Washing Day (draft)

AKA The Washing Day
First Published 1821
Writer/composer anon Roud RN3747

Music Hall Performers Sam Cowell?
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Walton, William ; England : Oxfordshire ; 1918
unknown singer ; USA : N. Carolina ; c1930
Hubbard, Mrs. Elizabeth Wheeler ; USA : Mass. ; 1920s?
Modern rendition: Tim Radford		 

Washing Day- A Proper New Ballad for Wet Weather

The sky with clouds was overcast,
The rain began to fall,
My wife she beat the children,
And raised a pretty squall:
She bade me, with a scolding look,
To get out of her way;
Oh, the deuce a bit of comfort's here
Upon a washing day!

For 'tis thump, thump, scrub, scub, scold, scold away!
Oh, the deuce a bit of comfort's here
Upon a washing day!

My Kate, she is a bonny wife,
There’s none so free from evil,
Unless upon a Washing Day,
And then she is the devil!
The very kittens in the hearth
They dare not even play;
Away they jump with many a bump,
Upon a washing day.

A friend of mine once asked me,
“How long’s poor Kate been dead?”
Lamenting the good creature, gone
And sorry I was wed
To such a scolding vixen, while
He had been far away:
The truth it was he chanced to come
Upon a washing day!

I asked him to stay and dine,—
“Come, come,” quoth I, “Ods buds!
I’ll no denial take—you shall,
Tho' Kate is in the suds!”
But what he had to dine upon
In faith I shall not say;
But I’ll wager he’ll no come again
Upon a Washing Day.

On that sad morning when I rise,
I put a fervent prayer,
Unto the Gods, that it may be
Throughout the day quite fair:
That not a cap or handkerchief
May in the ditch be laid;
For should it happen so, egad,
I get a broken head.

Old Homer sang a Royal wash
Down by a crystal river, 
For dabbing in the palace-halls,
The king permitted never — 
On high Olympus, Beauty's queen
Such troubles well may scout, 
While Jove and Juno, with their train,
Put all their washing out.

[FINAL CHORUS]
Ah! happy gods, they fear no sound
Of thump and scold away, 
But smile to view the perils of
A mortal washing-day!

A popular song throughout the English speaking world in the 1820s and 30s, it was first published in 1820 as spectacularly illustrated lithographic sheet music by William Hawkes Smith (1785-1840), of Birmingham. (You can navigate through the four pages of words and music in the sldeshow above.) Some sources suggest that the words were written by Hawkes Smith, but most give it as “Anon”. The tune is an old, well-used one: There’s Nae Luck About the House (composer also usually given as “Anon”).

The song and its music were reprinted all over English speaking world – as sheet music, in songsters and on broadsides.

At the moment I have no reliable evidence that the song was performed in British Music Halls. The song may have featured in the repertoire of Sam Cowell (1820-1864), star of the early Music Halls and supper rooms, as it appears in the posthumously published in 120 Comic Songs Sung by Sam Cowell (c1878?). However this book is not a reliable source as a number of the songs do not ever seem to have been sung by Cowell. It also may have been revived in the pantomime of January 1877 at London’s Royal Surrey Theatre, where a song called There’s nae luck about the house upon a Washing Day was performed.

The song has been collected from a small number of traditional singers in England and America and appears in Scottish folklorist John Ord’s Book of Bothy Songs and Ballads (1930). The versions collected are considerably shorter than the original, usually with three stanzas rather than the original six.

Sources:

  • Roud Index entries https://www.vwml.org/roudnumber/3747

Selected re-publications: