Lyr Req: Broadside Man (John Conolly, Bill Meek)

Subject: Anyone know 'broadside seller' spiel?
From: Brian Peters
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 08:45 AM

Years ago I remember a teacher at school reading aloud a piece of broadside-seller's patter, whether real or confected I don't know. The only line I can remember is:

"A most amazing monster has been cast up from the deep...."

Can anyone help point me towards this?

Subject: Lyr Add: BROADSIDE MAN (John Conolly, Bill Meek)
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 09:04 AM

Is this the one?

Broadside Man
(John Conolly / Bill Meek)

Chorus:
Come and buy, come and buy, be you poor or gentry
Gather round the broadside man and lay your money down
We have ballads long and short and the best of every sort
For a single paltry penny all the news of London town

There are floods in Worcester town and the rain is tumbling down
A most amazing monster has been captured in the Dee ( a river)
Here's the bold and stirring tale of the hunting of the whale
And the story of a parson who was pressed away to sea

Here's the finest sheets of all fresh today from Stationer's Hall
A newly written ballad of Lord Nelson's victory
Here's the news from all the courts, all the cases and reports
And the rantings of a pirate who was hanged on tyburn tree

Here's the tale about a maid of a brisk and rambling trade
Betraying of a tinker who was taken by her charms
And the story of a wife, it's the truth upon my life
Who came upon her husband rolling in the milkmaid's arms

(as sung by The McCalmans)

Copied from www.mysongbook.de

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 09:41 AM

"Broadside Man" as above would be my best bet too !k

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 10:09 AM

This is interesting. The 4th line of the 2nd verse not counting the chorus says:
"And the rantings of a pirate that was hanged on Tyburn tree".
I have often wondered if the song "Sam Hall" may have originated as a broadside and then evolved into or was turned into a song. It is based on a real criminal, chimney sweep/housebreaker who was hanged at Tyburn in 1707 (the same year as the pirate Captain Kidd). His real name was Jack Hall and the song was originally called "Jack Hall" until Comic Minstrel C.W. Ross changed it in the 1850's.
   The last words of condemned men were among the most popular penny broadsides of the 18th century. Sometimes these were secured by bribing a prison guard but more often were just made up by an opotunistic sheet writer. "Sam Hall" just has that feel to it.

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Brian Peters
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 10:33 AM

Thanks Ed. It certainly looks like it could be the one, although I *thought* I was very sure about the precise wording of the 'monster' line. Is it possible the song is a reworking of a previous 'spoken word' piece? And when was the song written? The school lesson concerned would have taken place in about 1972.

Neil D - I read somewhere recently that about 95% of the English traditional song repertoire appeared as broadside print at some point, and in the case of something like 'Sam Hall' you'd suspect that it originated from a broadside, as opposed to the broadside writer borrowing from existing folk song.

Here are two from the Bodleian Library site:
Sam Hall 1

Sam Hall 2

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 11:49 AM

Thanks for the link Brian. More fascinating history of one of my favorite songs. One verse says "My master taught me flam
Though he know'd it. (It?)for bam". This verse is not one I've heard before. Anyone know what it means? Is flam related to the term flim flam meaning a con game? And what about bam?

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: The Doctor
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 12:13 PM

'The Broadside Man' is in Folk Song Today No.5, which is copyrighted 1971. The notes say it was written for Club Folk magazine's national song writing contest, highly praised by Ian Campbell, the judge, but disqualified as it did not completely fall within the theme of the contest. It was recorded by The Yetties, and appears on The World of Folk Vol.1, 1971, all of which would put the song probably somewhere late sixties. The same book also has 'Fiddlers Green', and I've heard John Connolly say he can't now remember exactly when he wrote that bit of tradition.

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Brian Peters
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 12:18 PM

Thank you, The Doctor.

Neil, here's what the 'Infoplese' dictionary has for flam:
—n.
1. a deception or trick.
2. a falsehood; lie.

Wikipedia tells me that Bam is a city in Iran, but that may not be much help.

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 07:17 PM

Brian,
You're right about the 95% as a rough percentage but don't forget there was a hell of a lot of exchange between street lit and oral tradition both ways, especially in the early 19thc.

