Lyr Add: When The Old Dun Cow Caught Fire

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE OLD DUN COW CAUGHT FIRE
From: Owlkat
Date: 02 Nov 99 - 04:39 PM

WHEN THE OLD DUN COW CAUGHT FIRE
Words and Music by Harry Wincott, c 1893,
As Performed by Harry Champion 1911.(Born William Henry Crump,1865)
Old tyme music hall classic.
"To be sung with the rapidity of a machine gun burst." Entered the folk repertoire through the singing Copper family of Rotttingdean, Sussex, England.
-from Chris Simmons

Some pals and I in a public house
Were playing dominoes last night,
When all of a sudden in the potman runs
With a face just like a kite.
"What's up?" said Jones. "Why you silly old fool,
Have you seen old Aunt Maria?"
"Aunt be blowed," then the potman cried.
"The blooming pub's on fire!"
"On fire!" said Brown. "What a bit of luck!
Come along with me," shouts he.
"Down in the cellar if the fire ain't there,
We'll have a fair old spree."
So we all goes down 'long with good old Brown.
Booze we couldn't miss.
We hadn't been ten minutes there,
When I was just like this.

CHO: And there was Brown upside down
Licking up the whisky off the floor.
"Booze, booze, booze!" Then the firemen cried
As they got knocking down the door.
"Don't let 'em in 'till it's all mopped up!"
Someone said to MacIntyre.
So we all got blue blind paralytic drunk
When the Old Dun Cow caught fire.

Old Johnson flew to a port wine tub
And he gave it just a few hard knocks.
He then starts taking off his pantaloons.
Ditto his boots and socks.
"Hold hard," said Snooks. "If you want to wash your feet,
There's a barrel full of four ale here.
Don't put your trotters in the port wine, Jack,
When there's some old stale beer."
Just then there was such a dreadful crash,
Half the blooming roof gave way.
We got drowned with a fireman's hose,
But still we were all gay,
For we found some sacks and some old tin tacks,
Shoved ourselves inside.
We all got drinking good old scotch
Till we got bleary eyed.

We got so drunk that we did not know
The blooming cellar had caught fire.
Poor old Jones had the D.T.'s bad
And wanted to retire.
"There's Old Nick," said another poor chap,
"And he's poking the blooming fire."
"That's no bogy. It's a fireman, Tom,"
"At least" said MacIntyre.
"Let's get out of here," said a blind eyed boy.
"It's getting rather hot down here."
"Don't be a fool," said a boozy bloke.
"We haven't drank all the beer!"
So we filled our hats and we drank like cats
'Midst the flames and smoke.
I had to take my trousers off.
I thought that should "croak."

Spoken:

At last the firemen got inside
And found us all dead drunk.
But like all true heroes, there they stood.
They did not do a bunk.
They saw the booze upon the floor
And gave a sudden yell.
They took their helmets off and then
Upon their knees they fell.
"At last! At last!" the firemen cried,
"At last we know the news!"
"Come on! Come on!" us lads all cried.
"Come on and have a booze!"

(line breaks inserted by a Joe clone.... for the 2nd time.... 1st time worked but another clone must have tried to fix it again and undid it... when you edit. you still have to put in the line breaks even if it looks OK)

And edited yet again to change from all caps. --JoeClone, 6-Jun-02.

Subject: RE: TuneAdd:When The Old Dun Cow Caught Fire
From: lamarca
Date: 02 Nov 99 - 05:27 PM

This is a neat version, Owlcat - different than the one in the DT here. Is this the original published version? Did you transcribe it from a recording by Chris Simmons, or is it from a book?

Subject: RE: TuneAdd:When The Old Dun Cow Caught Fire
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 02 Nov 99 - 05:55 PM

Yes, Owlkat, tell us more. As a point of custom, we do not use all capitals when submitting lyrics or when posting on threads. We save that technique for when we want to "yell" on the page.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: TuneAdd:When The Old Dun Cow Caught Fire
From: Owlkat
Date: 03 Nov 99 - 03:13 AM

I'm really sorry it came out so goofy. I thought I'd typed it in properly, and it came out all woogly, and spigglified, and crunched together. Yes, I know capitals are for yelling. I usually type lyrics in upper case because I can see them better when I play the songs. My eyes are tired, I cannot see... More, you say? Okay. Well, Chris Simmons is the guy who collected it for the book I got it out of years ago. It might have been an old reprint from Singout.(all bow in the direction of Mecca, do the secret mason's handshake, and spit twice) I'm tempted to believe that this is the original text, and the version people now sing are vernacularized to reflect the idioms used now. For instance, the line that goes, "I had to take my trousers off, I thought that should 'croak'. I don't get it. Also the line "someone said to Macintyre" is different than the line "somebody shouted Macintyre". Is there an ethnomusicologist in the house? Anyway, there it is. Rave on Mart.

Subject: RE: TuneAdd:When The Old Dun Cow Caught Fire
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 04 Nov 99 - 07:52 AM

BTW, all caps are much more difficult to read than upper and lower case because the eye actually perceives the outline of the entire word when we read. All caps make each word a rectangle, so the brain has to slow down and actually read the word rather than perceive the word by its shape.

Just thought you'd want to know . . .

Linn, Typographer as well as Bat Goddess

Subject: RE: TuneAdd:When The Old Dun Cow Caught Fire
From: Wolfgang
Date: 04 Nov 99 - 08:25 AM

Owlkat, we are surely looking forward to further lyr adds from you. Here are two hints how you can make it easier for us to read:
(1) Copy your lyrics not directly into this space, but in a word processor first. Then highlight the whole and let the processor make lower cases of all of your upper cases. After that you can easily type the few Capitals you'd like to have at the beginnings of the verses.
(2) You get the line breaks by printing <br> at the end of each line. This also can be done by the processor. Use the replace function and replace all carriage returns (you might have to search a bit for the sign for them) by <br>. Then copy the result into this box here. It sure looks awful when you send it, but great when we read it.

