{"id":9813,"date":"2021-03-21T14:36:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-21T14:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=9813"},"modified":"2021-03-21T19:41:23","modified_gmt":"2021-03-21T19:41:23","slug":"take-it-bob","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/take-it-bob\/","title":{"rendered":"Take it Bob"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Song of the Mill<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1873<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Arthur Lloyd<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN6041<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Arthur Lloyd, Baron Courtney<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Ironside, James; Scotland; 1908
Train, Bill; England ; Devon; 1976<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From sheet music at Arthurlloyd.co.uk<\/a>\n\nI'm a jolly old miller, Bob Bell is my name,\nAnd in my own village I'm well known to fame,\nI've a wife and a daughter, a dear little lass,\nI'm fond of them both and I'm fond of a glass,\nSome say I'm too fond, well perhaps, that may be,\nI try to be steady and am as you see;\nBut if I attempt to refuse drink a day,\nI fancy the wheel of the mill seems to say,\n\nTake it Bob, take it Bob, take it Bob, take it Bob,\nThat's what I fancy the mill says to me,\nTake it Bob, take it Bob, take it Bob, take it Bob,\nTake it Bob, take it, it's better than tea.<\/em>\n\nI've tried very oft' a teetot'ler to be,\nBut my mill is quite right, brandy's better than tea,\nAnd altho', what I say, you may all think absurd;\nI believe what the mill says, is right, 'pon my word.\nI called on old Jones, 'bout some business you know,\nAnd he said, Bob, a pipe and a glass, 'fore ye go;\nNow, I didn't require it, believe what I say,\nBut although a mile off, I could hear the mill say,\n\n\nNow I dreamt t'other night that Bob Bell was no more,\nThat he died at the age of p'rhaps forty or more;\nAnd I heard people round me say, drinks done it's worst,\nBut altho' I was dead, I was dying of thirst.\nA bottle of brandy close by I could see,\nIt was meant for the mourners, it wasn't for me;\nBut, as on my bed, still and silent I lay,\nIn the distance, distinctly, I heard the mill say,\n\nI'm only up here for a bit of a spree, \nMy wife thinks it's business between you and me; \nAnd you know the old saying, that never deceives, \nWhat the heart doesn't see, why the eye doesn't grieve. \nI must toddle at once, so goodbye to you all, \nNext season I hope I shall give ye call; \nDon't ask me to drink when I'm going away, \nOr I'm certain to fancy I hear the mill say...\n\n\nAlternative last verse and chorus at monologues.co.uk<\/a><\/strong>\n\nThen the jolly old wheel laughed, 'That's all in your eye,\nIf I said a word may the mill-stream go dry,\nFor the sake of your daughter, that dear little lass,\nGo smash the green bottle and throw down the glass;\nBy water you live and by brandy you die,\nSo dust out the hopper and dash in the rye,\nAnd while sacking the wheat and while taking the toll,\nSing clearly and loud like a jolly old soul.\n\nTake it Bob, take it Bob, take it Bob, take it Bob,\nThat's what I fancy the mill says to me,\nTake it Bob, take it Bob, take it Bob, take it Bob,\nTake it Bob, take it, 'No never for me!'<\/em><\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Songs about Jolly Millers seem to feature regularly in both folk music and the halls. Drinking songs feature heavily in both genres too, so its a perhaps surprising this one hasn’t proved more popular in the folk world. It was collected once in Scotland by Gavin Greig, in 1908 from the singing of James Ironside; and once in England by Gwilym Davies from the singing of Bill Train.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The song was originally written and performed by Arthur Lloyd<\/a>  – first published in 1873, the earliest report of him singing it I can find is in early 1872 at The Forresters<\/em> in East London:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Apr. 7, 1872, The Era <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Music Hall songs often came with alternative verses, and were often used as the basis for comic improvisation. It’s interesting that this one seems to have two different endings, one suitable for a polite audience that might appreciate implied future abstinence, the other not\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take it Bob <\/em>was also sung by an infamous, heavy-drinking Music Hall chairman known as Baron Courtney:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Take it Bob] <\/em>was a very quaint drunken ditty supposed to be sung by a very bibulous miller who fancies he hears his water-wheel, thus suggesting that he should absorb frequent liquid refreshment. It was, by the way, the singing of this Bacchanalian ballad that caused that long-locally celebrated South London Music Hall Chairman, known as ” Baron ” Courtney, to be addressed throughout the evening by the gallery boys as ” Bob Bob Bob.”<\/p>Morton, 60 Years<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The “gallery boys” tended to be a particularly raucous section of the audience, young teenage boys who would gather in the gallery and shouted encouragement to the acts they like, and give short shrift to those they didn’t. I’m guessing he sang it with the first ending ..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n