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 07:59 PM

Both 'bam' and 'flam' are in Francis Grose, 1785, "A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue."

to bam- To impose on anyone by a falsity; also, to jeer or to make fun of anyone
bam- A jucular imposition, the same as a humbug.

flam- a lie or sham story; also a single stroke on a drum.
to flam- to hum, to amuse, to deceive.
flim flams- idle stories.

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 07:55 AM

The monstrous fish ballad refered to is probably this one that I got from the singing of Graham Pratt:

THE MONSTROUS FISH.

There's many marvels, in my time
I've heard of once or more,
But there's a stranger one in prime,
That's lately come on shore.
It is a fish, a monstrous fish,
But now it's dead as we would wish.

CH. Oh rare, beyond compare,
In England ne'er the like.

A man on horseback ass'd astride
Within its mouth may stand.
Twelve yoke of oxen stout and strong
Can't shift it from the sand.
Such secrets, thus, doth Neptune keep
Within the bosom of the deep.

His pistle is four yards in length,
Wide as man's waist is broad.
His sinews are of such a strength
'Twould make a riding rod.
Already sixteen tons of oil
from out this fish were seen to boil.

His cods are like two hogsheads great,
Which seemeth past belief,
But men of credit can relate
What I describe in brief,
And let's with charity confess
God's works are more than man can guess.

When he upon our shore was cast
Alive, which was a while,
He yelled so loud that men, aghast,
Heard him a full six mile.
Meanwhile the female fish, likewise,
Was heard to mourn with horrid cries.

The mariners of Chester say
A herringhog's its name.
Whate'er it be, be certain they,
That are for knowledge famed,
Affirm the like, in ages past,
Upon our shore was never cast.

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Brian Peters
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 08:02 AM

> You're right about the 95% as a rough percentage <

I've an idea that estimate actually came from you, Steve, is that so?

The usual interesting digressions are spinning off this thread. Thanks all.

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Neil D
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 11:47 PM

Here is a traditional song that originated as a broadside shortly after the man himself was hanged in 1701. Not actually the same wear as Jack(Sam) Hall, but the same decade anyway. Probably not the rantings of a pirate mentioned in Broadside Man since Captain Kidd he was hanged at Wapping rather than Tyburn. It has the same tune as "Sam Hall" who WAS hung at Tyburn even though most versions now say Coote Hill.



My name is William Kidd, as I sailed, as I sailed
My name is William Kidd, as I sailed
My name is William Kidd, God's laws I did forbid
And most wickedly I did, as I sailed, as I sailed

Oh, my parents taught me well, as I sailed, as I sailed
My parents taught me well, as I sailed
My parents taught me well to shun the gates of Hell
But against them I rebelled, as I sailed, as I sailed

Oh, I murdered William Moore, as I sailed, as I sailed
I murdered William Moore, as I sailed
I murdered William Moore and I left him in his gore
Many leagues from shore, as I sailed, as I sailed

Oh, I steered from sound to sound, as I sailed, as I sailed
Oh I steered from sound to sound, as I sailed
I steered from sound to sound, and many ships I found
And all of them I burned as I sailed, as I sailed

And being cruel still, as I sailed, as I sailed
And being cruel still, as I sailed
And being cruel still my gunner I did kill
And his precious blood did spill, as I sailed, as I sailed

I was sick and nigh to death, as I sailed, as I sailed
I was sick and nigh to death, as I sailed
I was sick and nigh to death and I vowed with every breath
To walk in wisdom's ways when I sailed, when I sailed

My repentance lasted not, as I sailed, as I sailed
My repentance lasted not, as I sailed
My repentance lasted not, my vows I soon forgot
Damnation was my lot, as I sailed, as I sailed

To execution dock I must go, I must go
To execution dock I must go
To execution dock, while many thousands flock
But I must bear the shock and must die, and must die,

Take a warning now by me, for I must die, for I must die,
Take a warning now by me for I must die
Take a warning now by me and shun bad company,
Lest you come to hell with me, for I must die, I must die.

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 02:59 AM

I obtained my version of "Sam Hall" from a book called "Victorian Broadsides". I found it gathering dust in South Shields library around 1968 or so.

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Fidjit
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 11:52 AM

The Yetties recorded it on "Keep running it's the Yetties!" 1970

Track 2 side one.

Sleeve notes = Broadside ballads, described by Francis Child as 'veritable dunghills', were trash verses about sensational murders, hanging and rapes.

