{"id":30551,"date":"2026-06-24T06:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T06:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=30551"},"modified":"2026-09-30T08:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T08:12:15","slug":"washing-day-draft","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/washing-day-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Washing Day (draft)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>The Washing Day

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First Published<\/td>1821<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>anon<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN3747<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Sam Cowell? <\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Walton, William ; England : Oxfordshire ; 1918
unknown singer ; USA : N. Carolina ; c1930
Hubbard, Mrs. Elizabeth Wheeler ; USA : Mass. ; 1920s?
Modern rendition<\/strong>: Tim Radford<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Washing Day<\/strong>- 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 <\/em>away!
Oh, the deuce a bit of comfort's here
Upon a washing day!<\/em>

My Kate, she is a bonny wife,
There\u2019s 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,
\u201cHow long\u2019s poor Kate been dead?\u201d
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,\u2014
\u201cCome, come,\u201d quoth I, \u201cOds buds!
I\u2019ll no denial take\u2014you shall,
Tho' Kate is in the suds!\u201d
But what he had to dine upon
In faith I shall not say;
But I\u2019ll wager he\u2019ll 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 \u2014 
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!<\/em>
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