01 Rigs of the timeMelody & lyrics traditional. ArrAnged by Jon Boden.

This dates back to the Napoleonic Wars, and berates the tradesmen

who exploited the unstable economic situation for their own gain.

It was recorded for the BBC by E.J. Moeran in the Windmill

Inn, Sutton, Norfolk, on 27th October 1947, from the John W.

‘Charger‘ Salmons (1870-c.1951), who at the time lived in nearby

Stalham Green.

‘Charger‘ was part of a singing community which included Harry

Cox, William ‘Bullets‘ Miller, Elijah Bell, Charlie Chettleborough

and Walter ‘Waxy‘ Gales.

The recording of Salmons is on A-Beggin’ I Will Go (Folktrax,

FTX-021) and Bloody Waterloo (Folktrax, FTX-517), and a

transcript is published in Palmer, Roy (ed)., English Country

Songbook (London: Omnibus, 1979), pp. 53-54.

For further information on Salmons and Norfolk singing

see Heppa, Christopher, ‘Harry Cox and his Friends: Song

Transmission in an East Norfolk Singing Community c. 1896-

1960’, Folk Music Journal 8/5 (2005), pp. 569-593.

Here’s to the baker I must bring him inCharges tuppence a loaf and he’ll think it no sinWhen he do bring it in it’s no bigger than your fistAnd the top of yer loaf is popped off with the yeast

ChorusAnd honesty’s all out of fashionThese are the rigs of the times, times m’boysThese are the rigs of the time

Here’s to the butcher I must bring him inHe charges fourpence a pound and he’ll think it no sinSlaps his hand on the scale-weight to make them go downHe’ll swear it’s good weight when it wants half a pound

Here’s to the tailor who skimps on our clothesAnd the shoe maker who pinches our toesSo our bellies go empty our back-sides go bareIt’s no wonder we’ve reason to curse and to swear

Now the very best thing that the people could findIs too pop them all off in a high gale of windAnd the wind it will blow and the cloud it will burstAnd the biggest old rascal come tumbling down first

Pete Flood

02 joRdanMelody & lyrics traditional. ArrAnged by Jon Boden.

From the American white minstrel movement, this was written by Daniel

Decatur Emmett who was also responsible for ‘Dixie‘, ‘Old Joe Clark‘ and

‘The Blue-tailed Fly‘. Published in America in 1853, it travelled quickly

to England where it was printed on a number of ‘broadside‘ ballad sheets

which contain new topical references to the Indian Mutiny of 1857-1858.

Sabine Baring Gould, song collector and author of ‘Onward Christian

Soldiers‘, took two English oral versions from Thomas Darke and Sam

Fone of Holcombe Burnell, Devon, in the 1880-90s.

These can be found in Baring Gould, Sabine, Garland of Country Song

(London: Methuen, 1895) pp.22-23, and Palmer, Roy, Room for Company

(Cambrige: CUP, 1971) pp.34-35, both out of print.

Frankie Armstrong recorded Palmer’s version, available on Lovely On

The Water (Fellside, FECD151); this is the one Jon learnt. Baring Gould’s

version was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary on their 1962 recording

Moving (Warner, 1473) where the song acquired the title ‘Old Coat‘.

The broadsides are in the Madden Collection in Cambridge

and the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

I looked to the east, I looked to the westI saw John Ball a coming a callingWith four blind horses riding in the cloudsTo look on the other side of Jordan

ChorusPull of your old coat and roll up your sleevesJordan is a hard road to travel I believe

Thunder in the clouds, lighting in the treesWhat do you think that I told him?It’s goodbye son ’til the next kingdom comeAnd I’ll meet you on the other side of Jordan

The ladies of England have made a big addressAbout slavery and hardships accordingThey better look at home to their own white slavesThey’re starving on the English side of Jordan

There were snakes in Ireland not many years agoSt Patrick saw the vermin all a crawlingBut with his shillelagh he hit them on the headAnd he drove them ’cross the other side of Jordan

Jonah spent three days in the belly of a whaleThree days and two nights then accordingHe tickled him with a straw which caused him to laughAnd he chucked him on the other side of Jordan

Brendan Kelly

03 acRoss the linelyrics traditional/Boden. Melody Milton Nascimento ”clube de esquinA“. ArrAnged by Pete Flood.

