| AKA | At Rawtenstall Fair |
| Lyrics | Weston | Music | Lee | Roud | 23927 |
| Music Hall performers | Randolph Sutton 1930s |
| Folk performances | Source Singers unknown 1942 England : Herefordshire Modern Performances Lea Nicholson The Houghton Weavers John Roberts and Tony Barrand |
As written by Weston and Lee and recorded by Randolph Sutton Just behind the gasworks down in Rawtenstall That's a little town in Lancashire They'd some fun up there, ee they did an all Last Friday week they had a fair up theer They had coconuts swings and figure eights Switchback robots and a roundabout Eeh and everyone said what gradely fun When the lads and lasses heard the showman shout Walk up walk up come and see the fat girl Forty stone of loveliness and every bit her own Oh what a picture with the accent on the pig Farmers with their walking sticks were giving her a dig But the gradely lassie didn't say that her chassis Had been blown up with gas I do declare She really looked lovely until a silly clown Stuck a pin in her said the showman with a frown All hands to the pump lass, the vessel's going down At the Rawtenstall Annual Fair Walk up walk up see the house of mystery Ladies pay a tanner and be tickled in the dark In went the women saying ee but this is cheap Showman pulled the lever and they all fell in a heap Through a hole they shot and when they got to the bottom There were frills and flounces everywhere The girls started screaming it caused a lot of strife I never saw so many legs and stockings in my life I saw some funny things I'd only seen upon the wife At the Rawtenstall Annual Fair Walk up walk up come and see the mermaid All her life alive and half a woman half a fish In went the fellers just to see it wasn't swank Little Johnny Higgins poured some whiskey in the tank Well she got so frisky when she swam in the whiskey The first time that she came up for air She bumped in the audience and gave her tail a swish Her tail tumbled off and she really looked delish She shouted what do you fancy a bit of meat or a bit of fish At the Rawtenstall Annual Fair Walk up walk up come and get your money's worth See the tattooed lady with the pictures on her skin In went the fellows and they all began to cheer For on her skin were painted all the towns of Lancashire On her form so pretty she had Manchester City With the town hall stuck up in the square She'd Bolton and Bacup and Ashton-under-Lyne The coalpits at Wigan I thought were very fine But they all started singing 'Daddy, Don't go down the mine' At the Rawtenstall Annual Fair
A Music Hall song written by the prodigious Weston and Lee in around 1932, and held in great affection by Lancashire folk ever since. It even prompted the people of Rawtenstall to have an annual fair– not something which had existed before the song was written!
The lyrics above are those which were recorded by Randolph Sutton,as transcribed by Mark Dowding on the Mudcat website . I am assuming these reflect what was written by Weston and Lee – the version sung in folk circles has been slightly modified.
Randolph Sutton (1888-1969) “Britain’s Premier Light Comedian”, seems to be the performer who first had a hit with the song. He was a star of variety and Music Hall in 1920s and 30s, singing comic and sentimental songs with a soft Bristolian burr – quite surprising when you are used to hearing this song sung in a broad Lancashire accent! I suspect this may be another case where the Music Hall writers, artistes and possibly audiences were laughing at the “locals”, but the “locals” took it up as a badge of pride!
Sources:
- Roy Palmer A ballad history
- Lyrics from Mudcat
- Lea Nicholson
- Kilgarriff Banjos
Lea Nicholson sings it:
Randolph Sutton with his soft Bristolian burr:
Last Updated on January 11, 2021 by John Baxter | Published: April 9, 2020
