For full song texts click on song titles in the left table.
1: Drive Sorrows Away
As it says in the Copper Family Songbook where the song is given the title Thousands or More - a good harmony song which became very popular in folk clubs up and down the country.
The time passes over more cheerful and gay,
Since we’ve learnt a new act to drive sorrows away.
Sorrows away, sorrows away, sorrows away, Since we’ve learnt a new act to drive sorrows away.2: A Sweet Country Life
The song was printed on broadsides and has been collected throughout the south of England.
A sweet country life is to me both dear and charming,
For to walk abroad on a fine summer’s morning;
Your houses, your cities, your lofty gay towers,
In nothing can compare with the sweet shady bowers.
Your houses, your cities, your lofty gay towers, vIn nothing can compare with the sweet shady bowers.3: The Lads that Follow the Plough
A west country song in praise of the ox ploughing.
Come along little ploughboy it's awaken in the morn,
The cock upon the dunghill is a-blowing of his horn
The sun above the spinney his golden face does show,
Therefore hasten to the linny of the oxen to the plough.
Chorus:
With my hump along, jump along, here drives ma lad along,
Purty, Sparkle, Berry, Goodluck, Speedwell, Cherry,
We are the lads that can follow the plough,
Oh we are the lads that can follow the plough.
4: The Bailiff’s Daughter of Islington
One of the classic narrative ballads in Francis J Child Collection that has often been printed and is still widely known.
There was a youth and a well bred youth,
He was a squire’s son;
And he fell in love with the bailiff’s daughter dear,
That lived in Islington.
5: The Young and Single Sailor
The song is one of a class of songs known as broken-token songs.
A fair maid walking all in her garden,
A brisk young sailor she chanced to spy;
He steppèd up to her thinking for to view her,
And he says, “Fair maid, can you fancy I?”
He stepped up to her thinking for to view her, And he says, “Fair maid, can you fancy I?”6: The Noble Lord
Quite a rare song that had been collected only a few times in the south of England.
’Tis of a noble lord, my boys, as any in the land,
He had squires to attend him and servants at command;
One day as they were walking to take a pleasant air,
That lord he killed the squire as quicklye you shall hear.
7: Jim the Carter Lad
A song that often published on broadsides and still widely known throughout England, Scotland and North America.
My name is Jim the carter lad, a jolly cock am I,
I always am contented be the weather wet or dry;
I snap my fingers at the snow and whistle at the rain,
I’ve braved the storm for many a day and can do it again.
Chorus:
Crack, crack goes the whip, I whistle and I sing,
I sit upon my wagon, I’m as happy as a king;
My horse is always willing and I am never sad,
There’s none can lead a jollier life than Jim the carter lad.
8: The Horn Fair Song
A rare song associated with the ancient Horn Fair still held in the Sussex village of Ebernoe.
As I was a walking one fine summer’s morn,
So soft was the wind and the waves on the corn;
I met a pretty damsel upon a grey mare,
And she was a-riding unto Horn Fair.
9: Farmer Giles
Bob remembers this as a regular party piece - a countryman’s song denigrating Londoners and the big city types and putting one over on them.
I come from the country, me name it is Giles,
And I’ve travelled a hundred and twenty odd miles;
For a simple old farmer I know I’ve been took,
But a ain’t such a fool as you think that I look.
Right toora lye oora lye oora lye ay.10: Robin Hood and the Tanner
Robin Hood meets a stranger, they fight, the stranger wins and is praised for his prowess and is asked to join the outlaw band.
It's of a bold tanner in fair Devonshire,
His name it was Arthur O Brann;
There wasn't a man in all Devonshire,
Could make this bold Arthur to stand,
Ay, could make this bold Arthur to stand.11: The Golden Glove
An old broadside ballad collected numerous times throughout the British Isles and in North America.
It’s of a young squire near Plymouth we hear,
Some nobleman’s daughter he courted so fair;
He asked for to marry her, it was his intent,
That all friends and relations might give their consent.
