{"id":9020,"date":"2021-02-16T15:08:09","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T15:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=9020"},"modified":"2021-03-09T11:59:15","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T11:59:15","slug":"cutting-toe-nails-on-a-sunday","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/cutting-toe-nails-on-a-sunday\/","title":{"rendered":"Cutting toe-nails on a Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Never cut your toe nails on a Sunday
Mr Lowe and Miss Cundy<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1824<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Thomas Hudson \/ unknown<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN21207<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Thomas Hudson<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
West, James; c1915; England; Gloucestershire
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From Thomas Hudson's 6th Collection of Comic Songs (1824)<\/strong>\nTUNE- Michael Wiggins<\/em>\n\nA spruce linen draper, one Mr John Lowe,\nWalk'd out in Hyde Park one Sunday,\nHis dress was the pink of the fashion and go,\nWhen he met with the charming Miss Cundy;\nHer beautiful eyes took him quite by surprise,\nSo queer was the state that he felt in,\nHe tried all in vain for to tell her his pain,\nFor his heart was really a-meltin'.\n\nBut alas! Who can look into fate's book of laws?\nMr Lowe would have married Miss Cundy:\nHe lost her, he lost her; and only because,\nHe cut his toe nails on a Sunday.<\/em>\n\nThe next time he met her, his love he made known,\nHer person he thought all perfection,\nHe pressed her with speed to be bone of his bone,\nShe blushed and - had no objection;\nHe gaily did sing, went and purchased the ring,\nAnd the next Sunday was the bespeak day,\nFor that day would chime and agree with his time,\nMuch better than having a week-day.\n\nOn the blest Sunday morning he got up with glee,\n(Little thinking that mischief was hatching)\nTook out his penknife, his toes to make free,\nAt night to prevent them from scratching;\nBut the knife slipped and gave his great toe such a wound,\n(Sweet wedlock there surely a fate in;)\nHe could not put his foot at all to the ground,\nThough he knew sweet Miss Cundy was waitin'.\n\nOh, words can't describe all his trouble and woe,\nOnly think if his sad situation,\nA surgeon was sent for, who dressed his great toe,\nAnd talk'd about amputation;\nLaid up for a month, while Miss Cundy so smart,\nDisappointed at having this short knight,\nWithout delay got her another sweetheart,\nAnd was married in less than a fortnight.\n\nSo young men, if love has got into your head,\nRecollect Mr Lowe and Miss Cundy,\nAnd whatever you do, before you get wed,\nNever cut your toe nails on a Sunday. <\/em><\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A song based around the old suspicion that cutting your nails on a Sunday is a bad thing\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was written and performed by Thomas Hudson (1791- 1844)<\/a>  a song-writer and performer active in the singing taverns and supper rooms that influenced the early Music Hall in London.  He was in many ways a transitional figure – his songs reflected both elements of 18th century song and the future style of comic song that dominated the Halls (like this one). [There will be more on this on the Thomas Hudson <\/a>page].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like many of Hudson’s songs this one survives in  multiple 19th century broadsheets and songbooks, but it appears more often under the title Mr Lowe and Miss Cundy<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several of his songs were remembered by traditional singers whose songs were picked up by folk song collectors in the late 19th and early 20th century. This song was collected by Alfred Williams from the singing of James West, and published in the Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard<\/em> in summer 1916. The song was originally written to be sung to a tune called Michael Wiggins<\/em> which I believe is the same as  the jig Michael Wiggins in Ireland<\/a><\/em><\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alfred Williams noted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
 ‘This quaint and amusing song is to be met with very rarely, however – in Gloucestershire – I have not heard it south of the Thames. It used to be sung at least every year at the parish gathering at Quenington, by a woman of the village, usually in response to the request of the old vicar, who was especially delighted with it. I have also quite recently heard the song mentioned at Ewen, near Cirencester. The copy was very kindly supplied me by James West, Quenington.’<\/p>Alfred Williams, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard, 1 July 1916<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A rough and ready version by yours truly<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cutting toenails on a Sunday, John Baxter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n