsuleskerry.html |
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An earthly nourris sits and sings, And aye she sings by lily wean. “And little ken I my bairns father, Far less the land where he dwells in.” He came one night to her bed feet, And a grumbly guest, I'm sure was he, Saying, “Here am I the bairns father, Although I be not fair to see.” “I am a man upon the land, I am a silkie on the sea, And when I’m far, far frae the land, My home it is in Sule Skerry.” He's taken out a purse of gold, And placed it on the mother’s knee. Saying, “Give to me my little young son, And take thee up thy nurses fee. “It shall come to pass one summer’s day, When the sun shines bright on every stone, I'll come and fetch my little young son, And teach him how to swim the foam. “And you will wed a gunner good, A right fine gunner I'm sure he'll be, And the very first shot that e’er he fires Will kill both my young babe and me.” |
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The grey hawk O
A folk song, possibly from Dorset in England. It was published in BBC
broadcasts to schools, Time and Tune, Spring term 1961. It was also published
in OUP Ears and Eyes Bk2 1974 where it was ascribed to Mrs Vaughan Williams.
In both the publications you can find the first two verses of a longer song
about a cuckolded husband. Find out more at: https://mainlynorfolk.info/watersons/songs/littlegreyhawk.html |
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Once I had a grey hawk,
and a pretty grey hawk, A sweet pretty bird of
my own. But she took fright
and she flew away quite, And there’s nobody
knows where she's gone, my brave boys, And there's nobody
knows where she's gone. So it's over the
forest I rambled away, And through the green
fields I did stray. I hollered, I whooped,
I played on my flute, Not my sweet pretty
bird could I find, my brave boys, Not my sweet pretty
bird could I find. |
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The gypsy rover O
The sentiments of this song can be found in many folk songs especially
the ‘The raggle taggle gypsies’ but this one was written more recently in the
1950s by the Dublin songwriter by Leo Maguire. Find out more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistling_Gypsy
and http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=10547
It also featured in BBC Schools ‘Singing together’ Spring 1973. |
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The gypsy rover came over
the hill, Down through the
valley so shady, He whistled and he
sang ‘til the greenwoods rang, And he won the heart
of a lady. Chorus Ah dee doo, ah dee doo
dah day Ah dee doo, ah dee day
dee, He whistled and he
sang 'til the greenwoods rang, And he won the heart
of a lady. She left her father’s
castle gate, She left her own true
lover, She left her servants
and her estate, To follow the gypsy
rover. Her father saddled his
fastest steed, Roamed the valleys all
over Sought his daughter at
great speed And the whistling
gypsy rover. He came at last to a
mansion fine, Down by the river
Claydee, And there was music
and there was wine, For the gypsy and his
lady. “He is no gypsy, my
father,” she cried, “But lord of these
lands all over, And I shall stay ‘til
my dying day, With my whistling
gypsy rover.” |
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The jackfish O
A traditional song from Virginia. Find out more at: http://patmccaskey.com/jackfish-952 |
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That old Jackfish
swimming up the stream, I asked that Jackfish
what did he mean. Just baited a hook to
catch a shad, The first thing he bit
was my old Dad. Chorus: Oh, my lordy lor gal,
Cindy, Cindy, Lordy lor gal, Cindy
Sue. Fishpole broke and I
got mad, And down to the bottom
went old Dad. I grabbed that
Jackfish by the snout, And turned that
Jackfish wrong side out. |
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The keeper 🔊
This song collected by Cecil Sharp and published in school songbooks
is remembered with pleasure from primary school years and community
gatherings in the 1950s. Find out about earlier more ‘less suitable’ versions
at: http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/forum/484.html
. |
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The keeper did a-hunting go, And under his cloak he carried a bow, All for to shoot a merry little doe, Among the leaves so green, O. Chorus: Jackie boy! Master! Sing ye well! Very well! Hey down! Ho down! Derry derry down, Among the leaves so green, O. To my hey down down! To my ho down down! Hey down! Ho down! Derry derry down, Among the leaves so green, O. The first doe he shot at he missed; The second doe he trimmed, he kissed; The third doe went where nobody wist, Among the leaves so green, O. The fourth doe she did cross the plain, The keeper fetched her back again. Where she is now, she may remain, Among the leaves so green, O. The fifth doe she did cross the brook; The keeper fetched her back with his crook; Where she is now you may go and look, Among the leaves so green, O. The sixth doe she ran over the plain; But he with his hounds did turn her again, And it's there he did hunt in a merry, merry vein, Among the leaves so green, 0. |
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The lambs in the
green fields O
This lovely Irish air comes from Bill Meek’s ‘Moon penny’; I have
added some chords. It is also known as ‘The false bride’ and below is just the chorus as
it is a mournful ballad that tells of a wedding with a tragic ending. Find out the whole story at: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123300
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The lambs in the green
fields they sport as they play, And lots of
strawberries grow around the salt sea, And lots of
strawberries grow round the salt sea, And many’s the ship
sails the ocean. |
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The lion is king of the jungle O
A song from the 1970s. Words and music by
Christopher Rowe.
