{"id":3481,"date":"2020-06-08T14:42:38","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T14:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=3481"},"modified":"2020-10-26T17:56:29","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T17:56:29","slug":"seventy-two-and-hard-as-steel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/seventy-two-and-hard-as-steel\/","title":{"rendered":"Seventy Two and Hard as Steel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>True Blue and Seventy Two
Seventy Two
Old True Blue<\/td><\/tr>
First published<\/td>1868<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lyrics<\/strong><\/td>Harry Clifton<\/td>Music<\/strong><\/td>Harry Clifton <\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>21214<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Music Hall performers<\/strong><\/td>Harry Clifton<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Source Singers<\/strong>
William Walton, 1919, Oxfordshire, England
Samuel Bennett, early C20th, Wiltshire, England
<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
I come of a free and jovial race,\nA country Squire am I.\nWith a name that has never yet known disgrace,\nAnd I'll tell you the reason why;\nI'm a chip of the block of an ancient stock\nAnd am loyal, brave and true.\nAnd one of a race that can go the pace,\nAltho' I'm Seventy-two.\n\nThen cheer, boys, cheer,\nFor an old true blue,\nAnd one of a race, that can go the pace,\nAltho' he's Seventy-two.<\/em>\n[Repeat ff.]\n\nIn the red-brick'd hall, with moss cover'd wall,\nWhere my father he lived and died,\nI live at my ease, and do as I please\nCaring nought for the world so wide;\nThe pluck of a Lion, and a muscle of Iron,\nAnd a heart that is honest and true,\nYet a heart that can always for others feel,\nAltho' I'm Seventy-two.\n\nNo sluggard am I in my bed to lie,\nI rise at early dawn,\nThro' meadows I jog, with my gun and my dog,\nOr mount at the sound of the horn;\nA seat in the saddle I still can keep\nWith a heigh, Tally-ho, Halloo!\nFor my limbs are strong, and my wind is long,\nAltho' I'm Seventy-two.\n\nAt Christmas time, when the bells they chime,\nI've a welcome as well as a smile,\nAnd hearty good cheer, for peasant or peer,\nIn a jolly old English style,\nI'm fond of good sport, yet, nevertheless,\nMy passions I always subdue,\nFor it's only a fool that loves excess,\nAnd will never reach Seventy-two.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Unlike some of the other songs by Harry Clifton<\/a>, this one seems to have  been  published more sporadically, appearing in three 19th century songsters, and not at all as a broadside. It appears to have  been collected twice from source singers, in the early 20th century. It also appears in Anne and Frank Warner’s collection of American folk songs, but as yet I have a not found any modern recorded versions – let me know if I’m missing something ;-).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n