{"id":11200,"date":"2021-06-15T14:04:47","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T14:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=11200"},"modified":"2024-03-16T09:52:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T09:52:43","slug":"cow-and-three-acres-a","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/cow-and-three-acres-a\/","title":{"rendered":"Cow and three acres, A"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Three acres and a cow<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1885<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Arthur Lloyd<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN24484<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Arthur Lloyd<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>None I’m aware of<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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I'm only just a labourer,\nJust Agricultural;\nSome time ago I happened to\nBe talking to a pal:\nSays I, I've got a vote!\nSays he, 'Do what I tell thee now,\nLet Liberals have it and you'll get,\nThree acres and a cow.'\n\nAnd I've got three acres,\nThree acres and a cow;\nAnd now I've got it, I don't know,\nWhat I'll do wi' it now:\nThe blooming cow it worries me,\nAnd leads me such a rig;\nI wish that they would take it back,\nAnd let me have a pig.<\/em>\n\nAnd when the cow comed home,my wife\nShe says to me, 'Why Joe,\nWe've got no place to put her in,\nWhere be the cow to go?'\n'By gum,' says I to her,\n'I never thought o' this somehow,\nSo in our bedroom, we have been\nObliged to keep the cow.\n\nI've got three acres, true enough.\nBut a year more come to pass;\nBefore upon those acres,\nThere will grow a blade grass:\nAnd though it be a Liberal cow,\nAs Liberal as Charles Dilke;\nI'm blowed if it will yield us even,\nHalf a pint o'milk.\n <\/strong>\nI've seen a few cows in my time,\nBut this cow, cows the lot;\nIf she tries her tricks on any more,\nI'll let her have it hot:\nIf I'd not been in such a hurry,\nWi' my vote to part,\nFrom t'other side, perhaps I might,\nHave got a horse and cart.\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
One of a number of songs written in response to the slogan for land reform adopted by Joseph Chamberlain and other Radical Liberals in the general election of July 1886. You will find more about the songs and the issue here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Generally the Music Hall response to the demand for  land and livestock seems to have been  deeply unsympathetic. A number of comic songs were written which drew on the tradition in the Halls of subjecting rural folks to ridicule. The two most successful of these were Harry Liston’s  Them three acres of land and a cow<\/a><\/em> and this one, written and performed by  Arthur Lloyd<\/a>. This brief description of Lloyd singing it appeared in The Era<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Dec. 26, 1885; The Era <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
He was still performing it in October 1886:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 <\/strong>Friday,  Oct. 29, 1886;  <\/strong>Glasgow Herald <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Much more on Arthur Lloyd can be found at the comprehensive website ArthurLloyd.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A song more sympathetic to the demand also called Three Acres and a cow<\/a><\/em> appeared around that time, based on the Music Hall standard I wish they’d do it now<\/em>. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n