Just as shanties are a truly international

genre, so this arrangement draws upon

material from a number of traditions.

The tune is ‘Clube Da Esquina No.2’

by Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges and

Márcio Borges, on the 1972 album Clube

Da Esquina (Blue Note/EMI). The

‘Clube da Esquina’ or ‘Corner’s Club’, in

Belo Horizonte, Brazil, was the regular

watering hole of the musicians on the

album, and has become synonymous

with the genre they created. Benjamin

Britten’s ‘Sea Interludes’ inspired Pete to

write the sax interjections. The words,

possibly Australian, are half-remembered

from a miscellaneous shanty album

borrowed by Jon from Winchester

Library ten years ago.

I’ve sailed the whole world over across the seven seasI courted my sweetheart underneath the Kaori trees I travelled with the northwind up to the Baring straightAround the horn and home again for that is the sailor’s fate

Across the line, the Gulf StreamWorking your life awayAround the horn and home againFor that is the sailor’s way

Across the barren wasteland of the frozen arctic seaThrough Polynesian breezes and southern storms sailed we The wind all in the rigging sings a lonely lullabyA sailor I have always been, and a sailor I will die

We sailed up to the northward, we sailed up to the eastWe reefed our sail in the strongest gale and stood in the calmest seaOcean bound by Dusky Sound and Pegasus through the straightPort Cooper, ocean, Tom Kane Bay for that is the sailor’s fate

Benji Kirkpatrick

04 london townMelody & lyrics traditional. ArrAnged by Paul Sartin.

Sung by Charlie Wills and chorus in The Sun, Powerstock, Dorset, in

August 1957, this was recorded by Mervyn Plunkett and features on First

I’m Going to Sing You a Ditty – Rural Fun and Frolics (Topic, TSCD 657)

in the Voice of the People collection of source and field recordings. Wills

was born in West Chinnock, Somerset, in 1877, and had a wide variety of

agricultural and horticultural jobs throughout his life whilst staying in

the Somerset and Dorset areas. He seems to have learnt some of his songs

from his mother, and as a child would entertain the workmen in the pub, a

location which continued to prove congenial to him for the rest of his life.

The song is on broadsides held at Cambridge and Oxford, the latter

printed by C. Cronshaw of Coppergate, York, between 1814 and 1850. It

was sung in various southern of English counties, as well as in East Anglia,

Scotland and Ireland. Wills was also recorded by Peter Kennedy, who

published the transcript in Folksongs of Britain & Ireland

(London: Cassell, 1975), p.423.

Up London city I made my wayUp Cheapside I chanced to strayWhere a fair, pretty maid I there did meetAnd I greeted her with kisses sweet

ChorusI was up to the rigs, down to the jigsUp to the rigs of London town

She took me to some house of sinAnd boldly then she entered inLoudly for supper she did callThinking that I would pay for it all

The supper over, the table clearedThe waiter brought white wine and redThe waiter brought white wine and redAnd the chamber-maid prepared a bed

Between the hours of one and twoShe asked me if to bed I’d goImmediately I did consentAnd along with this pretty maid then I went

Her cheeks were white, her lips were redI kissed her as she lay in bedBut as soon as she was fast asleepOut of the bed I did creep

I searched her pockets and there I foundA silver snuff-box and ten poundA golden watch and a diamond ringI took the lot and then I locked her in

Come all young men and listen to meIf you meet a pretty girl you use her freeUse her free but don’t get piedRemember me when I was up Cheapside

Justin Thurgur

Jon Boden

05 sloe gin {FrozeN GiN / The ViNeGar r eel / The Sloe}[Frozen gin (Spiers)/ The VinegAr reel (Boden)/ The sloe (traditional)]

ArrAnged by John Spiers & Jon Boden,Full bAnd ArrAngeMenT by Jon Boden.

In the spirit of the East Anglian step

dancing tradition, Frozen Gin was

written to celebrate the time when John’s

bottle of gin froze in the freezer. Given

that ethanol, which makes up 35-40%

of gin, only freezes at -112°C (170°F),

and most freezers are set at about

-18°C (-0.3999999999999986°F),

this was a truly miraculous event.

However : water, which looks like gin,

freezes at 0°C (32°F), and John was

living in a shared house at the time.

The Vinegar Reel may have been written

for similar reasons.

The Sloe is a traditional English country

dance tune, named after the fruit of the

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa).

06 couRting too slowMelody & lyrics traditional / Bellamy. ArrAnged by John Spiers & Jon Boden, Full bAnd ArrAngeMenT by Jon Boden.

This is another song which can be found

on a broadside in the Madden Collection,

Cambridge. The text was set to a tune

by singer, composer and arranger

Peter Bellamy (1944-1991), noted for

his work with vocal group The Young

Tradition, his settings of Kipling poems

and his ballad opera The Transports.

He recorded it on two 1975 albums, Tell

It Like It Was (Trailer, LER2089) and

Peter Bellamy (Green Linnet, SIF1001).

It is a close relation of the well-known

American song ‘On Top of Old Smokey’.

It was on one Monday morning and oh and it was soonI bought my pretty Betty a pair of new shoesA pair of new shoes and slippers alsoBut I lost my pretty Betty by courting too slowI lost my pretty Betty by courting too slow

I bought my pretty Betty a garland of greenAnd ribbons that you wear so fair to be seenAnd rings for her fingers all made of glittering goldBut I lost my pretty Betty by not being boldI lost my pretty Betty by not being bold

It was on one Tuesday evening and oh and it was lateI fain would have kissed her but I was too straightI was thinking how to gain her consent to be trueBut I lost my pretty Betty by courting too slowI lost my pretty Betty by courting too slow

For in there come a sailor all in his tarry trous*He went into the chamber where my true love wasHe kissed her and he flattered her, he flattered her soHe fair won the day by my courting too slowHe fair won the day by my courting too slow

So come all you bold fellows and pray take my adviceAnd when you go a-courting now don’t you be too niceBut you kiss all them pretty girls and you let them for to knowThat you don’t mean to lose them by courting too slowThat you don’t mean to lose them by courting too slow

Giles lewin

07 flash companyMelody & lyrics traditional. ArrAnged by Bellowhead.

Also known as ‘The Yellow Handkerchief’, the song dates back at least to nineteenth-century broadsides

printed in London. It was at one time very popular in parts of Suffolk, and Ralph Vaughan Williams came across it in Herefordshire in 1909. George Gardiner collected a couple of versions in Hampshire, one of

which was published by Frank Purslow in The Wanton Seed (London: EFDS, 1968), p.43.

Our melody and text are based on a recording of Mary Ann Haynes made by Mike Yates in Brighton, Sussex in 1975, issued on the English Folk Dance and Song Society album A Century of Song (EFDSS CD02). Haynes (née Milest) was born into a gypsy family in 1903, in a caravan behind the ‘Coach and Horses’ in Portsmouth. After many itinerant years she settled in Brighton, working as a flower-seller to support her family after the death of her husband. It is probable

that she learned most of her large repertoire from other travellers, and her son Ted was also recorded by Mike Yates. The gypsy tradition is represented on a number of recordings including Yates’ 2003 compilation Here’s Luck to a Man: Gypsy Songs and Music from South-

East England (Musical Traditions, MTCD320).

Oh the jigging and all the dancing it was all my delightAnd staying out late, my boys, been the ruin of me quiteStaying out late, my boys, like a great many moreIf it hadn’t’ve been for flash company I should never have been so poor

Once I had a colour as red as any roseBut now I’m as pale as the lilly that growsAs the lily in the garden, my beauty’s all goneIf it hadn’t’ve been for flash company I should never have been so poor

So take this yellow handkerchief in remembrance of meTie it safely round your neck when in flash companyFlash company’s been the ruin of a great many moreIf it hadn’t’ve been for flash company I should never have been so poorIf it hadn’t’ve been for flash company I should never have been so poor

andy Mellon

08 hopkinson’s favouRiteMelody traditional. ArrAnged by John Spiers & Jon Boden.

Concertina player Dave Townsend found the tune in a Lakeland fiddler’s

manuscript book in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library in Cecil Sharp

House, London (shelf mark QM 9721). It has the name Matthew Betham (or

possibly Botham), the date 1816, and the place-name Towcett (near Shap Fell)

on the inner pages. The internal names and dates are in the same hand as the

titles of the tunes, but the outer sheet is inscribed with the mysterious ‘William

Docker Newby Head’ in what looks like a completely different hand.

