Collected from the singing of: Richardson, Arthur; England : Suffolk ; 1964-65 Elm, Don; England : Lincolnshire : 1970 Ling, Ruby England : Suffolk : Aldeburgh 1975-80
THE OLD GREY COAT
sung by Mr Billy Williams
(Transcribed from 1909 International Zonophone Company recording by John Baxter)
[Spoken] A little story about my old grey coat
I'd sooner lose me life than lose me old grey coat
I've had it since the day that I got wed
Why, it comes in very handy for the servant's overall
And to cover up the kids when they're in bed
It's tailor-made and fits me
Yes there's not the slightest doubt
And every time I wear it you can hear people shoutYou've still got your old grey coat on
You still wear the same coat, Charlie
Why don't you boil it down and make a pot of fat(?)
Or cut it up and make your wife a merry widow hat
I don't want to talk about it, Charlie
But there's one thing I would like to mention
If me old grey coat keeps another year afloat
Why its bound to get the old age pension
I'll never part with it, I'll keep it till the day I die
I'll wear it when I leave this world of care
And if I go to heaven and the angels don't object
I'll wear me bloomin' old grey coat up there
So don't you be a bit surprised when to wake up one find morn
And hear the angel Gabriel a-blowing on his horn
A hit for Billy Williams, recorded in 1909, which featured in the repertoire of several traditional singers in England 1960s and 70s.
Advertisements in local newspapers suggest that Billy Williams was recorded singing this song using an early sound cinema technology called “The Cinephone” but as yet I have not found a moving picture recording. (Evening Star -05 Oct 1909 and Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser – 16 Oct 1909)
Collected from the singing of: Hewitt, Arthur; England : Suffolk : 1953 Syrett, Gordon; England : Suffolk : 1982
From The Empire and Alhambra Songster (at the VWML)
Money that makes the mare to go is a saying old but true.
And when you've got the ready cash your friends will stick like glue.
But when your purse is empty, those friends you thought sincere.
Will proudly turn upon their heels and quickly disappear.
It is then you murmer to yourself, "I must have been a fool.
To let those artful fellows make me their ready tool.
But if fortune smiles on me again, I'll bet you will rely.
The only one that I will trust is my M.O.N.E.Y."
M.O.N.E.Y. that is the stuff to bring you joy.
When you've got the L.S.D. everybody seems so free.
Folk you've never seen before, flock around you by the score.
Girls to win your love will try, for your M.O.N.E.Y..
The parson preaches in the church, but does not do it free,
The Lawyer gives advice but then, he always wants his fee,
The butcher soon will smell a rat if funds are getting low
If you want your meat on credit he will quickly answer "No!"
The landlord too is so polite if you your rent can pay,
But miss a quarter and you'll find the bailiffs in next day.
And wives seem cold and distant if to stint them you should try,
And won't be civil till they get their M.O.N.E.Y.
How oft' a girl of eighteen weds a man that's old and grey.
And vows upon the alter to love, honour and obey,
She spends his money lavishly on jewellery and clothes.
And when his back is turned will put her finger to her nose;
She doesn't care a pin for him, but when he's by her side,
She'll smile and pat his wrinkled cheeks, and think it's time he died,
And oft' she'll meet a former beau at night upon the sly,
And on him she will spend the old man's M.O.N.E.Y.
Several late 19th century songs feature the proverb money makes the mare to go – a saying which probably goes back to the 16th century. However, only one of these seems to have passed into the repertoire of traditional singers – a song published in 1886 under the title M.O.N.E.Y, with words and music by CA Page, performed by Sam Torr – a brief reference was made to the song in this rather snooty review:
Not to be confused with the later song L.S.D. or Money makes the mare to go (1903) by Edgar Bateman sung by Fanny Leslie.
You can hear Gordon Syrett sing it as M-O-N-E-Y on John Howson’s excellent survey of traditional music making in Mid-Suffolk, Many a Good Horseman, available from Veteran CDs. It was also sung under the title L.S.D. – Landlord’s Special Ditty by Arthur Hewitt, landlord of the Blaxhall Ship in east Suffolk in 1953.
Griffiths Moss, Billie Manders, Stan Stafford and others.
