| AKA | Fifty Years Ago |
| First Published | 1867 |
| Lyrics | Harry Clifton | Music | Harry Clifton | Roud | RN13773 |
| Music Hall Performers | Harry Clifton |
| Folk performances | Source singers: Unknown (collected by Alfred Williams) ca 1910, Wiltshire, England Henry Burstow, 1911, Sussex, England?? George Fradley , 1984, Derbyshire, England Modern folk performances Muckram Wakes, 1970 |
Oh I was born some years ago When George the Third was King.... And yet it seems but yesterday, For time is on the wing.... Yes I am one of the olden time, And may be thought too slow.... But give to me the good old days Of fifty years ago. Yes I am one of the olden time, And may be thought too slow.... But give to me the good old days Of fifty years ago..... Yes give to me the good old days Of fifty years ago. I bear the name of Benjamin, Tho' some they call me Ben.... And thro' this life I've roll'd along For three score years and ten...... The world is always on the move, At least they tell us so..... And ev'ry day we must improve, but I should like to know..... If folks are any better now Than fifty years ago! When I was young then boys were boys, And went to bed at ten..... And never put on airs at all Or ap'd the ways of men...... But now they call for bitter beer, And in your face will blow...... The smoke from penny Cubas foul, Oh I should like to know...... What would our parents thought of that Some fifty years ago! At midnight too we hear young men With husky voices sing..... "Champagne Charlie is my name!" And they know it's no such thing.... To hear them praise a sparkling wine, It makes a man severe...... When he knows they cannot raise the price Of half a pint of beer...... Yes they know they cannot raise the price Of half a pint of beer..... Our ladies too, in dress, observe They cannot draw the line..... But wear both hats and jackets, and Appear quite masculine..... Of course they play at croquet, but They do not stitch or sew..... And chignons would surprise the folks Of fifty years ago....... Our girls would scorn to wear a wig Some fifty years ago......
Harry Clifton‘s song, I’m one of the olden time or 50 years ago (Roud 13773) appears in numerous broadsides and songbooks of the 19th century on both sides of the Atlantic. A version was collected from an unknown singer by Alfred Williams, the early 20th century Wiltshire song collector. It was also collected by Mike Yates from the singing of George Fradley in 1984.
Henry Burstow (1826-1916) of Horsham, Sussex was a singer and collector of songs – and included a song called Fifty Years Ago in his repertoire of over 420 songs. However, several different songs called 50 years ago exist, including one which starts with first line An old couple they were standing side-by-side (RNV70137). As Burstow only gave us the title, we cannot be sure whether he was singing the Clifton song or another.
Clifton himself first started singing the song in 1867, the same year it was first published:
Muckram Wakes recorded a version of the Harry Clifton song taken from the singing of George Fradley and you may be able to access that version via a commercial streaming service. Unfortunately I have been unable to find a publicly accessible recording
Sources:
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A13773 #13773
- Mudcat thread which includes words and music courtesy of Steve Gardham and the Artful Codger
- Sheet Music:Personal Copy
- Sheet music cover also available from the Victoria and Albert Museum
- Sleevenotes to A map of Derbyshire, Muckrum Wakes
- Kilgarriff Sing us
Last Updated on October 29, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: May 15, 2020