Dave Townsend passed on the tune to Oxford ensemble Magpie Lane, who

recorded it on Jack-in-the Green (Beautiful Jo, BEJOCD-22).

09 one may moRning eaRlyMelody & lyrics traditional. ArrAnged by Jon Boden.

This song is from the repertoire of the Copper family, who

know it as ‘By the Green Grove’. The Coppers, who have been

in Rottingdean, Sussex since at least 1593, have a singing

tradition which dates back at least to George Copper (born

in 1794), and has been passed on through ‘Honest John’,

‘Brasser’, Tom, Jim, John, Ron and Bob to the present

generation of ‘Young Coppers’. Many of the Coppers worked

on the land, a fact reflected in the subjects of their songs, and

Brasser and Tom would sing at Harvest Suppers and other

rural occasions; according to old ‘Budge’ Wickens,

Oh aargh, they could sing, Tommy would sing the song,

like, an’ ol’ Brasser ’ud come on the bass, look.

That sounded a real treat, Ye-e-agh.

The late Bob Copper wrote eloquently on his community

and its music, notably in the award-winning book A Song for

Every Season: A Hundred Years of a Sussex Farming Family

(London: Heinemann, 1971). The family website at www.

thecopperfamily.com contains lots more information.

One May morning early I chanced for to roamAnd strode through the fields by the side of the groveIt was there that I heard the harmless birds singAnd you never heard so sweetYou never heard so sweetYou never heard so sweet as the birds in the spring

At the end of the grove I sat my self downAnd the song of the nightingale echoed all aroundTheir song was so charming, their notes were so clearNo music, no songsterNo music, no songsterNo music, no songster with them can compare

All you that come here the small birds to hearI’ll have you pay attention so pray all draw nearAnd when you’re growing old you’ll have this to sayYou never heard so sweetYou never heard so sweetYou never heard so sweet as the birds on the spray

Paul Sartin

10 the outlandish knightlyrics traditional, Melody Martin Carthy. ArrAnged by John Spiers & Jon Boden, Full bAnd ArrAngeMenT by Jon Boden.

From Iceland down to Italy and Scandinavia down to Serbia this ballad (also called ‘Lady Isabel

and the Elf-Knight’) was found throughout Europe. Although the basic details of attempted

seduction and retribution remained universal, the parrot episode appears to be uniquely British.

Child has written about the ballad (Child number 4) in some detail and at some length in

his classic The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (USA: Houghton, 1882 -1898), now

both reprinted and digitised. He included very few tunes in his collection; this melody, by the

legendary Martin Carthy, first appeared on his album Shearwater (Pegasus, PEG 12) in 1972.

Lady Margaret she sits in her bower sewingMa-ba and the lilly baWhen she saw the knight with his horn a-blowingOn the very first morning of May

Oh I wish that I had that horn I hear blowingMa-ba and the lilly baAnd that young knight to sleep here on my breastOn the very first morning of May

Now the Lady she had these words scarce spokeMa-ba and the lilly baWhen in at her window the knight come a jumpingOn the very first morning of May

Oh strange it is, oh strange young womanMa-ba and the lilly baI can scarce blow my horn since I hear you a-callingOn the very first morning of May

Go fetch you gold from your father’s table Deliver it unto meAnd the two fastest horses in your father’s stableWhere there sat thirty and three

So he’s mounted him on the black black horseAnd she’s rode the dapple greyAnd they rode til they came to the broad sea-shoreJust three hours before it was day

Lie down, lie down off your horse he saysAnd deliver it up to meFor it’s six pretty maids I have drowned hereAnd the seventh one you shall be

Take off, take off all your clothes he criedAnd deliver them unto meFor they are too fine and costly robesFor to rot in the salt salt sea

Lie down, lie down off your horse she criedAnd turn your back unto meFor it’s not fitting that any gentlemanA naked lady should see

So he’s lighted him down off his horse so highAnd he’s turned his back unto sheAnd she’s catched him around the middle so smallAnd she’s tumbled him all down in the sea

Sometimes he sank, sometimes he swamAnd it’s ma-ba and the lilly baOh help, oh help me pretty mistressOr drowned I shall be /..