Folk performances
Collected from the singing of: Keble, Gordon; England : Suffolk : 1972 Brazil, Harry; England : Gloucestershire; 1977 Smith, Florence; Canada : Quebec : 1977 Ling, Ruby England : Suffolk : Aldeburgh 1975-1980 Ryder, Mr. E.C.; England : Hampshire : 1982 Ryder, E.C. (Charlie) & Mrs.; England : Hampshire : 1983
The Little Old Church in the Valley
By Gus Kahn, Gene Arnold, Egbert Van Alstyne
My memory has painted a picture for me
In colours of silver and blue
And framed in the gold of the dear "Used To Be"
I see the old church that I knew
In the little old church in the valley
Where I first learned of sorrow and joy
I can see mother there
With her head bowed in prayer
As she prayed for her wandering boy
It was there that I first found my Sally
Like an angel on earth so it seems
When she sang sweet and low in the long long ago
In the little old church of my dreams
The old friendly faces are near to me now
The same old sweet songs greet my ears
The Parson is praying, the heads gently bow
And slowly my eyes fill with tears
A song from the 1930s written and composed by Gus Kahn and Egbert Van Alstyne, songwriters associated with America’s Tin Pan Alley. Gene Arnold, a well-known radio announcer, was also given a writing credit. It’s hard not to suspect that this was a form of “payola” – a bribe given by a music publisher to ensure airplay.
In the United States it was equally likely to be sung by cowboy crooners or dance band singers. In Britain it was widely performed in the summer of 1931 in seaside variety shows, not strictly speaking Music Hall, but closely related. Amongst a myriad of performers, early adopters included Griffiths Moss, who performed it with his concert party at the Palladium Llanduudno, and Billie Manders’ who performed it with his troupe The Quaintesques at the Amphitheatre Rhyll.
The song featured in the repertoire of a number of a number of traditional performers.
Here it is sung by Turner Leighton and Clarence “Tandy” Johnstone, African-American performers who enjoyed huge success in England between the mid-1920s and mid 30s
Collected from the singing of: Bicknell, Mrs. Y.; England : Sussex ; 1905 Pardon, Walter; England : Norfolk ; 1989
"GOING HOME" or The Miners Return.
Written by J. P. HARRINGTON.
Composed and Sung by LEO DRYDEN.
In the days of the past I was forced to leave home,
In the mines of Australia to toil;
For "hard times" at home sent me far o'er the sea,
There was no work for sons of the soil.
As I bade my dear mother and father farewell,
Said I, "Dad I'll not be long away"
Now twelve years have passed, fickle fortune has smiled.
So I'm leaving Australia to-day.
I'm going back to my home again,
Far away over the sea;
Back to the scenes of my childhood, Where there's a welcome for me.
Many years have passed away,
Since I left my native shore;
May God speed the vessel that carries .me home, To my dear old home once more.
And I sailed to the South with a schoolmate of mine,
He and I worked and shared the one claim,
We toiled day by day in the heat of the sun,
Sharing "luck" good and bad just the same.
But a cowardly blow, laid my dear partner low,
He who struck it I never could tell;
But close to my heart I've his share of our gold,
For his mother and dear sister Nell.
"Good-bye lads, I'm going" said I to the boys,
"Have just one loving drink ere we part,
"I'm going to the land that lies o'er the sea
"To my birthplace the home of my heart
Then as rough honest hands held my own in their grip,
Somehow the "Good-bye" wouldn't come,
We knew there was "one" who'd "gone home" long before
'Twas my own dear dead schoolmate and chum.
It is included in the Roud song index because it was submitted as part of the West Sussex Gazette’s Sussex Songs competition in 1905. It was also collected from the singing of Walter Pardon by Jim Carole and Pat MacKenzie.
Collected from the singing of: Gates, Mrs.(?); England; 1972 Payne, Ernie; England : Avon; 1979 Modern performances Cosmotheka
I'VE ONLY COME DOWN FOR THE DAY
(Francis Hunter and Day No.916 Sixpenny Popular Edition)
Written and composed by Frank Leo.
Sung by Sam Mayo
When I was young I'd an Eton boy's suit,
Tho' I didn't go to that famous school.
Still 'twas an Eton suit, true;
And part of it's moth-eaten too.
I only wore it to go to the school treat;
I wanted to swank as they say.
We went to Hastings, and very nice too, but
We only went down for the day.
I asked an old chap where the park was;
He stutter'd; here's how he began:
"You ta-ta-ta-take the third tur-tur-tur-turning,
And go-go-go straight as you can,
Then tur-tur-tur-turn to your le-le-le-left
And th-th-th-then yer best way
Is to go- go- go- go—"; I said,
"That'll do; thank you;
I've only come down for the day".
Everyone stared at my Eton Boy's suit
As tho' to say, "He's well-to-do!"
Well-to-do and with a few ...
Just place the accent on the "do"
Talk about beggars, a lot tried to touch me,
But I pushed them all on one side.
There was one chap with one leg and on crutches
Came hobbling up to me and cried:
"You've got a kind face, my young feller,
I hope an old man you'll excuse.
I've lost my left leg by an accident, mate,
And a leg ain't a nice thing to lose.
You're lucky, my son, you ain't lost any legs;
I've lost one, I'm sorry to say".
I said, "Well I'd help you to find it, old boy, but
I've only come down for the day".
I don't know if it was my Eton suit,
But but all our boys gave me the slip
As I threw stones in the sea,
An old fellow came up to me
He cried "Hallo! sonny, are you a native?"
I answered "Now what's the idea?
Am I a "native"! d'yer think I'm an oyster?"
He said: "I mean were you born here?"
A famous old town, boy, is HastingsAs history records will teach
Why, William the Conqueror landed at Hastings,
Yes! Landed on this very beach
I'll give you a shilling my boy, for yourself
If you can tell me straight away
When did William land? I said "I didn't see him,
I've only come down for the day"
There as I sat on a seat all alone
A party of lunatics pass'd.
From some asylum they'd be,
And one girl look'd so hard at me.
She broke away unobserved by her keepers
And said to me, "Hello, my sweet".
That balmy girl she chuck'd me under the chin,
And then I chucked her under the seat.
Said she, "This is our wedding morning,
And soon we shall be man and wife.
We'll love one another for ever and ever
And settle in Hastings for life.
We'll just have two children to start with, I think:
A boy and a girl; what d'you say?"
I said, "Well I think, miss, you're asking too much, miss;
I've only come down for the day".
There on the beach, a teetotal brigade
Had gathered a very large crowd.
I thought, I may as well stand
And hear the sweet strains of their band
It wasn't bad but somehow the big drum
Seem'd to worry the drum of my ear.
When that was over, an old chap got up and
He said "My friends! Be of good cheer,
"We're gathered together this morning
To tell you how wicked you've been
To stop you from spending your money on drink, we
Shall pass round our tambourine.
And now my dear friends if you've sinn'd in your lives,
Come up and confess it, I pray!"Said I "Well I'd like to confess all my sins, but
I've only come down for the day"
A song from the Halls of the 1910s, written and composed by Frank Leo performed in the Halls by Sam Mayo. The song has been collected twice from traditional singers in England.
Like many humorous songs from the Halls, this one reflects the prejudices of the time, and mocking a person with a speech impediment (as in the first chorus) is surely no longer be acceptable.
The song was the subject of a brief and seemingly very polite copyright case as can be seen here in this brief story from The Era, the main business newspaper for the Halls.
Here’s a recording of Sam Mayo singing a shortened version, slightly different to the one published in the sheet music (reproduced above):
Sam Mayo, Jack Pleasants, Ernie Mayne, GS Melvin, Fred Barnes
Folk performances
Collected from the singing of: Alice Kane recalled singing this song as a child in Ulster in the early 20th century
WHERE DO FLIES GO IN THE WINTER TIME?
Written and composed by Sam Mayo & Frank Leo
Performed by Jack Pleasants
A schoolmaster was standing in his schoolroom with his scholars
Like a schoolmaster has often stood before
His scholars stood before him just like scholares always will stand
And like scholars used to stand in days of yore
A fly flew in the schoolroom, like a fly will often fly in
And it settled on the schoolmaster's bald head
He flicked it off, it came back, then he flicked it off again
And then the schoolmaster to all his scholars said
'Where do flies go in the Winter time?
Do they go to gay Paree?
When they've finished buzzing round our beef and ham
When they've finished jazzing round our raspberry jam
Do they clear like swallows every year?
To a distant foreign clime
Tell me, tell me, where do flies go in the Winter time?'
An express train was running once expressedly for the people
Who'd expressed a wish to go by the express
And in one first class carriage, two old fellows gassing
And the subject of their gas, you'll never guess
It lead up to an argument, and then they started fighting
And when one took his revolver out to shoot
The other pulled the cord that stopped the train
And when the guard walked up, he said
'Oh guard, can you end the dispute.'
When Parliament was sitting once, well, when I say was sitting
Some were standing up, but you know what I mean
The members well remembered how Lloyd George got quite excited
And the 'House' has never yet seen such a scene
Bottomley, he shouted, 'Where does Britain's money go to?'
And then Lloyd George in a temper quickly rose
And said, There's your four
Hundred pounds and other things to pay for
Gentlemen, we all know where the money goes, but
A song recalled by Alice Kane (1908-2003), a song she learnt in her Ulster childhood.
Originally written and composed by Frank Leo and Sam Mayo, it was performed in a many pantomimes in winter 1919/20.
Sam Mayo can be seen performing a medley of his songs in an early film on the British Pathe site. The film includes an extract of Mayo’s answer song I Know Where the Flies Go
Collected from the singing of: Ling, Ruby; England : Suffolk; 1975-80
WIRELESS ON THE BRAIN
monologues.co.uk
If I ever meet that son of a gun who first invented wireless
I'll kill 'im, I'll kill 'im, I'll have his bally gore
At listening-in my dear old Dutch is absolutely tireless
And when I want to fall asleep and snore
She went and bought a wireless set and what a wreck I feel
We 'ave a bloomin' opera with every blinkin' meal.
My wife Jane she's got wireless on the brain
While she's taking messages, I send S.O.S-ages
Even in my bye-bye, she cries, 'You lazy Turk
Can't you 'ear the wireless. It's time you started work.'
She gabbles about her wireless ways, her aerials and broadcasting
No error, a terror my old girl's going to be
And when I sit down at breakfast time, I've 'ad to sit there fasting
'Cos she, all smiles, is listening-in you see
She says, Lloyd George is speaking now
Then I shout good and strong
'Ere, ain't it nearly time some wireless kippers came along.
I jolly well wish that missis of mine had never met Marconi
I'm worried, I'm flurried, I tremble like a mouse
I'm pretty well near off my filbert, and I'm not so far from stoney
For everything is wireless in our house
Our wireless dog keeps barking outside on his wireless chain
And upstairs in the attic they've 'ad wireless twins again.
My wife Jane she's got wireless on the brain
While she's taking messages, I send S.O.S-ages
Even in my bye-bye, she's shouting out, 'Police
Who's upset the turkey. He's mopping up the grease?'
A song from the early 1920s, lyrics written by John P Harrington with music by Howard Flynn. It was performed by the popular comedian Ernie Mayne
In the 1970s it was collected by Ginette Dunn from the singing of Ruby Ling, one of a generation of great pub singers active in and around Suffolk in the 1960s and 70s.
The Two Burnley Mashers, The Carrick Smashers, Two Fleetwood Mashers, The Oldham Mashers, The Rochdale Mashers, The Quarry Bank Mashers, etc The Brothers Malone?
First Published
unknown
Writer/composer
unknown
Roud
RN2346
Music Hall Performers
George Holt
Folk performances
Collected from the singing of: THE TWO BURNLEY MASHERS, No name, England : Lancashire, 1938 ASHTON MASHERS, Collins Eddie / Hazel, England : Yorkshire, 1964 The QUARRY BANK MASHERS, Hadley, Mr & Mrs, England : Staffordshire, 1971 FLEETWOOD MASHERS, Wheatly, Phil , England : Lancashire, 1985 Modern performances Five Penny Piece (as The Ashton Mashers) The Houghton Weavers (as The Burnley Mashers and The Rochdale Mashers) The Oldham Tinkers (as The Rochdale Mashers) Penny Black Folk (as The Blackpool Mashers)
THE TWO BURNLEY MASHERS
[From hand-written sheet music with additions from typed lyrics, both from the file held at Burnley Library (1958). This variant was also being sung in 1927 ]
They call us the two Burnley Mashers
That's because we go out on the mash
We both wear tall hats, we've no shirts to our backs
And it's seldom we've got any cash
We oft times bring out the new fashions
While others they stick to their old
And though we are just twenty seven
We're handsome, stout hearted and bold.
And we sing tra-la-la as we walk down the street
For style and perfection we ne'er can be beat
All the ladies declare that we are a treat
We're the two Burnley mashers from St. James's Street.And we dance [3 steps together], and we sing [3 steps together]
And we don't give a jot we're a jolly fine lot
We're alright when we're tight
And we're jolly fine company.
Last Saturday we were invited
To a party with two ladies fair
Their cheeks were in bloom like the roses in June
And we mash[ed] both the beautiful pair
There were singing and dancing till midnight
We had whiskey, tobacco and rum
And after the dancing was over
With the ladies we had all the fun
THE BROTHERS MALONE
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=36635
We are the Brothers Malone, We come from the town of Athlone,
We are two dandys, we are two swells,
And to the Ladies we show our Shillelaghs,
We're the Brothers Malone from Athlone,
You can tell by our fronts, We're a right shower of Ah-Ha-Ha.
We are the Brothers Malone.
And we'll sing (And we'll sing) And we'll dance (And we'll dance)
And we're jolly fine company.
Jesus Christ we're alright when we're tight - HEY.
We are the Brothers Malone.
We are the Brothers Malone, We come from the town of Athlone,
We are two dandys, we are two swells,
And to the Ladies we show our Shillelaghs,
We're the Brothers Malone from Athlone,
You can tell by our frolics, We're a right shower of Ah-Ha-Ha.
We are the Brothers Malone.
And we'll sing (And we'll sing) And we'll dance (And we'll dance)
And we're jolly fine company.
Jesus Christ we're alright when we're tight - HEY.
We are the Brothers Malone.
We are the Brothers Malone, We come from the town of Athlone,
We are two dandys, we are two swells,
And to the Ladies we show our Shillelaghs,
We're the Brothers Malone from Athlone,
You can tell by our tricks, We're a right shower of Ah-Ha-Ha.
We are the Brothers Malone.
The information on this page is incomplete – the investigation is ongoing!
A song particularly associated with Lancashire, that probably originated in the Halls either from a song called The Brothers Malone first performed in 1894, or from one of several songs from the 1880s and 90s all titled The Two Mashers or something similar. In either case its likely that the song was originally performed with an associated clog dance.
AL Lloyd and The Oldham Tinkers in the sleeve notes for their Topic LP Best O T Bunch (1974) say of their song The Rochdale Mashers:
At the end of the nineteenth century, a successful music-hall song concerned two young provincial bucks, ‘The Brothers Malone’. Since then, the song has passed into traditional currency, with the scene of the brothers’ raffish exploits variously altered to Belfast, Bristol, Bury, Ashton, and here finally, Rochdale
AL Lloyd and The Oldham Tinkers, 1974
Roy Palmer includes The Quarry Bank Mashers in his Everyman’s Book of British Ballads – he collected it from the singing of Mr and Mrs Hadley of Quarry Bank (Staffordshire) in 1971. He suggests:
The words “masher” (flirtatious dandy) and “on the mash” (courting) date this song to last years of the 19th century. It was made popular on the halls by The Brothers Malone, and has since turned up in traditional style with various localities inserted: Ashton, Belfast, Bristol, Bury and Rochdale have all figured as well as Quarry Bank (Staffordshire)
Roy Palmer (1980)
Talking to friends who have been around the North West folk scene longer than I have, there appear to be two common explanations of the link between The “Place-name” Mashers and The Brothers Malone. One is that they started out as the same song but evolved into two different versions, the other that they are two different songs which have been combined together at some point.
My research so far has failed to distinguish between these two possibilities or indeed to generate other convincing theories. Readers who are satisfied with this much information can stop here but for anyone who’s interested in the detail of my research – read on, there’s a lot of it!
Possible origins ofThe Brothers Malone
Evidence from late 19th century publications like The Era confirm that an act calling themselves The Brothers Malone were performing in the Halls as as “comic duettists and dancers” in the 1890s and before. However, I can find no evidence that they were performing a song called “The Brothers Malone”
Instead there is some evidence that a song called The Brothers Malone was written by a performer and songwriter called Frank Bolton.
Between May 1893 and December 1995 the Music Hall and Theatre Review published a “Register of New Songs”, which included the title, author, composer, performer and when / where new songs were first performed. The journalists from the publication collected some of the information themselves, particularly when songs were performed in London, but performers also contributed. The legislation relating to copyright and performing rights at that time led many to believe that this information would establish ownership of a particular song. It was intended that the Register would “appear monthly, and include all important productions during the previous four weeks at recognised Music Halls in London and the Provinces”. On October 5th, 1894, the Register included the song The Brothers Malone, with words and music by Frank Bolton, sung at The Marylebone by The Brothers Bolton:
Music Hall and Theatre Review – 05 October 1894
18 months later Bolton took out an advert warning others that “Brothers Malone” was his song:
London and Provincial Entr’acte – Saturday 22 February 1896
A number of reports of amateur and semi-professional performances of a song called The Brothers Malone appear in the 1890s and 1900s, the earliest of which was in March 1893 at an entertainment at the Royal Navy Barracks, Sheerness (Sheerness Times Guardian – 18 Mar 1893). I can find no reports of a song that title being sung before this date. The fact that these amateur performances of the song started around the same time as Frank Bolton’s song was first performed, reinforce the argument that this might be the origin of The Brothers Malone song.
The Brothers Malone continues to be sung well into the 21st-century often as a bawdy Irish song sung by Rugby and Gaelic Football fans [more research needed]…
Possible origins of The Two Mashers
Searches in late 19th century publications reveal that “masher” was an extremely common term used to refer to a troubling youth cult whose members dressed in dandy clothes, often with top hats and canes. There are records of “two mashers” appearing in various pantomimes and plays, but no clear evidence that a song of a similar title was sung in theatrical performances. In the late 1880s there are also indications that a recitation called “The Two Mashers” was being performed.
My searches have been focused on looking for a song called something like “The Two Mashers” or “The Two [place name] Mashers”. The earliest clear evidence of a song along these lines comes in 1884:
Curley and Cray billed themselves as “The Irish Mashers” and performed a song and dance called The Two Mashers. Joe Curley was a dancer and variety performer who appears in the listings of The Era in 1883-85 and then disappears. He was billed as “an Irish comedian of remarkable ability” when he appeared at the Victoria, Bolton and as a “variety artist, one of the neatest we have seen for some time” when he appeared at Crewe. Cray is harder to trace. This song – combining elements of song an dance, is one possible point of origin of The “place-name” Mashers, though we only have the title to go on ..
