{"id":6315,"date":"2020-10-30T17:21:15","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T17:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=6315"},"modified":"2020-10-30T23:07:22","modified_gmt":"2020-10-30T23:07:22","slug":"out-in-the-green-fields","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/out-in-the-green-fields\/","title":{"rendered":"Out in the green fields"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>The Haymaking Song<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1874?<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Wilton Friend\/Edward Solomons<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN2670<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>JW Rowley<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Source Singers<\/strong>
Styles, Charles 1926 England: Buckinghamshire
House, Bill 1986 England: Dorset
Modern performances<\/strong>
The Yetties<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Out in the Green Fields<\/strong>\nSung with great success by JW Rowley the celebrated London and provincial comique<\/em>\n\nA country lad am I\nA rustic bred and born,\nThe birds do sing and so do I,\nAnd rise early in the morn.\nTo reap and to mow, till and sow,\nThe land with plough and team,\nThere's nought can beat a country life,\nOut in the fields so green.\n\n[Spoken] Ah, I be a happy lad, morning, noon, and night, rain or shine, blow or snow, it's all the same to I, while\u2026\n\nOut in the green fields, so happy and so gay,\nOut in the green fields, a raking of the hay,\nOut in the green fields, I pass my time away,\nAnd like the lark I whistle in the morning.<\/em>\n\nWhen the sun be hot, and land be dry, \nI gets the same 'tis clear, \n'Tis then I stopped to take a drop \nOf stunning home brewed beer; \nWith a tidy snack of luncheon, aye, \nAt plough tail all serene\nCold beans and bacon that's the tack, \nOut in the field so green.\n\n[Spoken] Ah, bacon and cold greens, thems the sort for me, and wash em down, with a drop of good home brewed beer, it makes I whistle in single day long.\n\nMy Dolly she's the finest lass, \nFor twenty miles around, \nThe country girls have rosy cheeks, \nTheir equal can't be found. \nWhen harvest home comes round, my boys, \nEach lass looks like a queen, \nThen Doll and I, oh! Don't we dance? \nOut in the fields so green\n\nSome say the jolly joys of town,\nAre just the proper sort,\nGive I the chase and hurdle race\nAnd other country sport,\nBreaking the rest with sprees at night,\nFast men are never seen,\nWe like the open sunlight best\nOut in the fields so green.<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Another song popularised by \u00a0JW \u201cOver\u201d Rowley<\/a> \u00a0(1847-1925), which turns up in the repertoire of several 20th century traditional singers. The first reference to it I can find is in 1874, though Rowley’s name is not associated with the song:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Graphic (London) Feb 7 1874<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The original sheet music may not have survived, but some years later Rowley wrote a letter to The Era <\/em>about his songs, and gave details of the writer and composer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Era Aug 21 1897<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n