Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda

Subject: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: GUEST,Hutzulka
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 02:29 PM

Anyone have the lyrics of the Chad Mitchell Trio version? Specifically

First Verse:
Come all you men of sportin' blood and listen to my story
It's of the nobel Stewball, a gallant racing pony
It's also of his rider, who brought bold Stewball over
He said XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX and he rolls around in clover?

I can't hear a final line that makes sense.

Subject: Lyr Add: SKEWBALL (from Steeleye Span)
From: GUEST,alinact
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 03:01 PM

Hutz.

Can't find Chad Mitchells version, but below is Steeleye's and
here is the history of the story.

Allan

Skewball (Steeleye Span)

You gallant sportsmen all, come listen to my story
It's of the bold Skewball, that noble racing pony
Arthur Marvel was the man that brought bold Skewball over
He's the diamond of the land and he rolls about in clover

The horses were brought out with saddle, whip and bridle
And the gentlemen did shout when they saw the noble riders
And some did shout hurray, the air was thick with curses
And on the grey Griselda the sportsmen laid their purses

The trumpet it did sound, they shot off like an arrow
They scarcely touched the ground for the going it was narrow
Then Griselda passed him by and the gentlemen did holler
The grey will win the day and Skewball he will follow

Then halfway round the course up spoke the noble rider
I fear we must fall back for she's going like a tyger.
Up spoke the noble horse, ride on my noble master
For we're half way round the course and now we'll see who's faster

And when they did discourse, bold Skewball flew like lightning
They chased around the course and the grey mare she was taken
Ride on my noble lord, for the good two hundred guineas
The saddle shall be of gold when we pick up our winnings

Past the winning post bold Skewball proved quite handy
And horse and rider both ordered sherry, wine and brandy
And then they drank a health unto Miss Griselda
And all that lost their money on the sporting plains of Kildare

Subject: Lyr Add: STEWBALL AND GRISELDA
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 03:53 PM

From memory (mondegreen warning! In brackets! []:

Come all you men of sportin' blood and listen to my story
It's of the gallant Stewball, a gallant racin' pony.
It's also of his rider, who brought ol' Stewball over,
He said "[I love another man]" and he roamed around in clover.

Chorus:
Bet on Stewball, my boys and you might win, you might win,
Bet on Stewball, my boys and you might win.

The horses they were all brought out with saddle, whip and bridle
The gentlemen did shout when they saw the gallant riders
Some did shout hurrah, the air was filled with curses
On the mare Griselda the sportsmen laid their purses.

Chorus:

The trumpet it did sound and they shot off like an arrow,
Old Stewball scarcely touched the ground and the goin' it was narrow.
The gray mare passed him by and the sportsmen all did holler,
"Oh the gray will win the day and Stewball he can foller."

Chorus

In the middle of the track, up spoke the noble rider,
"I fear we must fall back that gray is runnin' like a tiger."
Up spoke the noble horse, "Ride on, ride on my master!
We're only halfway 'round the course and now we'll see who's faster."

Chorus

Past the winnin' post old Stewball went so handy
And both the horse and rider called for sherry, wine, and brandy,
They drank to that gray mare, the darlin' Miss Griselda,
And all who lost their money on the sportin' plains of Kildare.

Chorus

Subject: ADD Version: Stewball and Griselda
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 09:39 PM

If you did that from memory, Rapire, you did pretty darn good. You missed the second-last verse. Here's what I hear.
-Joe Offer-


STEWBALL AND GRISELDA
(as recorded by the Chad Mitchell Trio)

Come all you men of sportin' blood and listen to my story
'Tis of the noble Stewball, a gallant racin' pony.
'Tis also of his rider, who brought bold Stewball over,
He's the diamond of the land and he rolls around in clover.

Chorus:
Bet on Stewball, my boy, and you might win
Bet on Stewball, my boy, and you might win.

Oh, the horses they were all brought out with saddle, whip and bridle
The gentlemen did shout when they saw the gallant riders
And some did shout hurray! and the air was filled with curses
On the mare Griselda the sportsmen lay their purses.

Chorus:

Oh, the trumpet it did sound and they shot off like an arrow,
Old Stewball scarcely touched the ground and the goin' it was narrow.
Griselda passed him by and the sportsmen all did holler,
"Oh the grey will win the day and Stewball he can foller."

Chorus

In the middle of the track, up spoke the noble rider,
"I fear we must fall back that grey is runnin' like a tiger."
Up spoke the noble horse, "Ride on, ride on my master!
We're only halfway 'round the course and now we'll see who's faster."

Chorus

And as they did discourse, bold Stewball flew like lightnin'
He dashed around the course, and the grey mare she was taken
Ride on, ride on, my noble horse, for a good two hundred guineas
Your saddle it shall be of gold when we pick up our winnings

Chorus

Well, past the winning post bold Stewball went so handy
And both the horse and rider called for sherry, wine, and brandy,
They drank to that grey mare, the darlin' gallant Miss Griselda,
And all who lost their money on the sportin' plains of Kildare.

