Feeding the ducks on the pond

AKA
First Published1919

Writer/composerFrank LeoRoudRN25938

Music Hall PerformersJack Pleasants
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Keeping Family ; England : Lambeth ; 1930s-50s
Hall, Gordon ; England : Sussex ; 1989
Feeding the ducks on the pond

Every chap has a hobby,
Every chap has a sport;
I've lately thought of a new one,
That nobody else ever thought.
You'd never catch me at football,
Cricket was never my mark;
You'd never find me at tennis or golf,
But you'll often find me in the park.

Feeding the ducks on the pond, [Quack! Quack!]
Feeding the ducks on the pond, [Quack! Quack!]
It's a great art feeding the ducks, I declare
Watching that no duck gets more than its share.
It's more exciting to me
Than when I was out there at Mons;
When the ducks all all fed
I run home for more bread,
Then I go back and feed all the swans.


Some fellers keep fit with dumbbells,
Some of club-swinging are fond;
My exercise is as good, though,
Throwing breadcrumbs on the pond.
I exercise my muscles
Out in the fresh morning air;
I never need any doctors round me,
Though I get a few quacks when I'm there.

I found a girl there one morning,
She came again the next day;
When I said "What's the attraction?"
She said, " Well, if must say,
I find the green grass is soothing,
I'm fond of every green tree;
Tell you the truth, I love anything green,"
Then I thought p'raps that she might love me.

A hit for Jack Pleasants whose stage character was a shy, gentle Northerner. Available for purchase on the Windyridge CD or download – Jack Pleasants: I’m Shy Mary Ellen I’m shy

Sources:

  • Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A25938
  • Kilgarrif Sing Us
  • Lyrics: Thomson’s Weekly News – Saturday 05 February 1921
  • Sheet Music (not accessed): Worldcat
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