{"id":7659,"date":"2020-12-11T16:02:12","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T16:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=7659"},"modified":"2025-06-05T15:30:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T15:30:43","slug":"farmer-varmer-giles","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/farmer-varmer-giles\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmer (Varmer) Giles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>I come from the country
Old Farmer Giles
Journey up to London, The<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1902<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Gilbert Wells \/ TF Robson<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN1744<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>George Bastow<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Butcher, W. 1905 England : Sussex
Burgess, Harry 1957 – 60 England : Sussex
Holman, Harry 1960 England : Sussex
Phillips, Cyril 1961 England : Sussex
Webb, Mrs. Walter 1962 Canada : Ontario
Pritchett, Howard 1962 England : Gloucestershire
Redford, Jack 1967 England : Lincolnshire
Lane, Arthur 1968 England : Shropshire
Farley, Steve 1968 England : Surrey
Milam, Charlie 1970 England : Hampshire
Gates, Arthur 1972 England
Upton, Harry 1977 England : Sussex
Adams, Harry 1977 England : Somerset
Boucher, George 1978 England : Gloucestershire
Hart, Bob 1975-1978 England : Suffolk
Payne, Ernie 1979 England : Avon
Ling, Ruby 1975-80 England : Suffolk
Bridger, Charlie 1983 England : Kent
Fradley, George 1984 England : Derbyshire
Arnold, Bob 1993 England : Oxfordshire
Gardner, David 1997 England : Gloucestershire
Horner, C.V. 1960s\/70s England : Yorkshire
Agar, Mr. 1960s\/70s? England : Yorkshire
Modern performances<\/strong>
Bob Lewis<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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As sung by David Gardner<\/strong>\nI'm up from the country my name it is Giles,\nI've travelled a hundred and fifty odd miles.\nNow for a soft sort of country chap I have been took,\nBut I tell you I ain't such a fool as I look.\n\nWith a too ra li oo ra li oo ra li ay,\nTo see all the sights I've come such a long way,\nIt cost me the best part of two shillings a day.\nJust a too ra li oo ra li oo ra li ay.<\/em>\n\n.We came up to London, the journey was fine\n On the Bristol to Paddington Gurt Western line;\n Now of snails and tor-toises I\u2019ve heard lots of talk,\n But if I\u2019m in a hurry to get whome I\u2019ll walk.\n\n Too-ra-li oo-ra-li oo-ra-li ay,\n \u2019Cos it took I all night and best part of next day ;\n Now as I rubbed my wish-bone, and all I could say ,\n Was too-ra-li oo-ra-li oo-ra-li ay.<\/em>\n\n Now we went to Westminster and zed [see\u2019d] Parliament ,\n And a very enjoyable time there I spent.\n There was plenty to laugh at and much to admire,\n One gentleman he called the t\u2019other a liar.\n\n With a too-ra-li oo-ra-li oo-ra-li ay,\n I s\u2019pose that\u2019s what they call the up-to-date way,\n For though they didn\u2019t do much they\u2019d plenty to zay,\n Just too-ra-li oo-ra-li oo-ra-li ay.<\/em>\n\n Now we zed [see\u2019d] Nelson\u2019s Column that day from The Strand,\n A chap standin\u2019 by I said isn\u2019t that grand;\n I said \"I can byet [beat] that, I pardons, I begs,\"\n \"Down on our farm there\u2019s a peg wi\u2019 five legs\".\n\n With a too-ra-li oo-ra-li oo-ra-li ay,\n \"I byet \u2019e [thee] that time, mister, what coust [couldst] \u2019e say?\n For thee casn\u2019t get five hams off a pig every day,\"\n Wi\u2019 a too-ra-li oo-ra-li oo-ra-li ay.<\/em>\n\n Now the Angels of Islington I\u2019ve never seen,\n I took a bus up to Islington Green.\n Tho\u2019 I sed [\"see\u2019d\"] scores and scores of them dainty young things,\n They all wore fine feathers but not one had wings .\n\n Too-ra-li oo-ra-li oo-ra-li ay,\n They all called for drinks and then axed[\"asked\"] I to pay,\n I said \"if you\u2019m [you\u2019re] Angels, go off, fly away\",\n With a too-ra-li oo-ra-li oo-ra-li ay.<\/em>\n \nNow the War Office blunder makes everyone gape,\n They tell I \u2019tis all on account of red tape;\n But when a yeoman goes fighting, I\u2019ll make bold to say\n That the least wi\u2019 can do is to gi\u2019 em some pay.\n\n Singin\u2019 too-ra-li oo-ra-li oo-ra-li ay,\n Just give I a chance with me sheep shears I say,\n And damn \u2019em I\u2019ll cut all their red tape away,\n Singin\u2019 too-ra-li oo-ra-li oo-ra-li ay <\/em><\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
An early 20th century Music Hall number, still widely sung in the pubs all over England a hundred years later.\u00a0The song has been particularly popular, and has been collected from most parts of the English-speaking world. It’s another one of those songs designed for extemporisation – changing the verses to suit a particular audience\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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In the Halls this song is most closely associated with the singing of George Bastow \u00a0(1871-1914). He specialised in dressing as a \u201cyokel\u201d and singing songs which made fun of rural folk \u2013 his \u201cFarmer Giles<\/em>\u201d numbers. Several have passed into the folk tradition, including She’s Proud and she’s Beautiful<\/a><\/em>, They won’t know I’m from the country, Wire in My Lads<\/a><\/em>, and Mary Ann She’s after Me<\/a><\/em>. He also sang songs which satirised the officer class like\u00a0The Galloping Major<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Captain Gingah<\/em>, apparently whilst galloping around the stage on a wooden horse.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
I have been unable to access the original sheet music at this time. The words above are those that were sung by David Gardner, as found on the Glostrad website<\/a>. There are a number of variants, and the excellent MainlyNorfolk site<\/a> discusses some more recent recordings of the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George Bastow sings a  short version:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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