Thats an old song. You can see a pretty old version among the texts from R. Bell's and 'Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry' (1857). I don't have the link memorized. Go to
www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ballads/ballads.html
and there you can click onto a copy of the book.
The Barley-Mow Song
[This song is sung at country meetings in Devon and Cornwall, particularly on completing the carrying of the barley, when the rick, or mow of barley, is finished. On putting up the last sheaf, which is called the craw (or crow) sheaf, the man who has it cries out 'I have it, I have it, I have it;' another demands, 'What have'ee, what have'ee, what have'ee?' and the answer is, 'A craw! a craw! a craw!' upon which there is some cheering, &c., and a supper afterwards. The effect of the Barley-Mow Song cannot be given in words; it should be heard, to be appreciated properly, - particularly with the West-country dialect.]
- Here's a health to the barley-mow, my brave boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- We'll drink it out of the jolly brown bowl,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- Cho. Here's a health to the barley-mow, my brave boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- We'll drink it out of the nipperkin, boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The nipperkin and the jolly brown bowl,
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the quarter-pint, boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The quarter-pint, nipperkin, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the half-a-pint, boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The half-a-pint, quarter-pint, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the pint, my brave boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The pint, the half-a-pint, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the quart, my brave boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The quart, the pint, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- Well drink it out of the pottle, my boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The pottle, the quart, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the gallon, my boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The gallon, the pottle, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the half-anker, boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The half-anker, gallon, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the anker, my boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The anker, the half-anker, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the half-hogshead, boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The half-hogshead, anker, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the hogshead, my boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The hogshead, the half-hogshead, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the pipe, my brave boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The pipe, the hogshead, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the well, my brave boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The well, the pipe, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the river, my boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The river, the well, &c.
- Cho. Here's a health, &c.
- We'll drink it out of the ocean, my boys,
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
- The ocean, the river, the well, the pipe, the hogshead,
- the half-hogshead, the anker, the half-anker,
- the gallon, the pottle, the quart, the pint, the
- half-a-pint, the quarter-pint, the nipperkin, and
- the jolly brown bowl!
- Cho. Here's a health to the barley-mow, my brave boys!
- Here's a health to the barley-mow!
[The above verses are very much ad libitum, but always in the third line repeating the whole of the previously-named measures; as we have shown in the recapitulation at the close of the last verse.]
The Barley-Mow Song (Suffolk Version)
[The peasantry of Suffolk sing the following version of the Barley-Mow Song.]
- Here's a health to the barley mow!
- Here's a health to the man
- Who very well can
- Both harrow and plow and sow!
- When it is well sown
- See it is well mown,
- Both raked and gavelled clean,
- And a barn to lay it in.
- He's a health to the man
- Who very well can
- Both thrash and fan it clean!
Lyrics copy-pasted from the source Bruce cited.
-Joe Offer, 14 April 2009-