{"id":210,"date":"2019-12-10T16:31:13","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T16:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=210"},"modified":"2022-06-01T15:15:19","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T15:15:19","slug":"get-up-jack-john-sit-down","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/get-up-jack-john-sit-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Get up Jack, John sit down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Jolly roving tar<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lyrics<\/strong><\/td>Edward Harrigan<\/td>Music<\/strong><\/td>David Braham<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td> RN2807<\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Music Hall performers<\/strong><\/td>None? Written for US Vaudeville \u201clocal drama\u201c Old Lavender 1885, performed in UK by GW Moore of the Moore and Burgess Minstrels<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Peter Bellamy, Jeff Warner, Lena Bourne Fish<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
1885 version <\/strong>\nOh Ships will come and ships will go, just as long as waves do roll\nEach sailor lad, likewise his dad, will love the flowing bowl.\nAfloat, ashore they do adore  a lass that is plump and round\nWhen the money\u2019s gone tis the same Old song: \n\nGet up Jack, John sit down!\nHeigh laddie, Ho laddie\nSwing the capstan round\nWhen the money\u2019s gone it\u2019s the same Old song: get up Jack, John sit down<\/em>\n \nAn old sheath-knife and souwester are staunch old friends at night \nA glass of grog in rain or fog will steer a sailor right\nFrom old Brazil to Bunker Hill we scatter dollars round\nWhen the money\u2019s gone tis the same Old song: \n\nGo take A cruise on a man o war to China or Japan,\nIn Asia there, the maidens fair all love a sailor man.\nWhile Tom and Joe palaver oh and buy some the girls a gown\nWhen the money\u2019s gone tis the same Old song: \n\nWhen Jack\u2019s ashore he steers to some old boarding house\nHe\u2019s welcomed in with rum and gin, and fed on pork and scouse.\nhe\u2019ll spend and lend and he'll ne\u2019er offend \nand lay drunk on the ground:\nWhen the money\u2019s gone tis the same Old song: \n\nWhen Jack is old and weather-beat, too weak to roust about,\nIn some rum shop they\u2019ll let him stop, at eight bells he\u2019s turned out.\nHe cries he cries up to the sky \u201c I\u2019ll soon be homeward bound\u201d,\nFor my money\u2019s  gone tis  the same old song:\n\n\nPeter Bellamy sings:<\/strong>\nShips may come and ships may go, just as long as the seas do run\nAnd a sailor man, likewise his dad, he loves his pork and rum.\nNow a lass ashore he do adore one that is plump and round;\nBut when your money\u2019s all gone it\u2019s the same old song:\n\nGet up Jack, John sit down!\nCome along, come along me jolly brave boys,\nThere\u2019s plenty more grog in the jar;\nWe\u2019ll plow the briny ocean with a jolly roving tar<\/em>\n\nWhen Jack\u2019s ashore he makes his way to some old boarding house\nHe\u2019s welcomed in with rum and gin, likewise with fork and scouse.\nNow he\u2019ll spend and he\u2019ll spend and he'll never offend until he lies drunk on the ground;\nBut when your money\u2019s all gone it\u2019s the same old song \u2026\n\nHe then will ship aboard some ship bound for India or Japan,\nOr in Asia there, the ladies fair all loves the sailor man.\nHe will trip ashore and he won\u2019t scorn to buy some maid a gown\nBut when your money\u2019s all gone it\u2019s the same old song \u2026\n\nWhen Jack is old and weather-beat, too old to sail about,\nIn some grog shop they\u2019ll let him stop \u2019til eight bells do ring out.\nThen he\u2019ll raise his hands high, and loud he\u2019ll cry, \u201cThank God I\u2019m homeward bound\u201d,\nBut when your money\u2019s all gone it\u2019s the same old song \u2026 \n\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
This one has certainly has entered the folk tradition after being sung on the US vaudeville stage. Kilgarriff lists it in the repertoire of the Moore and Burgess Minstrels, an American blackface troupe, who appeared continuously on British Music Hall stages from the 1860s until the early twentieth century. So seems very likely that they sang this song on the British stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was collected by the great American folksong collectors Frank and Anne Warner from the singing of Lena Bourne Fish in New Hampshire (USA) in 1940\/41. There are a number of recordings this song by folk artists of the British Isles, though the precise lyrics vary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have found several references to this song being given Roud Number 913, but looking at the versions in the VWML, these seem to be a different song also called the Jolly Roving Tar, collected from the singing of George Hiscock in Hampshire (UK) by George Barnet Gardiner in 1906, and featuring on many broadsheets going back to the 1870s and possibly earlier.  Harriman’s version has Roud number 2807 and also has been collected on broadsheets going back to the 1870s<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n