AKA | The Plough Boy Sarah Sarie |
First Published | 1906 |
Writer/composer | George Bastow / Fred Leigh | Roud | RN16652 |
Music Hall Performers | George Bastow |
Folk performances | Source Singers Carver, Charlie 1960 England : Suffolk Philips, Cyril 1960 England : Sussex Porter, Sarah 1961 England : Sussex Webb, Percy 1975-1976 England : Suffolk Ling, Ruby 1975-1980 England : Suffolk |
Now I love my Sarah she works at our farm And so long as she's true to me I'll do her no harm When she told I she would marry I, I felt twice as big Cos I'd rather have Sarah than Master's prize pig She's proud and she's be-a-utiful, she's fat and as fair As the buttercups and daisies what grows in the air Fi dolderol day, Fi dolderol day Fi dolderol, fi dolderol, fi dolderol day This morning my Sarah was milking the cow When the stool over ballyanced and she fell off somehow 'Have you hurt yourself very much', I started to yell Says she, 'Oi've hurt my arm' but that bain't where she fell When we goes out court-i-ing, Oi loikes it 'cos whoi All the toime she says nothing much, and noither do Oi If Oi gives her a little squeeze, then she squeezes me And the more Sarah squeezes Oi, the more Oi loves she. When Mother she haerd how my Sarah Oi'd won She said, 'That gal bayn't good enough for my handsome son' My fayther he looked at me so gentle and kind And wanted to know if my Sarah was blind When us two get marry-ed there's sure to be fun For they tells I that the parson he makes two into one But I think we shall puzzle him 't'wixt you and me There's enough fat on Sarah to make two or three Now the first loving couple or so I believe Were a young man named Adam and a damsel called Eve People say it was wrong of him that apple to chew But if Eve were like sarah what else could he do? Poor Sarah she fell in the river one day And she might have drown-ded if Oi'd not passed that way When Oi'd saved her, she looked as if Oi'd done some big croime And she said, 'Just you mind where you grab me next time'
An early 20th century Music Hall number, still widely sung in the pubs of south-east of England a hundred years later. Cyril Phillips sings it on the Musical Traditions Just Another Saturday Night, which celebrates the songs sung in Sussex pubs in the 1950s and 60s, as collected by Brian Matthews. Also in the repertoire of other Sussex/Suffolk pub singers like Charlie Carver, Sarah Porter, Percy Webb and Ruby Ling.
It was sung in the Halls by George Bastow – one of a number of songs in which he lampooned country folk – his “Farmer Giles” songs.
You can hear several versions of it on the excellent Sussex Traditions site
Sources:
- VWML entry
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- Sleevenotes for Mustrad CD Just Another Saturday Night
- WorldCat Entry
Last Updated on December 11, 2020 by John Baxter | Published: December 11, 2020