Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small

Subject: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: Rumncoke
Date: 30 Apr 20 - 10:00 PM

Back in the 1970s I was living in Market Harborough and heard a song with the chorus

You ladies all both great and small I wish you a joyful May

- or it might be I do wish you.
The line is repeated.

I have not come across it again and today - and as I am waiting for the dawn it has come to mind and is bothering me.
Without the first line of the first verse I can't do a search. I did find the phrase in a verse of a different song when trawling through May songs but it is definitely the chorus. Almost definitely the chorus.
Anyone know it?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: cnd
Date: 30 Apr 20 - 11:27 PM

From http://cbladey.com/mayjack/maysong.html

MAY-DAY GARLAND

Traditional
The Oxford Book of Carols No. 48

I've brought you here a bunch of may!
Before your door it stands:
It's well set out and well spread about,
By the work of our Lord's hands:
It's well set out and well spread about,
By the work of our Lord's hands.

This morning is the first of May,
The primest of the year:
So ladies all, both great and small,
I wish you a joyful cheer:
So ladies all, both great and small,
I wish you a joyful cheer.

Then take your bible in your hand,
And read the scriptures through:
And when the day of judgement comes,
The Lord will remember you:
And when the day of judgement comes,
The Lord will remember you.

The clock's struck one! I must be gone!
No longer can I stay.
If I should live to carry again,
I'll call another May:
If I should live to carry again,
I'll call another May.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: cnd
Date: 30 Apr 20 - 11:28 PM

I also found this:

his Morning is the First of May,
The bright time of the year.
If I should live and tarry well,
If I should live and tarry well,
If I should live and tarry well I'll call another year.
So ladies all, both great and small, I wish you a joyful May.

From http://kingsdownkent.blogspot.com/2009/05/this-morning-is-first-of-may.html. No attribution of title, though

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: cnd
Date: 30 Apr 20 - 11:32 PM

A little more detail on the above song by following the link in the article:

This song was resurrected by a folk band called Muckrum Wakes from the oral memories of the East Midlands, and shows the frequent fusion of pagan and Christian traditions at feast days.

And I sing it every year at this time, to commemorate the importance of the spring festival, to the chagrin of the rest of the family.

Apparently it was called The May Song (click). Not currently available online to listen to sadly as best as I can find.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: Rumncoke
Date: 01 May 20 - 12:39 AM

I do believe that it was the May day garland - well done!!

It had become 'a joyful May' but the rest is very familiar.

Now - after ensuring that the sun has come up from the South to make the summer strong - OK - an improvised jig and swift bit of Bampton on the decking in the back garden between the apple trees and the trampoline, (but it seems to have worked anyway) I will wish you all a merry Mayday and perhaps have a bit of a lie down.

I think the days of drinking down the moon and dancing up the sun are somewhat in the past for me but I do feel quite cheerful now.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 01 May 20 - 06:36 AM

Lots of versions, mainly from the Midlands and south of England.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: G-Force
Date: 01 May 20 - 07:16 AM

This particular version was often sung by Roger Watson solo, and I think it was on his Pick & The Malt Shovel LP.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 01 May 20 - 09:08 AM

From 1885

https://books.google.ca/books?id=UVoUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=You+ladies+all+both+great+and+small&source=bl&ots=BZgA9DDaw8

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: Rumncoke
Date: 01 May 20 - 05:14 PM

I have heard of Muckrum Wakes - and the pick and the malt shovel is an old favourite of mint - the coat of arms for the place where I grew up has a pitman and a brewer as supporters.
I have been trying to recall how I first heard the May day garland - there was definitely a chorus - the 'you ladies all' - and the verses are familiar - just slightly changed from the Oxford book. I suppose I should just do that many have done - alter and adapt.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: GUEST,Jenny sans cookie
Date: 02 May 20 - 06:08 AM

The refrain in the CHESHIRE MAYDAY CAROL is
"Good people all, both great and small, it is the first of May"
Lyrics here:
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=59752
(sorry, the blue clicky maker's not working)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 02 May 20 - 03:22 PM

Hi Rumncoke - I remember Tim Edwards singing the Muckram Wakes version (or a very similar one) at Herga round about this time of year, a long time ago!

Kitty

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: Rumncoke
Date: 03 May 20 - 05:48 AM

I think that there must have been various versions around.
The one I heard was at the Market Harborough folk club, sung by a member of John Lilburne's regiment of musket and pike - part of the sealed knot.
It was never well received - they were rather a heathen lot as I recall.

Anne

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Dec 20 - 03:15 AM

Just stumbled across this thread. It reminds me of a song I learned in the 1970s. Unusually it was sung in 5 beats to the bar, with a strong, fast driving beat drum beat.

Come ladies all, both great and small, we wish you a joyful May,
Come ladies all, both great and small, we wish you a joyful May,
We were all up before the sun to welcome in the day,
So now we're come with pipe and drum to wish you a joyful May!

Come ladies all, both great and small, we wish you a joyful May,
Come ladies all, both great and small, we wish you a joyful May,
The summer is a-coming and the winters gone away,
So ladies all both great and small, we wish you a joyful May,

There may be other verses, but that is all I recall!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You ladies all both great and small
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 22 Dec 20 - 07:31 AM

From Mainly Norfolk; The Wilson Family sang Cheshire May Day Song on their 2009 CD A Grey Lock or Two. They noted: Pete & Chris Coe are responsible for all the hard work in tracking down and arranging this song back in the seventies and we have them to thank for allowing us to 'borrow' it. What makes it unique within its genre is that the litany of names, to whom praises are offered, are all of old Cheshire families. The tune is more commonly associated with The Painful Plough.

Cheshire May Song

The Wilsons - eventually - sing the Cheshire May Day Song.

All on this pleasant morning, together come are we,
To tell you of a blossom that hangs on every tree.
We have stayed up all evening to welcome in the day,
Good people all, both great and small, it is the first of May.

Rise up the master of this house, put on your chain of gold,
And turn unto your mistress, so comely to behold.
Rise up the mistress of this house, with gold upon your breast,
And if your body be asleep, we hope your souls are dressed.

Oh rise up Mister Wilbraham, all joys to you betide.
Your horse is ready saddled, a-hunting for to ride.
Your saddle is of silver, your bridle of the gold,
Your wife shall ride beside you, so lovely to behold.

Oh rise up Mister Edgerton and take your pen in hand,
For you're a learned scholar, as we do understand.
Oh rise up Mrs. Stoughton, put on your rich attire,
For every hair upon your head shines like the silver wire.

Oh rise up the good housekeeper, put on your gown of silk,
And may you have a husband good, with twenty cows to milk.
And where are all the pretty maids that live next door to you,
Oh they have gone to bathe themselves, all in the morning dew.

God bless your house and arbour, your riches and your store.
We hope the Lord will prosper you, both now and ever more.
So now we're going to leave you, in peace and plenty here,
We shall not sing this song again, until another year.

Good people all, both great and small, it is the first of May.