Wolfgang

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OLD DUN COW
From: Wolfgang
Date: 04 Nov 99 - 08:29 AM

1. Some pals and I in a public house were playing dominoes last night,
When all of a sudden in the potman runs with a face just like a kite.
"What's up?" said Jones. "Why you silly old fool, have you seen old Aunt Maria?"
"Aunt be blow'd!" then the potman cried. "The blooming pub's on fire!"
"On fire!" said Brown. "What a bit of luck! Come along with me" shouts he.
"Down in the cellar, if the fire ain't there, we'll have a fair old spree."
So we all goes down 'long with good old Brown, booze we couldn't miss.
We hadn't been ten minutes there, when I was just like this.

CHORUS: And there was Brown upside down licking up the whisky off the floor.
"Booze, booze, booze!" then the firemen cried as they got knocking down the door.
"Don't let 'em in 'till it's all mopped up!" someone said to Macintyre,
So we all got blue blind paralytic drunk when the Old Dun Cow caught fire.

2. Old Johnson flew to a port wine tub and he gave it just a few hard knocks.
He then starts taking off his pantaloons; ditto his boots and socks.
"Hold hard" said Snooks. "If you want to wash your feet, there's a barrel full of four ale here.
Don't put your trotters in the port wine, Jack, when there's some old stale beer."
Just then there was such a dreadful crash! Half the blooming roof gave way.
We got drowned with a fireman's hose but still we were all gay,
For we found some sacks and some old tin tacks, shoved ourselves inside,
We all got drinking good old scotch till we got bleary-eyed.

3. We got so drunk that we did not know the blooming cellar had caught fire.
Poor old Jones had the d.t.'s bad and wanted to retire.
"There's Old Nick" said another poor chap, "and he's poking the blooming fire.
"That's no bogy. It's a fireman, Tom." "At least" said Macintyre.
"Let's get out of here" said a blind-eyed boy. "It's getting rather hot down here."
"Don't be a fool" said a boozy bloke. "We haven't drank all the beer!"
So we filled our hats and we drank like cats 'midst the flames and smoke.
I had to take my trousers off; I thought that should "croak."

SPOKEN: At last the firemen got inside and found us all dead drunk,
But like all true heroes there they stood. they did not do a bunk.
They saw the booze upon the floor and gave a sudden yell.
They took their helmets off and then upon their knees they fell.
"At last! At last!" the firemen cried, "at last we know the news!"
"Come on! Come on!" us lads all cried. "Come on and have a booze!"


Above is the result of two minutes "work". Wolfgang

Subject: RE: TuneAdd:When The Old Dun Cow Caught Fire
From: Shimbo Darktree
Date: 05 Nov 99 - 09:51 AM

Having just read pros and cons on turning music threads into
social commentary, here goes!
I sing with (among others) a 75 year old gentleman (well,
occasionally he is), and does he give me stick if I trot out
words not done in upper case. I prefer them as you see here
but ... "the proof of the pudding is in the eating"
"horses for courses", and any other platitudes you can grab
He really does find it easier in upper case.
Incidentally, this is an oblique apology, as I think I have
submitted upper case before ... result of preparing them for
aforesaid gentleman. I will suitably modify same in future.
Shimbo

Subject: RE: TuneAdd:When The Old Dun Cow Caught Fire
From: Owlkat
Date: 06 Nov 99 - 04:40 AM

Well, I'd love to submit more lyrics. I'll try to put them into readable form, but sometimes, its all I can do to cope with the unspeakable irratations I have to deal with just getting this damned machine to cooperate as much as it does. Where's a chisel and a rock when you need them?

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OLD DUN COW
From: MickyMan
Date: 23 Apr 04 - 04:39 PM

Here's what I think is a slightly different version that has been sung by Ethan Ungar here in Hartford, CT. USA

OLD DUN COW
(Harry Wincott 1893)

Some friends and I in a public house
Were playing dominoes one night
When into the room a fireman came,
His face all chalky white
"What's up?" says Brown, "Have you seen a ghost?"
"Have you seen your Aunt Moriah?"
"Oh my Aunt Moriah be buggered," says he,
"The bleeding pubs on fire"

"Oh," says Brown, "What a bit of luck
Everybody follow me
It's down to the cellar if the fire's not there
We'll have ourselves a spree"
So we all went down with good old Brown
And the booze we could not miss
And we hadn't been there ten minutes or more
Till we were quite like this

(Chorus:)
Oh, there was Brown, up side down
Mopping up the whiskey on the floor
"Booze, booze" the firemen cried
As they come a knockin' at the door
"Well don't let em in till it's all mopped up
Somebody shouted, "MacIntyre"    (Echo MacIntyre)
And we all got blue blind paralytic drunk
When the Old Dun Cow caught fire


Then Smith ran over to the port wine tub
And gave it just a few hard knocks
He started taking off his pantaloons
Likewise his shoes and socks
"Oh no," says Brown, "That t'ain't allowed
You can't do that in there
Don't be washing your trotters in the port wine tub
When we've got Ballantine beer" (Chorus)

Then there came a mighty crash
Half the bloody room gave way
We were almost drowned by the fireman's hose
But still we felt OK
So we got some tacks and some wet old sacks
And we packed ourselves inside
And we sat in there getting bleery eyed drunk
When the Old Dun Cow caught fire (Chorus)