AKA | Put your shoulder to the wheel |
First Published | 1865 |
Lyrics | Harry Clifton | Music | Charles Coote | Roud | RN9079 |
Music Hall performers | Harry Clifton |
Folk performances | Source singers: Turner, Edward, no date, USA : N. Dakota Dornan, Angelo 1954 Canada : New Brunswick Clift, William; 1860? England : Hampshire |
Some people you've met in your time no doubt Who never look happy or gay I'll tell you the way to get jolly and stout If you'll listen a while to my lay I've come here to tell you a bit of my mind And please with the same if I can Advice in my song you will certainly find And a motto for every man. So we will sing and banish melancholy Trouble may come; we'll do the best we can To drive care away, for grieving is a folly Put your shoulder to the wheel is a motto for every man. We cannot all fight in this 'battle of life' The weak must go to the wall So do to each other the thing that is right For there's room in this world for us all 'Credit refuse' if you've 'money to pay' You'll find it the wiser plan 'And a penny lay by for a rainy day' Is a motto for every man. A coward gives in at the first repulse A brave man struggles again With a resolute eye and a bounding pulse To battle his way amongst men For he knows he has one chance in his time To better himself if he can 'So make your hay while the sun doth shine' That's a motto for every man. Economy study but don't be mean A penny may lose a pound Thro' this world a conscience clean Will carry you safe and sound It's all very well to be free I will own To do a good turn when you can But Charity always commences at home' That's a motto for every man.
Another of Harry Clifton’s motto songs, found in a range of 19th-century broadsides and songbooks on both sides of the Atlantic. It’s been collected from the singing of several traditional singers, but I am not aware of it featuring in the repertoire of late 20th or 21st century folk singers, though popular entertainer, Stanley Holloway recorded it.
The earliest reference I can find suggests the song was first published by Hopwood and Crew in 1865 and there are subsequently numerous reports of the song being sung by amateurs in the British Isles and America.
This song is confusingly sometimes referred to as Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel, a title which is also sometimes used for a different Clifton song Work boys work and be contented.
As sung by Stanley Holloway:
Sources:
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- Kilgarriff Sing us
- Sheet Music from Levy collection (1868)
- Sheet Music: from University of Michigan (1868)
Last Updated on March 15, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: April 21, 2020