In 1889 and 90, there were several reports that Messrs Leon and Ryan, two members of the touring troupe, Sam Hague’s Minstrels, also performed an Irish song and dance called The Two Mashers. (Western Morning News, 15 Apr 1890, Gloucestershire Echo, 29 Apr 1890, Rochdale Times, 26 Oct 1889). This could be another possible point of origin of The “place-name” Mashers or the same song sung by Curley and Cray. I am looking for further details about this song..
The the earliest report I can find of an amateur performance of a song called The Two Mashers comes in a Huddersfield newspaper a few years after Leon and Ryan were performing it. In February 1894, G Mosley and A Mitchell sang We Are Two Mashers at the annual tea and entertainment of the Deighton Juvenile Lodge of Odd Fellows (Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 01 Feb 1894). There are then a number of further reports of amateur performances until the beginning of WW1.
Possible origins of The “Place-name” Mashers.
The evidence strongly suggest The “Place-name” Mashers variants started in Burnley. The use of the term “masher” appears to be common throughout the United Kingdom, but reports of “Burnley Mashers” pre-date reports of the song by some decades. As far back as the 1886 local newspapers used the term “Burnley Mashers” to refer to “flashy” young men from the town (see Burnley Express 04 Dec 1886, 27 April 1889 and 10 May 1890.) At some point early in the 20th century (or possibly in the 1890s) locals started using the term “Burnley Mashers” to refer to both supporters of Burnley FC and members of the local East Lancashire Regiment.
I have found only one piece of direct evidence of the East Lancs Regiment singing the masher song before World War 2. It comes in Lyn MacDonald’s book They called it Passchendaele, in which she quotes Lieutenant Paddy King of the Regiment recalling B Company singing:
the strains of the long-familiar and boringly repetitious Burnley Mashers with which B Company was apt to regale reluctant listeners on every possible occasion :
We are the Burnley Mashers When we go out at neet, The lasses all admire us And think we look a treat
Lyn MacDonald (1978) They called it Passchendaele, p197
This snatch of the lyrics has a lot in common with The Burnley Mashers as it is sung today, but I’m not sure its enough to be absolutely certain its our song – if you know better, let me know!
The first reasonably convincing evidence that I have found of “The Burnley Mashers” as we know it today comes in 1927, when it is linked to the activities of the supporters of Burnley FC:
Burnley News – Saturday 29 January 1927
The text reads:
Two well known local football enthusiast, George Holt and John McDonald, who, in their comical creations of claret and blue, will follow the Burnley team to Fulham today as Burnley mascots. Should our team win, it is the intention of these young sports to parade London in their fancy dress. Masters Holt and McDonald style themselves “The Burnley Mashers” and under that title were successful in winning the first prize – a goose – in a recent competition at the Empire Theatre for the best humorous song.
Burnley News – Saturday 29 January 1927
Further information about the Burnley variant and links to Burnley Football Club emerge from a file held by Burnley Central library…
The Burnley Library file
As part of this investigation, I searched the catalogues of as many Libraries as I could find in the North West of England (particularly in Greater Manchester and Lancashire) for any indication that they might hold information about The “place-name” Mashers song.
I found that a file of documents called “The Two Burnley Mashers” was held in the local history section of Burnley Central Library. On visiting the library in October 2023 I found that the file, dated c1910, contains several copies of the lyrics (those reproduced above), two copies of hand-written notated sheet music,a hand-written unsigned note and a newspaper cutting.
It emerges that in 1958 someone working at the library put out a request in the local press for a copy of The Burnley Mashers , lest the song be forgotten by “the younger generation”. The folder appears to contain several responses to their request.
The newspaper cutting in the file contains an article written by Ronnie Brunskill, which discusses the history of the song. The article includes quotes from an interview with Mr “Monty” Osborne the former Chairman (the equivalent of a Master of Ceremonies) of Burnley’s Palace Music Hall. He remembered that:
George Holt and Ted Farrow used to perform it. Buskers used to sing it as they went round the pubs. There was a dance to it as well – I remember “Lady” Harrison of Albion Street going through the routine.… I remember just the first three lines:
We are two Burnley mashers And we always go out on the mash. We wear tall hats, with no shirt on our backs. And it seldom we’ve got any cash
Ronnie Brunskill, “Burnley Mashers? Its still the clubs’ anthem” in The Evening Telegraph, October 3, 1958, p 13
This makes it clear Osborne remembered George Holt, co-winner of the 1927 song competition performing the song, and the lyrics that he remembered match those of the modern song.
