Bacon and Greens

AKA
First Published 1839
Writer/composer anon Roud RN31239

Music Hall Performers Sam Cowell
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Dobbins, Mrs. ; USA : Indiana ; 1922
Palmer, Austin S; USA : Indiana ; 1922		 

Earliest version 09 Jul 1839 
Southern Argus (Columbus Mississippi)

From the Southron
BACON AND GREENS.
by GREEN PEASE BACON, ESQ. G.B.

I have lived long enough to be rarely mistaken, 
And borne my full share of life's changeable scenes.
But my woes have been solaced by good greens and bacon,
And my joys have been doubled by bacon and greens.
Fol de ri do — bacon and greens. 

What a thrill of remembrance e'en now they I awaken,
Of childhood's gay morning and youth's merry scenes,
When, one day, we had greens and a plate full of bacon.
And, the next, we had bacon and a plate full of greens.

Ah! well I remember, when sad and forsaken,
Heart wrung by the scorn of a Miss in her teens.	.
How I rushed, from her sight, to my loved greens and bacon.
And forgot my despair over bacon and greens.

When the banks refused specie and credit was shaken,
I shared in the wreck and was ruined in means;
My friends all declared I had not 'saved my bacon',
But they lied — for I still had my bacon and greens.

Oh!there is a charm in this dish rightly taken, 
That, from custards and jellies an epicure, weans —
Stick your fork in the fat — wrap your greens round the bacon,
And you'll vow there is nothing like bacon and greens.

If some fairy a grant of three wishes would make one
So worthless as I, and so laden with sins,
I'd wish all the greens in the world — then the bacon —
And then wish for a little more bacon and greens.
Fol de ri do — bacon and greens.

POSTSCRIPT.
I relent to confess that for once I'm mistaken, 
As much as I've known of this world and its scenes;
There's one thing that's equal to both greens and bacon,
And that is a dish of — bacon and greens. 
Fol de ri do — bacon and greens

A song which was circulating in the Southern United States in the late 1830s – the earliest version I can find is the one given above taken from a Mississippi newspaper in 1839. The words were printed in various American newspapers at that time, always credited to the writing of “Green Pease Bacon, Esq. G.B.”, which I think its safe to assume is a pseudonym.

The song was later popularised by Sam Cowell in the early music halls and concert rooms of the late 1850s and early 1860s . The words were reproduced in various newspapers in 1858, often credited to “the Hon William R Smith”. Here is a contemporary review of one of Cowell’s concerts :

SAM COWELL AND HIS PARTY —The concert given by Mr. Cowell and his friends came off on Tuesday last, in the Kings Head Assembly Room, Richmond… Mr Cowell sung in his own inimitable style a number of comic pieces, all of which were rapturously encored….  The Artful Dodger, Bacon and Greens, Clean your Boots, Billy Barlow etc, were all set out with a breadth of comic humour which elicited continuous bursts of laughter. … Mr. Cowell is indisputably unrivalled in his own walk. He possesses rare histrionic powers which can extract a fund of exuberant mirth out of the most slender materials. But what Sam Cowell does to admiration no second-rate actor need attempt without the certainty of failure. The jokes were not in themselves very brilliant, and the originals of the characters would possess no great interest, even if they were our daily acquaintances, nothing which a man of good sense would deign to laugh at …. The secret of …. Mr. Cowell’s performances consists in the fact that he copies nature; and just as we often admire a portrait even while there is no beauty in the original, merely because it is a good likeness, in the same way we admire Mr. Cowell’s life-like imitations …. Sam Cowell, by representing character in the abstract, amuses all, offends none.

Richmond & Ripon Chronicle – Saturday 14 August 1858

Cowell also sang the song during his American tour of 1860/61 and its popularity was reflected in its widespread publication in American songsters and sheet music.

As sung by Scott Odena

Sources: