Wire in, my lads

AKA You’ll live as long as I
The oldest inhabitant
First published 1906
Lyrics Will Godwin Music Fred Leigh Roud 21960

Music Hall performers George Bastow (1871-1914)
Folk performances Source singers
Unidentified male, 1960, Sussex England
Charlie Cutmore,1964/65 , Suffolk, England
Cyrill Phillips, 1966, Sussex, England
Jack Sykes, 1969, Yorkshire, England		 

A man's too old at forty, so the papers they be statin'
What kind of person is he, then, the year he's eighty eight in?
'Cos that's the age Oi am today, and still Oi don't feel done
So if you want to say the same, then my advice to everyone, is

'Wire in, my lads, keep on livin' till ye doie
If ye keep on livin' long enough, ye'll live as long as Oi
Wire in, my lads, keep on livin' till ye doie
If ye keep on livin' long enough, ye'll live as long as Oi.'

Oi've always loved the ladies, a fact Oi wouldn't smother
I've had three wives, not all at once, but one behind the other
The more you know of wummin folk the more you'll find it true
The more you make a fus of them the more they'll make a fuss of you, so

Wire in, my lads, but remember from the start
If you make a fuss of two at once, whoi keep them both apart
Wire in, my lads, but remember from the start
If you make a fuss of two at once, whoi keep them both apart

It often makes Oi chuckle when I sees young couples courtin'
For courtin' is a funny game, and one there's lots of sport in
You chaps as doesn't know what its loike, I'll tell 'ee what to do
Just take my tip, and take a stroll, and take some nice young gal with you,

Wire in, my lads, and if she says, 'Leave off, John.'
Don't 'ee take no notice, lads, but keep on keepin' on
Wire in, my lads, and if she says, 'Leave off, John.'
Don't 'ee take no notice, lads, but keep on keepin' on

To see your family growin' up, Oi'd like to know what's nicer
Well, Oi've got nineteen kids myself, the last one was a 'twicer'
When all the lads heard Oi'd got twins, the jokes began to floy
Says Oi,'That's roight! Say what ye loike, 'Cos I don't mind ye chaff'
says Oi. So,

Wire in, my lads, twins won't never upset me
And if my old wumman don't object, the next one shall be three
Wire in, my lads, twins won't never upset me
And if my old wumman don't object, the next one shall be three

The last toime I got married, a noice trick someone played us
Outside the church, the village lads they cheered us and hoorayed us
I knew theyed all got bags of roice, for someone told me so
And as Oi passed along, Oi said, 'Oi don't care how much roice you throw.'
So,

Wire in, my lads, but Oi tell 'ee I got woild
Well, I must have looked a picture for, the roice had all been biled
Wire in, my lads, but Oi tell 'ee I got woild
Well, I must have looked a picture for, the roice had all been biled
 
 
N.B. Wire in - a shout of encouragement, usually in sport.

An early 20th century Music Hall number, still widely sung in the south-east of England a hundred years later. It features on the CD Comic songs of the Stour Valley, which celebrates the songs sung in Suffolk pubs in the mid-1960s, as collected by Neil Lanham.

Searching the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library indicates that it’s been collected from three different source singers in the 1960s, so by my definition, at the moment it’s a “folksong which came from the Halls”. A further root about indicates it was collected by Steve Gardham from the singing of Jack Sykes in Hull in the late 1960s, available in the British library Sound archive

It was sung in the Halls by George Bastow – one of a number of songs in which he lampooned country folk – his “Farmer Giles” songs.

“Wire in”is apparently something that 19th-century people would shout to encourage further efforts from sportsmen…

Sources:

As recorded by another Music Hall artiste, Harry Fay: