There’s bound to be a row

AKAThere’s sure to be a row
First Published1873

Writer/composerSamuel WatsonRoudRN1616

Music Hall PerformersJW Rowley
Georgina Smithson
(Jennie Engel)
Folk performancesSelected source Singers
Scott, Willie 1962 Scotland : Roxburghshire
Cox, Harry 1965 England : Norfolk
Scott, Willie 1967 Scotland
McBeath, Jimmy 1971 Scotland : Morayshire
Nash, Frankie 1975 Canada : Newfoundland
I'm a poor, unlucky married man, I've got an awful wife,
To please her I do all I can, but still she plagues my life. 
If I do everything that's right, she'll find a fault somehow,
And if not in at eight each night, there's bound to be a row. 

There's bound to be a row, bound to be a row; 
Do all in life to please my wife, yet there's bound to be a row. 

She makes me do the household work when I come home at night; 
If I cough or sneeze when going to bed, of course, that, is not right. 
If she should wake the young ones up, with rage she'll storm, I vow, 
And if I snore too hard for her, why, there's bound to be a row.

She wakes me early every morn in an awful cruel way; 
She kicks me round about the room, yet not a sentence dare I say. 
I have to wash my stockings, my pants and shirts, I vow. 
And if I don't wash for her as well, there's bound to be a row. 

And when I'm paid my wages, after working hard all week, 
I give her every farthing up, and then she's got the cheek 
To give me two pence for myself, and for that I have to bow;
But if I spend it all at once, there's bound to be a row

A song well-known in both sides of the Atlantic, sung by Irish, Scottish and English traditional singers. It was widely published in 19th-century songbooks and broadsides and appears to be a song written for our old friend JW Rowley, a Yorkshire comedian who was active in the halls in the 1870s and 80s. Rowley was responsible for popularising several songs well-known in traditional music including The Birds upon the Trees, and Eggs For Your Breakfast in the Morning.

Despite the song’s association with Rowley, first published evidence of the song being sung in the halls was in 1871, when , Georgina Smithson sang what was likely to be the “ladies version” which reversed the gender roles. This review comes from 1873:

The Era Oct 26 1873

Given the contemporary quotation of Smithson’s Song, I suspect it had a chorus along the lines of There’s bound to be a row, there’s bound to be a row, Do all you can to please some men, there’s bound to be a row”.

The earliest reference I can find to JW Rowley singing it is in 1872:

The Era June 16 1872

Though writer/composer, Samuel Watson is a bit of a mystery, he appears only to have written this song.

The version of the lyrics provided here appears to be a reasonably early version, with just four verses. However, like so many songs from the Halls, it’s designed to make it easy to add new material: the version in volume 4 of Mercier’s Old Irish Street Ballads as a total of eight.

Harry Cox sings a five verse version:

Sources:

image_print