Jack Robinson
AKA | Jack Robson The perils and the danger |
First Published | 1824 |
Writer/composer | Thomas Hudson / unknown | Roud | RN1794 |
Music Hall Performers | Thomas Hudson, Robert Glindon |
Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Piper, George W.; USA; 1868-70 Radmore, J England : Devon : South Zeal 1894 Punt, James; England : Essex; 1904 Byers, George J.; Canada : Nova Scotia; 1917 Byers, J.W.; Canada : Nova Scotia; 1960 Henneberry, Ben; Canada : Nova Scotia; 1943 Modern performances |
From Thomas Hudson's 6th Collection of Comic Songs (1824) TUNE- College Hornpipe The perils, and dangers of the voyage pass'd, And the ship to Portsmouth arrived at last; The sails all furl'd and the anchor cast, the happiest of the crew was Jack Robinson: For his Poll he had trinkets and gold galore Besides of prize-money quite a store; And along wi' the crew he went ashore, As cockswain to the boat Jack Robinson Tol de rol, etc He met with a man, and said, I say, Mayhap you may know one Polly Gray ? She lives somewhere hereabouts — the man said. Nay, I do not indeed, to Jack Robinson. Says Jack to him, I've left my ship' And all my messmates giv'd the slip Mayhap you'll partake of a good can of flip, For you're a civil fellow, says Jack Robinson In a public house, then, they both sot down And talk'd' of admirals of high renown. And drunk'd as much grog as come to half-a-crown, This here strange man and Jack Robinson; Then Jack call'd out the reck'ning to pay. The landlady came in, in fine array. My eyes and limbs ! why here's Polly Gray ; Who'd of thought of meeting here ? says Jack Robinson. The landlady stagger'd back against the wall, And said, at first, she didn't know him at all; Shiver me ! says Jack, why here's a pretty squall; Dam'me, don't you know me? I'm Jack Robinson Don't you know this handkerchief you giv'd to me? 'Twas three years ago, before I went to sea; Every day I look'd at it, and thought of thee ; Upon my soul I have, says Jack Robinson.; Says the lady, says she, I've changed my state: Why you don't mean, says Jack, that you've got a mate You know you promis'd me - says she, I couldn't wait For no tidings could I gain of you, Jack Robinson; And somebody, one day, came to me, and said That somebody else had somewhere read. In some newspaper, as how you was dead. I've not been dead at all, says Jack Robinson. Then he turned his quid, finished his glass, Hitch'd up his trowsers — alas! alas! That ever I should live to be made such an ass, To be bilk'd by a woman, says Jack Robinson; But to fret and stew about it much is all in vain, I'll get a ship and go to Holland, France and Spain; No matter where to Portsmouth I'll ne'er come back again: And he was off before they could say, Jack Robinson.
A number of common British sayings and nursery rhymes have their origins in Music Hall songs, and I did wonder whether the saying “before you can say Jack Robinson” came from this song. However, according to Brewer’s dictionary of phrase and fable, it was a saying in common use in the 1700s…
Jack Robinson was written and performed in the 1820s and 30s by Thomas Hudson (1791- 1844) a song-writer and performer active in the singing taverns and supper rooms that influenced the early Music Hall in London. Like many of Hudson’s songs this one survived in multiple 19th century broadsheets and songbooks. It was also a popular song in the repertoire of Robert Glindon in the 1840s, see his brief biography below… It appears in a late 19th-century songster 120 Comic Songs Sung by Sam Cowell, which seems to have been published around 15 years after Cowell’s death. I haven’t been able to find any contemporary evidence of Cowell singing the song …
Several of Hudson’s songs were remembered by traditional singers whose songs were picked up by folk song collectors in the late 19th and early 20th century. This song has been relatively widely collected in both England and Canada . For example, it was collected both by Ralph Vaughn Williams (from the singing of James Punt) and by Sabine Baring Gould (from the singing of J Radmore). It appears in the repertoire of a number of modern performers, as explored in the excellent Mainly Norfolk website
Robert Glindon (1799-1866), like Hudson, was a well-known figure in the Bohemian entertainment venues of 1840s London. By day he was a scenery painter at the Drury Ln, Theatre , and in the evenings he appeared at the Coal Hole and the Cyder Cellars and many other well-known venues. He was a songwriter as well as performer, and his best known song was The Literary Dustman.
Ye Mariners All sing it:
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%3A1794
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: Thomas Hudson’s 6th Collection of Comic Songs, p8, (1824) (Hathi Trust)
- Mainly Norfolk entry