Aside: The unsigned note in the Burnley Library file says that the song is probably a parody on the song “Jolly fine company”… [As was] printed in a song book published by McGlennon before World War I. This almost certainly is referring to a the song Three Make Jolly Fine company by Charles Collins and EW Rogers, made famous by the comedian Arthur Leonard in 1904. This is a well-known Music Hall song, and apart from the phrase jolly fine company has little in common with our song – you can listen to it on YouTube.
The Burnley Mashers in the 1930s and 40s
[there is more to say here – in particular research is needed into the singing of the song during the War. I suspect that it was during the War that many of the other versions of The “Place-name” Mashers originated]
In the 1930s and 40s local newspapers published several requests from people looking for the song, including this one in 1938, which may be the earliest complete printed version of the lyrics, though the writer has changed the song “here and there”.
Earliest mention of other “Place-name” Mashers variants
I am trying to find the earliest mention of each variant in the press and other sources. Many mid-20th century sources are only digitised in a rather haphazard way, so I don’t completely trust these dates.
The Ashton Mashers collected by Ken Stubbs from the singing of Eddie and Hazel Collins in 1964
The Blackpool Mashers recorded by Penny Black Folk in 2013?
Lyrics: in “TWO Burnley Mashers: words and music” Burnley Central Library file, Local LY35/TWO
Ronnie Brunskill, “Burnley Mashers?” in Evening Telegraph, October 3, 1958, page 13, in “TWO Burnley Mashers: words and music” Burnley Central Library file, Local LY35/TWO
Sheet Music (handwritten): in “TWO Burnley Mashers: words and music” Burnley Central Library file, Local LY35/TWO
Roy Palmer, Ed (1980) Quarry Bank Mashers in Everyman’s Book of British Ballads p238
AL Lloyd and The Oldham Tinkers (1974), Sleeve-notes for Topic LP 12TS237 Best O’ T’ Bunch
Collected from the singing of: Copper, Jim; 1936; England : Sussex The Keeping Family: 1930-50; England : London Baldry, Jim; 1956; England : Suffolk Copper, Bob & Ron; 1960; England : Sussex Spicer, George; 1971-74 England : Sussex Jones, Frank; 1984; England: Birmingham Modern Performances Louis Killen, Bellowhead
From monologues.co.uk:
Some pals and I in a public house
Was playing dominoes one night
When all of a sudden in the potman runs
With a face all chalky white
'What's up?' said Jones 'Why you silly old fool,
Or have you seen old Aunt Mariah?'
'Me Aunt be buggered,' then the potman cried
'The bleeding pubs on fire.'
'On fire!' said Brown, 'What a bit of luck!
Come along with me ' shouts he.
'Down in the cellar, if the fire ain't there,
We'll have a fair old spree.'
So we all goes down 'long with good old Brown
The booze we couldn't miss,
And we hadn't been there ten minutes or more
When we was just like this.
And there was Brown, upside down
Licking up the whiskey off the floor
'Booze, Booze, ' then the firemen cried
As they came knocking at the door
'Don't let 'em in till it's all mopped up'
Someone said to MacIntyre
So we all got blue blind, paralytic drunk
When the old Dun Cow caught fire.
Old Johnson flew to a port wine tub
And he gave it just a few hard knocks
He then starts taking off his pantaloons
Likewise his shoes and socks
'Hold hard' said Brown, 'If you want to wash your feet
There's a barrel full of four ale here
Don't put your trotters in the port wine Jack
When there's more old stale beer'
Just then there was such a dreadful crash
Half the bloody roof gave way
We were almost drowned with a fireman's hose
But still we were all gay.
For we found some sacks, and some old tin tacks
Shoved ourselves inside
And we sat there getting bleary-eyed drunk
When the old Dun Cow caught fire
We got so drunk that we did not know
The blooming cellar had caught fire
Poor old Jones had the DT's bad
And wanted to retire
'There's old Nick' said another poor chap
'And he's poking up the blooming fire'
'That's no bogey, it's a fireman Tom
At least' said Mackintyre
'Let's get out,' said a blind eyed boy
'It's getting rather hot down here'
'Don't be a fool' said a boozy bloke,
'We haven't drunk the beer'
So we filled our caps and drank like cats
Midst the flames and smoke
I had to take my trousers off
I thought that I should croak.
At last the fireman got inside
And found us all dead drunk
But like true heroes there they stood
They did not do a bunk
They saw the booze upon the floor
And gave a sudden yell
They took their helmets off and then
Upon their knees they fell.
'At last! At last!' the firemen cried
'At last we know the news'
'Come on! Come on! ' us lads all cried
'Come on and have a booze.'