12: The Echoing Horn
There are several similar hunting songs with this title and one is included in the Holm Valley Beagles song book and another is in the Copper Family repertoire.
The glittering dewdrops that spangles in the morn,
The glittering dewdrops that spangles in the morn;
Oh the bright shining dewdrops, oh the bright shining dewdrops,
The bright shining dewdrops that spangles in the morn.
Chorus:
Oh echo, bright echo the echoing horn,
Oh echo, bright echo the echoing horn;
As she skims through the dew on a bright shiny morn,
How sweet it is to follow the echoing horn,
How sweet it is to follow the echoing horn.
13: The Bold Fisherman
This rather beautiful song has been often collected in southern England. On the face of it the song seems to tell the tale of a young girl meeting a fisherman who turns out to be a lord in disguise. However, the song contains an element of Christian symbolism and the lord may be interpreted as Christ, the fisher king. Whatever interpretation is put on the song, it is usually greatly treasured by singers. The song is also treasured by musicians and musicologists as being a fine example of a tune in 5/4 time.
As I walked out one May morning down by the river side,
There I beheld a bold fisherman a rowing on the tide;
A rowing on the tide, There I beheld a bold fisherman a rowing on the tide.
14: Carol for the Twelfth Day
A wassailing song from Cornwall.
Sweet master of this habitation with our mistress be so kind,
As to grant an invitation that we may this favour find;
To be now invited in, then with mirth we will begin,
Happy, sweet and pleasant songs which unto this time belongs.
Let every loyal, honest soul, Contribute to the wassail bowl.15: Spanish Ladies
Spanish Ladies is usually considered to be a capstan shanty - that is, a shanty sung to keep time in turning the capstan to raise the anchor and leave port.
Farewell and adieu to you Spanish ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain;
We’ve received orders to sail for Old England,
And we hope very shortly to see you again.
Chorus:
We’ll rant and we’ll roar like true British sailors,
We’ll rant and we’ll roar all o’er the salt seas;
Till we strike soundings in the channel of Old England,
From Ushant to Scilly is forty-five leagues.
16: Spread the Green Branches
An old, rare and rather beautiful song that Bob learned from an old neighbour of his mother's.
Oh spread the green branches oh whilst I am young,
So well did I like my love so sweeltlye she sung;
Was ever a man in such happy estate,
As me with my Flora, fair Flora so brave.
17: Lost Lady Found
A song that circulated on broadsides that has been widely collected in Britain and North America.
’Tis of a young damsel that lived all alone,
For the sake of her parents she sadly did moan;
She had but one uncle, two trustees besides,
That were left all alone for this young lady’s guide.
18: The Rusty Highwayman
The song is known widely in Britain and North America and under several titles - The Cheshire Farmer, The Highwayman Outwitted or Catch me Bold Rogue if You Can.
In Cheshire there lived an old farmer,
His daughter to market did go;
A-thinking that no one would harm her,
As she travelled the roads to and fro.
A-thinking that no one would harm her, As she travelled the roads to and fro.19: The Drowned Lovers
The narrator overhears a maid lamenting for her lover lost at sea and proposes marriage. Turning down the offer, she throws herself into the ocean.
As I walkèd out down by the sea shore,
Where the wind and the waves and the billows did roar;
There I heard a strange voice make a terrible sound,
Was the wind and the waves and the echoes all round.
Crying, "Oh, oh my love has gone he's the youth I adore, He's gone and I never shall see him no more."20: You've Got to Hit the Bullseye
A rarely collected comic song also called The Shooting Gallery.
It’s through a shooting gallery I’m settled now for life,
For there I first beheld the girl I since have made my wife;
She held a rifle in her hand in such a winning way,
And when I took it from her she smilingly did say:
“You’ve got to hit the bulleye before you ring the bell,
Take a steady aim love and try to do it well;
Hold your rifle higher and don’t let it misfire,
You’ve got to hit the bulleye before you ring the bell.”
Credits: Recorded by Tom Spiers at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival in May 2009. Design & transcriptions by Peter Shepheard. All songs traditional arranged by the singer except where noted.
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