{"id":18206,"date":"2022-12-11T11:04:16","date_gmt":"2022-12-11T11:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=18206"},"modified":"2023-02-22T15:27:35","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T15:27:35","slug":"young-man-from-the-country-the","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/young-man-from-the-country-the\/","title":{"rendered":"Young man from the country, The"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>The young man from the country who kept company with me
No followers<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1860<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>William Brough \/ T German Reed<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN25882<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Mrs German Reed<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Pronger, Mrs Fanny; England: Sussex; 1960
Modern performances:#<\/strong>
Paul Carbuncle<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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As printed in The Morning Post<\/em>, London, England; 21 Jun 1859<\/strong>\n\nWhen first I went to service, a nursemaid's place  I took.\nThere was me, and Jane the housemaid, and Margaret the cook,\nWe all of us had followers, the best of all the three,\nWas that young man from the country, as kept company with me\n\nThat young man, etc.<\/em>\n\nThe first time he came into tea, the snow was on the ground,\nNext morning master's overcoat was nowhere to be found.\nAnd yet I see'd it on the peg, when I sat down to tea,\nWith that young man from the country, as kept company with me.\n\nWhen next he came the dinner things were lying all about,\nFor Jane that day was busy, and 'twas Margaret's , Sunday out \nTwo silver forks was stole that night, yet no thief did I see;\nNo more did he, that young man as kept company with me.\n\nHe came again, and yet again, how often I can't say\nAnd things kept going from the house, in quite an awful way,\nWe couldn't tell who took 'em, neither Jane, nor cook, nor me,\nNor that young man from the country, as kept company with me.\n\nOne day a policeman came for me, my evidence to give,\nI never shall forget it the longest day I live:\nIn the Old Bailey there I saw, condemned for felony, \nThat young man from the country as kept company with me.\n\nTwas he who stole the forks and spoons, 'twas he the coat as took;\nI lost my place next morning, so did Jane, and so did cook\nYoung women all, take warning, don't have followers into tea,\nLest they treat you as that young man from the country treated me.\n\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Thanks to Nick Dow for setting me off on the trail of this song:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strictly speaking this was not originally written for the Halls, instead it started life as a theatrical song in the late 1850s. Despite the success of a song with a very similar name that borrowed its tune, this song was remembered in late 20th century by at least two different traditional singers….<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The song is sometimes referred to as The young man from the country who kept company with me<\/em> and dates from 1859. It was performed as part of a theatrical piece by Mr and Mrs Thomas German Reed. In the late 1850s the couple presented a series of entertainments called Popular illustrations of real-life<\/em> – each of which consisted of several short two-handed plays. They usually appeared in relatively respectable venues like concert halls, but occasionally they appeared in provincial Music Halls. The entertainments were designed to attract respectable middle class families and the plays were often full of moral lessons. The German Reed’s were hugely successful and they progressed from their two-handed performances to running a large company. Many respected light opera singers, actors and songwriters of the late Victorian period started their career with the German Reeds – notably the light opera songwriter WS Gilbert.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The young man from the country<\/em> was sung as part of a performance called Seaside Studies<\/em>, it was written by Mr William Brough with music composed by Thomas German Reed. In the play it was sung by the character Sally Skeggs<\/em>, played by Mrs German Reed who had previously had some success performing under her maiden name, Priscilla Horton.  Newspaper evidence suggest that the song was being sung as early as 1858 and that sheet music was published by Cramer, Beale  and Co <\/em>in 1860 (Daily Telegraph January 23). I have not found evidence of any surviving copies of the complete sheet music, but a copy of the cover is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 <\/strong> Dec. 11, 1858; <\/strong>Morning Chronicle, London.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The song appears to have been hugely successful throughout the English-speaking world and it was widely printed as unofficial street literature (on broadsides and in songbooks). In Sydney, Australia it was a big hit for the English actor WH Stephens who sang it in several theatrical productions during his 1860 tour, including this one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 Empire (Sydney)  Mon 12 Nov 1860<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Sheet music was published in Australia in early 1861, it did not credit German Reed, but states that it was sung nightly with great applause by W H Stephens, arranged expressly by Marmaduke H Wilson<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A parody called The young girl from the country<\/em> was written by the well-known comic songwriter JA Hardwick<\/a>, the first stanza was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When first I thought of wedlock, few girls I fancy took\nThere was Rose and Jane a housemaid and Margaretta Cook\nThey all of them had failings but the worst of all the three\nWas that young Rose from the country who kept home inviting me\n\nThat young girl from the country who kept home inviting me.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
German Reed’s tune proved very popular and was adopted for a particularly successful and much-parodied Music Hall song: Harry Sydney’s I\u2019m a young man from the country  but you don\u2019t get over me<\/a><\/em>, which seems to have somewhat overshadowed the original song.  Sheet music was published for the Harry Sydney song, with music credited to German Reed, so it is possible to access a contemporary version of the original  tune\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Kilgarriff suggests that a song called The young man from the country <\/em>was sung by Georgina Smithson, a serio comic singer, actress and dancer who was popular in the Hall of the 1860s. I have not yet found any evidence to  indicate whether she was singing the German Reed song, Harry Sydney’s song, or another song of the same name.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can hear Fanny Pronger sing it on the Sussex Traditions site<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hers a modern version by Paul Carbuncle:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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