Village pump, The

First Published1910
LyricsArchie NaishMusicArchie NaishRoud21820
Music Hall PerformersArchie Naish
Folk performancesSource Singers
Jack Tarling, no date Suffolk England
Percy Brown, 1959, Norfolk England
Ned Wheeler, 1961, Gloucestershire England
John Prichard, 1975 Rutland England
Reg Hannis, 1975 Gloucestershire England
George Bennett, 1975 – 80, Suffolk England
Bob Hart, 1975 – 78, Suffolk England
Bill Smith, 1980, Shropshire England
Malcolm Hawkswell, 1991, Yorkshire England

Modern performances
Tom Forrest (character in The Archers)
There's a pretty little village far away,
Where they grows new potaters, corn and 'ay,
There's a tricklin' little rill,
That works a little mill,
And the mill it keeps a-workin' all the day.
There's a lot of little 'ouses in a lump,
And a pub call'd the Magpie and Stump,
But you make no mistake,
The thing that takes the cake,
Is the pride of all the place, the Village Pump.

The Village Pump, The Village Pump,
The Village Pump, Pump, Pump, Pump, Pump,
The Village Pump, The Village Pump,
The Village Pump, Pump, Pump, Pump, Pump.

Now our Squire 'e likes a bit of fun,
So when 'is boy was twenty-one
'E give us all a treat,
There was nuts and things to eat,
And the kids got an orange and a bun.
There was candy for the boys and gals to crump,
And races where you 'op, skip and jump,
But to celebrate the day
In a proper sort of way,
We shoved another 'andle on the Pump.

We 'ad a new policeman t'other week,
A sloppy-lookin' feller so to speak,
One that thought he was all there,
But by gum I do declare
He was what you'd call a sort of livin' freak,
The neighbours say as 'ow 'e's off 'is chump,
For one night he came across a biggish lump,
He says, 'Move on, you're tight!'
But when 'e showed a light,
He found out he was talkin' to the Pump!

One night the rummiest chap we'd ever seen,
Give a temperance lecture on the green,
'E said us fellers 'ere
Was much too fond of beer,
And 'e spouted like a penny Magazine.
'E run down the Magpie and Stump,
Till we all began to get the bloomin' 'ump,
'E says 'Water - that's for me.'
We all says - 'Right you be!'
So we took 'im out and ducked 'im at the Pump.

Our milkman's bin a-getting' in a fuss,
We noticed that 'is milk was getting' wuss
He'd got a kind of scheme
Where 'e collared all the cream,
And it used to make the women sort of cuss.
So one night we found 'im out fair and plump,
We followed up the milkman in a lump,
We kept 'im well in sight,
Where 'e went you know all right,
For there was a lively meetin' round the Pump.

A song that featured in long-running BBC Radio programme, The Archers, sung by Tom Archer.

Its widely sung by traditional singers all over England, with versions that vary slightly, although all tend to feature audience participation.

The song was originally written and performed by Archie Naish (1878-23) a comedian who appeared regularly in English music halls between late 1890s and early 1920s. He accompanied himself at the piano and seems to have written many of its own songs. His life ended tragically in 1923.

May 2, 1923;  Daily Mail

Noel Dumbrell sings it:

Sources:

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