Cockney singer and comedian, Harry Champion‘s breakthrough hit, the words and music are generally credited to Harry Wincott but the real story is a little more complex…
The Music Hall and Theatre Review’s short-lived Register of New Songsrecords that the song was first performed by Charles Bignell at The Royal (Holborn, London) on Sept 2nd 1893. The register gives the lyricists as “Ellis, Bignell and Villiers” with music composed by George Le Brunn. This claim is repeated in an advert which first appeared on 30 Sept:
There followed a series of claims and counter claims in the letters page of The Era (a newspaper which covered a lot of Theatre and Music Hall business):
Harry Wincott wrote indignantly claiming that he had written the song. He argued that he had taken the idea and the prewritten chorus to Charles Bignell on August 29th. As he didn’t get an immediate yes, that night he took the song to Harry Champion who immediately bought it from him (The Era – 07 Oct 1893).
Albert Ellis replied explaining that Charles Bignell had approached him with a chorus and asked him to complete the “ditty” by writing the verses. He had done so and accepted payment from Bignell. He also happen to know that George Le Brunn had written the music – as such it was “somewhat misleading”of Wincott to claim the song. (The Era – 14 Oct 1893)
Wincott wrote back saying he was “perfectly aware that when Mr Bignell commissioned himto write the song he [Ellis] was ignorant of the fact[s]” and agreeing that Le Brunn had written the music, though Fred Eplett had also composed some music for the verses. (The Era – 21 Oct 1893 )
A month later the score was published by Mocatta and Co, who issued this threat to anyone singing any unlicensed version:
Perhaps as a result of this notice Bignell seemed to stop performing his version, though he did sing it at least one more time – as an encore in a Christmas performance at the place where the song had debuted: The Royal (Holborn) (East London Observer).
Bignell and Ellis’s version was quickly over-shadowed by the success that Harry Champion had with his variant. But the story at least illustrates that the one name that appears on sheet music sometimes need to be taken with a pinch of salt…
After publication, the song was immediately taken up by amateur singers and there are numerous reports of it being sung between late 1893 and the beginning of World War One – particularly at all male Smoking Concerts.
Popularised in the modern folk music movement by the Copper Family, its modern history is well covered on the Mainly Norfolk site
The Palace Journal
VOL. III.No 75, APRIL 17, 1889.
There was once an English maiden,
She stood upon the strand,
When there came a merry Dutchman,
A sailing to the land.
And he cried, "My tear, I love you,
My brite O vill you be?
Vill you come To de Zuyder Zee?"
But the maiden she was prudent,
And she curtsied low and said,
"I should like to know a little more
About you ere I wed"
And he cried, "I am a Dutchman,
And de bravest dat can be!
And he was on de Zuyder Zee.
"But what about your people?
Are the husbands brave and true?
Do they love their wives and work for them,
As husbands ought to do?
"Vat you mean?" the Dutchman answered,
"Dey've no time for dat, you see!
Dey must smoke On de Zuyder Zee."
"And while the men are smoking,
What do the women there,
Do they dance and sing, and drive about,
And pretty dresses wear?"
"Ach Himmel!" cried the Dutchman,
"Vat vill a vife you be!
Dey must vork on de Zuyder Zee"
"And are the wives content to work?"
The little maid went on,
"Do they never shake their husbands,
And tell them to begone?"
"Shake deir husbands," cried the Dutchman,
"Vat vould creation be?
No, dey don't on de Zuyder Zee."
"Then good-bye, you little Dutchman,
If ever I should wed, I must be my husband's lover,
And not his slave," she said.
"You may wed some little Dutchee,
But as for wedding me,
You may go to the Zuyder Zee."
In the late 19th and early 20th century a number of songs were written about Dutch or “Deitcher” girls and men who lived by the Zuyder Zee. The most famous of these, in the Halls at least, was By the side of the Zuyder Zeewritten by AJ Mills and Bennett Scott, but that song does not seem to have passed into the traditional repertoire.
The song On the Zuyder Zee was collected under the title Down by the Old Zuyder Zee, by Roy Palmer from the singing of Frank Jones. You can hear it 23 minutes into this recording in the British Library Sound Archive.
On the Zuyder Zee was originally published in 1889 as a “song for the drawing room” (what we would now call a Parlour Ballad). I can find no record of it being sung in the Halls, though there are several contemporary reports of it being sung at concerts – eg at a Llandudno Pier Concert in June 1893 Ada Lee sang several operatic songs to orchestral accompaniment and “pleasing little ditties like On the Zuyder Zee [were] given in response to loud recalls. (North Wales Chronicle , 24 June 1893).
The lyricist Fred Weatherly (1848-1929) wrote literally thousands of these “songs for the drawing-room” in his spare time – his day job was first as a tutor at Oxford University and later as a barrister. His most lasting song is probably Danny Boy.