11 fRog’s legs & dRagon’s teeth[Frogs’s legs or FeTe du VillAge (traditional)/ drAgon’s TeeTh (Boden)] ArrAnged by Jon Boden.

Frog’s Legs was learnt by osmosis at pub sessions, in which it has

become popular in recent years. More widely and indeed correctly

known as ‘La Fete du Village’, it hails from a 1799 manuscript

compiled by William Mittel of New Romney in Kent.

Jon wrote Dragon’s Teeth for a production of Jason and the Argonauts

at the Battersea Arts Centre in 2003. In the Hellenic saga, which

may or may not be based on real events which may or may not have

taken place some time between 1400 and 2000 BC,

Jason sows agriculturally-enhanced dragon’s teeth which grow

into an army which then destroys itself down to the last man.

In the production, the fight was depicted by a rather good stick dance.

Lie there lie there oh you false young manLie there instead of meFor it’s six pretty maids you have drowned hereAnd the seventh one has drowned thee

So she’s mounted her on the black black horseAnd she’s led the dapple greyAnd she rode til she came to her father’s houseAn hour before it was day

A parrot sitting up at her window sideIt’s ma-ba and the lilly baOh where have you been my pretty mistressSo long before it is day

Don’t you prittle don’t you prattle my pretty pollyDon’t you tell the tales on meAnd your cage shall be made of the best glittering goldAnd your perch of the best ivory

But her father sitting up at his window sideOn hearing the parrot he did sayOh what is the matter my pretty pollyThat you cry so long before the day?

Oh there come a cat to my window sideAnd it’s ma-ba and the lilly baAnd I was a calling my pretty mistressJust to frighten that pussy cat away

Gideon Juckes

12 fiRe maRengoMelody & lyrics traditional. (insTruMenTAl riFF AT The end by Jon Boden) ArrAnged by Jon Boden.

Whilst fierce debate rages over whether or not this is a

hauling shanty or cotton-screwing shanty, it was almost

certainly sung on ships docked in the southern USA as well as

further afield, latterly in a session attended by Jon at

‘The Colpitts’ in Durham which has now been banned

by the brewery.

One possible, if slightly tenuous origin for the chorus line

may be the Battle of Marengo. On 14th June, 1800,

Napoleon and his general Desaix narrowly avoided defeat

by the Austrians under General Melas.

During the action in northern Italy the Austrians suffered

14,000 casualties, and the French 7000.

Napoleon named his most famous horse after the day.

Marengo went on to carry him at a number of subsequent

battles, and is thought to be the horse in David’s Napoleon

Bonaparte Crossing the Alps of 1801. Captured by the British

after Waterloo it was put on show in England,

and after its death the skeleton was displayed in the National

Army Museum. Hamilton, Jill, Marengo:

The Myth of Napoleon’s Horse (London: Fourth Estate,

2000) contains more equine information.

Oh lift him up and carry him alongFire Marengo, fire away!Set him down where he belongsFire Marengo, fire away!

Stow him in his hull belowIt’s stay he must but then he’ll go

Screw that cart and screw it downLet’s get back home to Liverpool town

When I get back to Liverpool townI’ll cast a line to little Sally Brown

I’ll haul her high I’ll haul her lowI’ll bust her blocks and make her go

Sally she’s a pretty little craftHot shot to the fore and rounded aft

John Spiers

13 death and the ladylyrics traditional. Melody by Jon Boden. ArrAnged by Jon Boden.

The theme of a conversation between the grim reaper and a

lovely young maiden has featured in European ballads, plays

and paintings since the Middle Ages; existing English

broadsides, also entitled ‘The Great Messenger of Mortality’

and ‘Life and Death Contrasted’ date back to the late 17th

century. A number of oral versions were collected in the south

and south west of England during the early 20th century,

including the one published by the collector Alfred Williams in

Folk Songs of the Upper Thames(London: Duckworth, 1923),

from which our version is derived. As Williams collected no

melodies at all, the words are set to a reworking of ‘Rakish

Paddy’, or ‘Caber Feidh’ (‘The Deer’s Antlers’),

claimed by both the Irish and Scots.