Chorus

Transcribed from The Best of the Chad Mitchell Trio: The Mercury Years

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 09:58 PM

Not bad, he said humbly, for something remembered from a record you never owned and for a song you haven't heard in 30 years and haven't even sung in 15.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Jun 03 - 03:20 AM

Thanks to all respondees. Joe, your version reads right as I listen to the recording, but for the last verse: They drank to that grey mare the GALLANT Miss Griselda. XOXO

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jun 03 - 03:51 AM

Thanks, XOXO - That one slipped by me. Correction made.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: Eden
Date: 27 Feb 04 - 08:02 AM

Not bad at all. Now if I could just find the Bonny Streets of Fyve-o anywhere...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 27 Feb 04 - 06:34 PM

Eden, have you tried searching for 'Fyvie' via the 'lyrics and Knowledge Search' (top right-hand corner)? Otherwise your cry from the heart may go more or less unheeded because it bears no relation to the thread title.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Feb 04 - 08:00 PM

Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads has 5 copies called SKEWBALL, 9 called SKEW BALL, and 4 called SCEW BALL. There is a wealth of information there for anyone who wants to make a detailed comparison of the versions, and try to reconstruct or identify the "original" song. I decided it's too much for me to tackle. They are all more or less similar to the one in the DT called SCEW BALL (STEWBALL)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: Rapparee
Date: 29 Feb 04 - 08:10 PM

Oh, poopy potatoes!

Here I got my copy of "The Mitchell Trio Song Book" (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1964) out of storage and all and I was going to post the lyrics from it and day-GONE but if that song ain't in there!

Lots of other things:

The John Birch Society
Alberta
Maladyozthenaya
The Banks of Sicily
Green Grow the Liliacs
You can tell the world
The virgin Mary
Alma Mater
Mighty Day
Me voy pa bete
I feel so good about it
What did you learn in school today?
Tell old Bill
Rum by Gum
The Golden Vanity
The Ides of Texas
The Hip song
Bonny streets of Fyve-io
The Story of Alice
Paddy West
Ain't no more cane on this Brazos
Moscow nights
Super skier
The Unfortunate man
Whup Jamboree
Rally Round The Flag (medley with In the Summer of his years)
Hello, Susan Brown
The Marvelous toy
Queen Elinor's Confession
James James Morrison Morrison
Last night I had the strangest dream
Johnnie
Tail Toddle
And Irish Song
The Twelve Days of Christmas

Oh, well.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: BuckMulligan
Date: 29 Feb 04 - 08:58 PM

teeny tiny possible correction - I think it should be "sherry wine and brandy" not "sherry, wine, and brandy" - for two reasons: first, that's the way it sounds to me on the track, and second, sherry is, of course, a type of wine. I'll see if I can transcribe Fyve-e-O" and put it up. transcribing the CMT is so difficult because of the way they so often sang the song "thrice at the same time" (beating Pete Seeger at the game).

Subject: Lyr Add: STREETS OF FIVE-I-O (?)
From: BuckMulligan
Date: 29 Feb 04 - 09:07 PM

There once was a troop, of Irish Dragoons,
Come marching down through Five-i-o.
And the Captain fell in love, with a very bonny lass,
As we marched through the bonny streets of Five-i-o.

The Captain's name was Ned, he was the pride of the Regiment,
The Bonniest lad in all of the Army-o.
A very handsome sight, he was the ladies' own delight!
As we marched though the bonny streets of Five-i-o."

"Well, I'll give you ribbons, love, and I'll give you rings,
I'll give you a necklace of amber-o,
If you'll come on down the stair, and comb back your yellow hair,
And we'll march through the bonny streets of Five-i-o.

There's many a bonny lass, in the town of Achterlass,
Aye, there's many a bonny lassie in the Geary-o,
There's many a bonny jean, in the streets of Aberdeen!
But the flow'r of them all lives in Five-i-o."

"Mount up! the Colonel cried, and it's o'er the bray we'll ride,
Down from the Hielans to Fenario,
Well, it's tarry another day, we heard our Captain say,
As we marched through the bonny streets of Five-i-o.

The Colonel in his rage, drew his pistol and took aim,
At the bonniest lad in all of the army-o...
He fired a deadly ball, and our Captain, he did fall,
As we marched through the bonny streets of Five-i-o."

"It's lang ere we left, the town of Achterlass,
We had our young Captain to carry-o.
And it's lang ere we came in to bonny Aberdeen,
That we had our young Captain there to bury-o."

"There once was a troop, of Irish Dragoons,
Come marchin' down through Fyve-i-o,
And the Captain fell in love, with a very bonny lass,
As we marched through the bonny streets of Fyve -i-o."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: pavane
Date: 01 Mar 04 - 08:03 AM

I remember seeing Martin Carthy many years ago, and his version of the story included the note that the owner of Skewball was very confident that she would win, because he had the advantage of using the newly invented stopwatch!

I have no idea where this information came from, though.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Stewball and Griselda
From: Eden
Date: 10 Mar 04 - 07:49 AM

Thanks for the Fyve-o lyrics, Buck! I'm a big CMT fan.