Stop yer tickling, Jock

AKA Stop your ticklin’ Jock
First published 1904
Lyrics Harry Lauder & Frank Folloy Music Harry Lauder  Roud RNV27386

Music Hall performers Harry Lauder
Jay Laurier
Folk performances Source Singers
Jeannie Robertson, 1962, Aberdeenshire, Scot.		 

Oh I'm courting a farmers dochter, she's one of the nicest ever seen
Her cheeks they are rosy red, and her age is just sweet seventeen
When I throw my arms about her neck and try to steal a kiss
Oh she'll wriggle and giggle and twist and twiggle
And then you'll hear her shouting this.

Will yer stop yer tickling, Jock
Oh stop yer tickling, Jock
Dina mak' me laugh so hearty
Or you'll make me choke
Oh I'd wish you'd stop yer nonsense
Just look at all the folk
Wil yer stop yer tic-kle-ing
Tic-kle-ic-kle-ic-kle-ing
Stop yer tickling, Jock.

Oh she went to the seaside with me, I thought she would like to see the sea
Oh I did enjoy myself that day, and I can tell you so did she
On the railway train, as we went through the tunnels in the dark
Oh, everytime I winked at her, the passengers heard her remark.

Oh, I went to the farm one Sunday, because she invited me to tea
Her father and her Mither went to the Kirk, which was a' richt for me
What a lovely lovely feed we had of ham and eggs and bun
Oh, and after that we had some treacle Roly-poly just for fun.

Oh, I'm thinking o' getting married, In that d'ye ken they'll be no harm
Because I think she's just the sort of lass to keep me nice and warm
I think she has a lot of brass, but that I'll find out soon
If she has, than we'll go riding on the Tupp'ny Tube for the honeymoon.

Harry Lauder (1870-1950) , was the son of a potter and one of eight children. At 14 years old he started work as a miner, and spent 10 years in the pits. Like many artists that started in the halls, he began singing as an amateur, entertaining his workmates and others in the community. After a while as a part-time/semiprofessional entertainer he began performing full-time at some point in the 1890s. Eventually, he was billed The Laird of the Halls, and was perhaps the most famous Scottish comedian ever. He made the trip to London in 1900, and very quickly became a huge star, staying at the top of the bill until he stopped performing in the 1940s. This is one of a handful of songs that will forever be associated with Lauder…

The song also featured in the repertoire of one of his contemporaries: Jay Laurier (1879-1969), a comedian billed as The Farmer’s Boy and most often dressed in a red wig and Tate and Lyle sugar sacks, to indicate the persona of a country pumpkin. He ended his career as a “legitimate” theatre actor, apparently his Dogberry was “much admired”.

Still widely sung today, but such was Lauder’s fame that I can’t imagine anyone sings it without knowing it was his…

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