Young man from the country, The

As printed in The Morning Post, London, England; 21 Jun 1859

When first I went to service, a nursemaid's place  I took.
There was me, and Jane the housemaid, and Margaret the cook,
We all of us had followers, the best of all the three,
Was that young man from the country, as kept company with me

That young man, etc.

The first time he came into tea, the snow was on the ground,
Next morning master's overcoat was nowhere to be found.
And yet I see'd it on the peg, when I sat down to tea,
With that young man from the country, as kept company with me.

When next he came the dinner things were lying all about,
For Jane that day was busy, and 'twas Margaret's , Sunday out 
Two silver forks was stole that night, yet no thief did I see;
No more did he, that young man as kept company with me.

He came again, and yet again, how often I can't say
And things kept going from the house, in quite an awful way,
We couldn't tell who took 'em, neither Jane, nor cook, nor me,
Nor that young man from the country, as kept company with me.

One day a policeman came for me, my evidence to give,
I never shall forget it the longest day I live:
In the Old Bailey there I saw, condemned for felony, 
That young man from the country as kept company with me.

Twas he who stole the forks and spoons, 'twas he the coat as took;
I lost my place next morning, so did Jane, and so did cook
Young women all, take warning, don't have followers into tea,
Lest they treat you as that young man from the country treated me.

Thanks to Nick Dow for setting me off on the trail of this song:

Strictly speaking this was not originally written for the Halls, instead it started life as a theatrical song in the late 1850s. Despite the success of a song with a very similar name that borrowed its tune, this song was remembered in late 20th century by at least two different traditional singers….

The song is sometimes referred to as The young man from the country who kept company with me and dates from 1859. It was performed as part of a theatrical piece by Mr and Mrs Thomas German Reed. In the late 1850s the couple presented a series of entertainments called Popular illustrations of real-life – each of which consisted of several short two-handed plays. They usually appeared in relatively respectable venues like concert halls, but occasionally they appeared in provincial Music Halls. The entertainments were designed to attract respectable middle class families and the plays were often full of moral lessons. The German Reed’s were hugely successful and they progressed from their two-handed performances to running a large company. Many respected light opera singers, actors and songwriters of the late Victorian period started their career with the German Reeds – notably the light opera songwriter WS Gilbert.

The young man from the country was sung as part of a performance called Seaside Studies, it was written by Mr William Brough with music composed by Thomas German Reed. In the play it was sung by the character Sally Skeggs, played by Mrs German Reed who had previously had some success performing under her maiden name, Priscilla Horton. Newspaper evidence suggest that the song was being sung as early as 1858 and that sheet music was published by Cramer, Beale and Co in 1860 (Daily Telegraph January 23). I have not found evidence of any surviving copies of the complete sheet music, but a copy of the cover is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The song appears to have been hugely successful throughout the English-speaking world and it was widely printed as unofficial street literature (on broadsides and in songbooks). In Sydney, Australia it was a big hit for the English actor WH Stephens who sang it in several theatrical productions during his 1860 tour, including this one:

Sheet music was published in Australia in early 1861, it did not credit German Reed, but states that it was sung nightly with great applause by W H Stephens, arranged expressly by Marmaduke H Wilson.

A parody called The young girl from the country was written by the well-known comic songwriter JA Hardwick, the first stanza was:

When first I thought of wedlock, few girls I fancy took
There was Rose and Jane a housemaid and Margaretta Cook
They all of them had failings but the worst of all the three
Was that young Rose from the country who kept home inviting me

That young girl from the country who kept home inviting me.

German Reed’s tune proved very popular and was adopted for a particularly successful and much-parodied Music Hall song: Harry Sydney’s I’m a young man from the country but you don’t get over me, which seems to have somewhat overshadowed the original song. Sheet music was published for the Harry Sydney song, with music credited to German Reed, so it is possible to access a contemporary version of the original tune…

[Kilgarriff suggests that a song called The young man from the country was sung by Georgina Smithson, a serio comic singer, actress and dancer who was popular in the Hall of the 1860s. I have not yet found any evidence to indicate whether she was singing the German Reed song, Harry Sydney’s song, or another song of the same name.]

You can hear Fanny Pronger sing it on the Sussex Traditions site

Hers a modern version by Paul Carbuncle:

Sources:

• VWML entry
• Kilgarrif Sing Us
• Lyrics as printed in The Morning Post, London, England; 21 Jun 1859
• Sheet Music Cover (c) Victoria and Albert Museum
• Complete Sheet Music: not found but the tune was used for a Harry Sydney song available from Victoria & Albert Museum, London
• Australian Sheet Music “arranged by” Marmaduke H Wilson: archive.com
• The parody by appears in Diprose’s Music Hall Song Book No 8, London, ca. 1859-1862, republished as part of the British Library Historical Collection: The comic and sentimental Music Hall Song Book, London, nd (p61)

Last Updated on February 22, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: December 11, 2022