{"id":9700,"date":"2021-03-15T16:18:36","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T16:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=9700"},"modified":"2024-03-16T08:53:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T08:53:20","slug":"betsey-baker","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/betsey-baker\/","title":{"rendered":"Betsey Baker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Betsy Baker
Cruel Betsy Baker<\/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>RN1288<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Thomas Hudson, Charles Sloman<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Hooper, Louie England : Somerset : c1903
Gardner, Job; England : Oxfordshire c1915
McNeil, Frank Canada : Nova Scotia, before 1928
Martenis, Catherine USA : Vermont : c1930
Cochran, Walt; USA : Washington 1937
Whittington, B.J.; USA : Arkansas 1950
White, Bill; England : Yorkshire 1962

Modern performances<\/strong>
John Faulkner
Bellowhead<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From Thomas Hudson\u2019s 5th Collection of Comic Songs<\/strong>\nTune \"Head Man at Mrs Grundy's\"\n\nFROM noise and bustle far away, hard work my time employing.\nHow happy did I pass each day, content and health enjoying: .\nThe birds did sing, and so did I, as I trudg'd o'er each acre;\nI never knew what 'twas to sigh, till I saw Betsey Baker.\n\nAt Church I met her dress'd so neat, one Sunday in hot weather.\nWith love I found my heart did beat as we sung psalms together;\nSo piously she hung her head, the while her yoice did shake, ah!\nI thought if ever I did wed, 'twould be with Betsey Baker,\n\nFrom her side I could not budge, and sure I thought no harm on't;\nMy elbow then she gave a nudge, and bade me mind the sarment<\/em>;\nWhen church was over out she walk'd, but I did overtake her.\nDetermined I would not be baulked, spoke to Betsey Baker\n\nHer manners were genteel and cool, I found on conversation;\nShe'd just come home from boarding school, and finished her education;\nBut love made me speak out quite free : says I, I've many an acre,.\nWill you give me your company? \"I sha'nt,\" said Betsey Baker.\n\nAll my entreaties she did slight, and I was forc'd to leave her;\nI got no sleep all that there night, for love had brought a fever;\nThe doctor came, he smelt his cane, with long face like a quaker; \nSaid he, \"Young man, pray where's thy pain?\" says I, \"Sir, Betsey Baker.\" \n\nBecause I was not bad enough, be boluss'd and he pill'd me; \nAnd if I had taken all his stuff, I think be must ha' kill'd me;\nI put an end to all the strife, 'twixt him and the Undertaker;\nAnd what d'ye think 'twas saved my life? Why, thoughts of Betsey Baker.\n\nI then again to Betsey went, once more with love attack'd her;\nBut meantime she got acquainted wi' a ramping mad play actor;\nIf she would have him, he did say a lady he would make her:\nHe gammon'd her to run away, and I lost Betsey Baker.\n\nI fretted very much to find, my hopes of love so undone.\nAnd mother thought 'twould ease my mind if I came up  to London;\nBut tho' I strive another way, my thoughts will ne'er forsake her;\nI dream all night, and think all day of cruel Betsey Baker\n\n\nbolus = a large spherical tablet\nramping mad = either very angry or very drunk\ngammoned = hoaxed.<\/em>\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
A song originally 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.  Hudson published his own songs \u2013 this one appeared in his fifth collection, published in 1824.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A “short burlesque” called The Farmer and Betsey Baker<\/em> was performed in the 1860s\/70s though I haven’t  come across evidence that it definitely included the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song was highly popular throughout the 19th century, and was widely printed in broadsides and songbooks on both sides of the Atlantic. It has also featured in the repertoires of traditional singers America and Canada. some modern versions are discussed on the excellent Mainly Norfolk site<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bellowhead sing it to their own tune:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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