Frank Purslow has written about the song in The Constant

Lovers (London: English Folk and Dance Society Publications,

1972), p.121, and further studies can be found in Journal of

English Folk Dance & Song Society 5/1 (1946) pp.19-20, and

Vaughan Williams and Lloyd’s Penguin Book of English Folk

Songs now revised by Malcolm Douglas and issued as Classic

English Folk Songs (London: EFDSS, 2003).

As I walked out alone one dayAll in the merry month of MayI met a old man on my wayAll in the morning early

His head was bald, his beard was greyHis cheeks were like the mortal clayI asked him how he came that wayAll in the morning early

My name is Death oh don’t you seeLords, dukes and squires bow down to meAnd you must come along with meAll in the morning early

I’ll give you gold and riches rareI’ll give you costly robes to wearI’ll give you all my earthly shareIf you’ll spare me a little while longer

Lady leave your robes asideNo longer glory in your prideNo more in life you may abideSo come along with me

And then the mortal toll was paidAnd all alone this pretty maidBy Death so cruelly was betrayedAnd we all come stumbling after

rachael McShane

Bellowhead would like to thank:

Kate Longmate; Ulli Hetscher; Mark Whyles; Nigel Morton;

Mark Anstey; Suzi Lazenby; Ben Mandelson; Rob Keyloch;

Alan Levermore and all at Proper; Harriet Simms; Frankie Armstrong;

Tim Healey; Ro and Tim at Turan Audio; Oliver Knight; Ben Ivitsky;

David Owen; David Angel; Tom Longmate; The PRS Foundation;

John Turner and Martyn Banks at The Music Room; Steve Rouse;

Andy Tobin; Martin Graebe, Tom Brown, Nick Barber, Keith Chandler,

Christopher Heppa, John Howson, Frank Purslow, Bob Shatwell,

Dave Townsend, Mike Yates, and Steve Roud‘s wonderful song index

for help on liner notes; Alison Flood for letting us take over the Mill

for rehearsal; Julie and the Wherwell Village Hall committee;

Doug and Sue Bailey and Jennie, James, William, and Joseph Sartin

for their wonderful hospitality.

Our fantastically talented and very flexible team of deps: John Dipper;

Dave Price; Carl Raven; Andy Grappy; Dave Powell; Beth Porter;

Damien O’ Kane; Geoff Baxter and Helena Reynolds.

Fay Hield and Polly Boden; Amanda Whatley and Bryony Spiers;

Chloë Plester; Caleb and Mossie May Kirkpatrick; Sue Harris;

John Kirkpatrick; Pei Fen Sung; The Juckes and Abbott family;

Nicole Visser; Mike & Ruth Thurgur; Rebecca Thurgur and Matt Thomas;

Anna Shepherd and Charlie; Kath Boddy and Josie Flood;

Chris and Jay McShane. “Thanks Mum” … from Brendan.

Gideon would like to thank John Philip Sousa for ruining his back.

The musicians are

Jon Boden – VocAls, Fiddle, TAMbourine

John Spiers – d/g sAlTArelle Melodeon (TrAcks 3,4,10,13), d/g oAkwood Melodeon (TrAcks 5,11), c/F sAlTArelle Melodoen (TrAcks 6,7,11,12), hohner Pokerwork Melodeon in dMin/gMin (TrAcks 1,8).JeFFries 50 key Anglo-concerTinA in c/g (TrAcks 2,9). bAcking VocAls

Benji Kirkpatrick – guiTAr (TrAcks 3,6), bouzouki (TrAcks 10,11,12,13), MAndolin (TrAcks 5,8), Tenor bAnJo (TrAcks 1,2,4,7), bAcking VocAls

Andy Mellon – TruMPeT, Flugelhorn (TrAcks 3,6,10), bAcking VocAls

Justin Thurgur – TroMbone

Brendan Kelly – sAxes, bAss clArineT, bAcking VocAls

Gideon Juckes – sousAPhone, TubAs, bAcking VocAls

Pete Flood – druMs, glockensPiel, sToMP-box, Frying PAn, kniVes & Forks, PArTy blowers, clockwork Toys, cAsio Vl-Tone, MegAPhonic scrATching

Rachael McShane – cello, Fiddle, VocAls

Paul Sartin – Fiddle, oboe, bAcking VocAls, MegAPhone (TrAck 7)

Giles Lewin – Fiddle, bAgPiPes (TrAcks 2,11), bAcking VocAls