Out in the green fields

AKA The Haymaking Song
First Published 1874?
Writer/composer Wilton Friend/Edward Solomons Roud RN2670

Music Hall Performers JW Rowley
Folk performances Source Singers
Styles, Charles 1926 England: Buckinghamshire
House, Bill 1986 England: Dorset
Modern performances
The Yetties

Out in the Green Fields
Sung with great success by JW Rowley the celebrated London and provincial comique

A country lad am I
A rustic bred and born,
The birds do sing and so do I,
And rise early in the morn.
To reap and to mow, till and sow,
The land with plough and team,
There's nought can beat a country life,
Out in the fields so green.

[Spoken] Ah, I be a happy lad, morning, noon, and night, rain or shine, blow or snow, it's all the same to I, while…

Out in the green fields, so happy and so gay,
Out in the green fields, a raking of the hay,
Out in the green fields, I pass my time away,
And like the lark I whistle in the morning.

When the sun be hot, and land be dry, 
I gets the same 'tis clear, 
'Tis then I stopped to take a drop 
Of stunning home brewed beer; 
With a tidy snack of luncheon, aye, 
At plough tail all serene
Cold beans and bacon that's the tack, 
Out in the field so green.

[Spoken] Ah, bacon and cold greens, thems the sort for me, and wash em down, with a drop of good home brewed beer, it makes I whistle in single day long.

My Dolly she's the finest lass, 
For twenty miles around, 
The country girls have rosy cheeks, 
Their equal can't be found. 
When harvest home comes round, my boys, 
Each lass looks like a queen, 
Then Doll and I, oh! Don't we dance? 
Out in the fields so green

Some say the jolly joys of town,
Are just the proper sort,
Give I the chase and hurdle race
And other country sport,
Breaking the rest with sprees at night,
Fast men are never seen,
We like the open sunlight best
Out in the fields so green.

Another song popularised by  JW “Over” Rowley  (1847-1925), which turns up in the repertoire of several 20th century traditional singers. The first reference to it I can find is in 1874, though Rowley’s name is not associated with the song:

Graphic (London) Feb 7 1874

The original sheet music may not have survived, but some years later Rowley wrote a letter to The Era about his songs, and gave details of the writer and composer:

The Era Aug 21 1897

Sources:

A version by The Proper English: