The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #5658 Message #1928133
Posted By: Jim Dixon
06-Jan-07 - 08:25 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: When This Old Hat Was New
Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THIS OLD HAT WAS NEW (from Bodleian)
From Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, Harding B 11(4138), with spelling and punctuation modernized by me:
WHEN THIS OLD HAT WAS NEW
^^
This old hat was new once, but I cannot tell you when,
And there's no one here can say how plenty things were then.
There was good cheer in the rich man's house, for then they kept no small,
But now the times are altered for they give no cheer at all.
[CHORUS] No doubt there are many here who know what I say's true.
How different must the times have been when this old hat was new!
Then when frosty winter came with cold and piercing storm,
The rich then gave out food and coals to keep the poor folks warm;
But the good old times are quite forgot, unless by very few.
How different must the times have been when this old hat was new!
When this old hat was new, the poor did never want.
They had all their bellies full, although their means were scant;
Though now they have their bellies full of sorrow and distress,
And if their means were scanty then, they've now a great deal less.
When this queer old hat was new, our tars were never pressed,
For they did boldly volunteer, and that, you know, was best.
The foe then ran before them, and glad to do so, too.
The foe'd as soon be dāā as fight when this old hat was new.
Another thing I have to say: when this old hat was new,
They willingly did labor and had plenty work to do.
Then husbandmen, old England's pride, did work both soon and late,
But now the pride of England are forced to emigrate.
When this rummy old hat was new, the workhouse they did dread.
Then every peasant had good clothes, a shelter, and a bed;
But now, though workhouses are large, they fill them o'er and o'er,
And hundreds now that can't get in do starve outside the door.
With coaches and with horses then their travels they did make,
And though their journeys were but short, a good long time they'd take;
But now long journeys are so short, they seem but as a dream,
For they travel in hot water, and they melt long miles by steam.
For going over the river then a sturdy bridge they found,
But now they can go under it, and yet they don't get drowned;
And now humane societies will almost save the dead,
And yet we see some hundreds starve for want of a bit of bread.
Now whether this be polity, or be it war or peace,
'Tis certain both the people and their troubles do increase;
But I hope that things may mend again and folk may better do,
And that we may have times as good as when this old hat was new.