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The lost pony 🔊
A rather sad little song written by Mabel F. Wilson to a Slovakian
tune. You can find it in ‘Music time’ published by OUP in 1961. |
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Searching for Dobbin the livelong day, Far and near, far and near, Searching for Dobbin the livelong day. I left him grazing among the hay, When I returned he had gone away, Far away, far away, When I returned he had gone away. |
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The man in the
moon as he sails the sky 🔊
An old nursery rhyme. Music by Dany Rosevear. |
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The Man in the Moon as
he sails the sky, Is a very remarkable
skipper; But he made a mistake
when he tried to take A drink of milk from
the Dipper. He dipped right out of
the Milky Way, And slowly and
carefully filled it; The Big Bear growled,
and the Little Bear howled And frightened him so
that he spilled it! The Man in the Moon
wore a sad little face, For he wanted that
milk for his dinner; And he melted away,
like a snowdrift in May, Each night just a
little bit thinner. The Big Bear called to
the Little Bear "His tummy is
grumbling and griping. Now tell me please, if
we fed him some cheese, Would that keep the
poor man from pining?" |
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The merry green
fields of the lowland 🔊
It is suggested that this song is an ancestor of ‘Old MacDonald’, see
the Ozark Folksongs’ Volume 3. It was recorded by a Mr. Doney Hammontree in
1942 who learnt it circa 1900. I first came across it on ‘The Song Bag’ LP sung by Tony Saletan. Arranged here by Dany Rosevear. Find out more at: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63612n
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Oh, once I had a very fine hog, In the merry green fields of the lowland, I turned him in to be seen, In the merry green fields of the lowland. And an oink here, and an oink there, And naff-naff-naff and ev'rybody laugh as they go
past, The merry green fields of the lowland. Oh, once I had a very fine dog, In the merry green fields of the lowland, I turned him in to be seen, In the merry green fields of the lowland. And a bow-wow here and a bow-wow there And here a bow, there a bow, here a bow-wow And an oink here and an oink there, And naff-naff-naff and everybody laugh as they go
past, The merry green fields of the lowland. Oh, once I had a very fine turkey, In the merry green fields of the lowland, I turned him in to be seen, In the merry green fields of the lowland. And a gibble-gobble here and a gibble-gobble
there, And here a gobble, there a gobble, here a
gibble-gobble, And a bow-wow here and a bow-wow there, Here a bow, there a bow, here a bow-wow, And an oink here and an oink there, And naff-naff-naff and everybody laugh as they go
past, The merry green fields of the lowland. Oh, once I had a very fine sheep, In the merry green fields of the lowland, I turned him in to be seen, In the merry green fields of the lowland. And a blib-blab here and a blib-blab there, Here a blab, there a blab, here a blib-blab, And a gibble-gobble here and a gibble-gobble
there, Here a gobble, there a gobble, here a
gibble-gobble And a bow-wow here and a bow-wow there, And here a bow, there a bow, here a bow-wow, And an oink here and an oink there, And naff-naff-naff and everybody laugh as they go
past, The merry green fields of the lowland. |
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