{"id":7534,"date":"2020-12-09T19:17:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T19:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=7534"},"modified":"2020-12-09T19:17:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T19:17:47","slug":"goblins-in-the-churchyard","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/goblins-in-the-churchyard\/","title":{"rendered":"Goblins in the churchyard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>The Ghost Song<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1888<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writer\/composer<\/td>M. Cavanagh \/ Walter Hastings<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN10700<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Henri Clark<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Source Singers<\/strong>
Hancy. Charlie, 1960s\/70s England : Suffolk
Modern performances<\/strong>
<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
I went down to the Rose and Crown stopped there till I got tight\nThe Potman came and turned me out, I bade my friends 'Good Night'\nThe nearest way home was to go right through the old church-yard\nNo other chap would come with me, I thought this rather hard\nWhilst walking 'midst the old grave stones I heard a noise close by\nI turned, Oh Lor, a dozen ghosts in white met my eye\nMy hair stood up, my knees gave way, they filled me with alarm\nFor each ghost had a coffin lid tucked underneath his arm.\n\nSome of the ghosts were short and some of the ghosts were tall\nThere they sat in a ghostly row on top of the church-yard wall\nThey all gave a loud Ha, Ha, they all gave a loud Ho, Ho\nI tried to wish them all 'Good night' but they would not let me go.<\/em>\n\nOne of the ghosts began to speak, down on my knees I sank\n'I am a cabman's ghost,' said he, 'But now I'm off the rank.\nI never minded rain or snow, I laughed at mud and slush\nEach fare that I picked up I used to have upon the 'rush'\nAnd if they dared to grumble, why, I used to cuss and swear\nAnd once and only once I charged a man the proper fare\nI even touched my hat to him, no 'extra' did I crave\nBut when I come to think of it, I can't rest in my grave.\n\nAnother ghost commenced, 'Once on a time I would get tight\nI turned 'tea-total' and in fact a staunch 'blue ribbonite'\nI used to drink 'tea-total' drinks (The other ghosts here laughed)\nBut I was settled on that ginger beer they sell on draught\nThey held an inquest on me, such a course was only right\nThe Jury gave their verdict in that I deserved it quite\nNow when you start to wear the 'blue' and give the booze the 'sack'\nIt won't be long before your friends will have to wear the black.'\n\nA railway servants ghost was there, who soon began to speak\n'I used to earn the splendid sum of eighteen bob a week\nThey made us work like negroes, and we could not do a 'shirk'\nThe workhouse was before us, when we got to old to work\nOne day the foreman told me that I was to have a rise\nI fell down in a fit, brought on by wonder and surprise\nThe shock had been too much for me, for help they quickly ran\nBut when they raised me up I was as dead as good Queen Anne.'\n\nA lawyer's ghost stood on the wall and then commenced to state\n'I rise to plead the noble cause, the cause of six and eight.'\nThe other ghosts get mad with rage, would not hear him at all\nThey threw their coffin lids at him and knocked him off the wall\nWhat followed next I can't remember, somehow very well\nNext day when I awoke I found myself locked in a cell\nI went before the Magistrate, on me he fixed his gaze\n'Found in a church-yard beastly drunk, we'll give you fourteen days.'<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A late 19th century Music Hall song remembered almost a hundred years later in the pubs of Suffolk. In the Halls it was a hit for \u00a0Henri Clark<\/a> in the late 1880s and it very quickly became a popular song amongst amateur singers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Gavin Atkins sings it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n