Chas

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Joybell
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 07:30 PM

Yes but the rest of the quote reads: " ... veritable dunghills, in which only after a great deal of sickening grubbing, one finds a very moderate jewel." Child added quite a number of these "very moderate jewels". Also there are some more than moderate jewels he missed among the broadsides. It takes less grubbing now with the internet.
As to the original question. Here's another contender.
I copied it from an old book somewhere or other. It's also in several collections online.

The Chaunt Seller or a New Batch of Ballads   

Come all you chanting vocalists that warbles high and low, sirs
A yard and a half of music buy, that is of Chaunting Joe, sirs.
Here's love songs and comic songs, and songs of every nation
And if you wait an instant, you shall have them in rotation.

A chaunt-seller I am by trade, as through the streets I trudge it.
Songs you'll find of every kind, I carry in my budget.

Here's Doctor Brown and Alice Grey, Going to the Nore, sir,
With Billy Barlow and Crazy Jane capering on the shore, sir.
Why did I love lost Rosabel? She's Bolted with Another.
The Man vot wears a Mackintosh, Well, Spooney, how's your Mother?

Here's the Nobby Waterman, Doing the Agreeable,
With the Maid of Judah, Out of Place, Upon the Parlor Table.
At close of Day, bid me discourse The Pleasures of the Pipe, sir.
O, say not woman's heart is bought with half a yard of tripe, sir.

I've been roaming through the woods All night upon a spree, sir,
With the Girl I left [behind] me, out on the open sea, sir.
It was in The Merry Month of May, Upon the Rigs of Barley,
Gayly we danced down Wapping Stairs, Over the Water to Charlie.

If I had a Donkey wot wouldn't go, All around the Room, sir,
I saw her at the Fancy Fair, with a shovel and a broom, sir.
I've journeyed over many lands, with The King of the Forest Glade, sir.
Does your Mother know you're out, with The Mountain Maid, sir?

Come, Landlord, Fill a Flowing Bowl! Begone, I say, Dull Care, O!
The Flag that Braved a Thousand Years, At a Country Fair, O!
When a little Farm we keep, On the Banks of Allan Water,
Solomon Loh, he lost his nob, with The Ratcatcher's Daughter.

Here's The Parson's Clerk, The Cove wot Sings Amen, besides a medley,
You'll find The Lass of Richmond Hill, along with Arthur O'Bradley.
And there you have The Gypsy Girl, going to Chelsea to buy a bun, sir,
Rory O'Moore going out shooting, with my master's gun, sir.

Now's the day and now's the hour, Pretty Little Sally.
My Ellen is the fairest flower: She lives in our alley.
Tell me when, and tell me where, how to spend a dollar,
In the days when we went lushey home, with Glorious Apollo.

Here you see The Vorkhouse Boy, likewise The Overseer, sir,
Going out a-Gypsying with The Jolly Buccaneer, sir.
Come, let us dance, dance and sing, Mr. and Mrs. Wrangle!
Child of the Earth, with the Golden Hair, Has your Mother Sold her Mangle?

Love was once a little boy, yet never go a-Tossing.
I am over-young to marry yet The Man vot Sweeps a Crossing.
Meet me at the Garden Gate, A Fig for Pride and Riches!
Pray, Goody, please to Moderate Hodge's Leather Breeches!

Far from me my True Love Flies -- Sound the Trumpet boldly!
Drink to me only with thine Eyes! I am a Fashionable Coaley.
We met Bill Jones and Sarah Spykes; Lasses Love the Sailors.
Tom Bowling, What's a Woman like? The Devil among the Tailors.

Ben Block, she never told her love, going our a-shooting.
Mother, Give your Boy a Buss, A Chapter upon Kissing.
You Gentlemen of England, We've lived and loved together.
God bless Prince Albert and the Queen, and may they reign forever!

Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 08:10 PM

Thanks for the word I was trying to think of, chaunt.
The Bodleian has two,
Chaunt Seller or a new batch of ballads. This is the one posted by Joybell- Harding B11(583).

Chaunting Benny, or the batch of ballads. Harding B11 (582).

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Betsy
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 08:33 PM

In reply to Brian's original question - I think it has all been covered, with the exception (I think) that John and Bill who wrote the song , were in a group called the The Broadside, or maybe the Broadside Men.
To Neil D , fair play to your investigation , but everyone round our area at the time 40 years ago , used to sing CAPTAIN Kidd ,and even then, parodies cropped up concerning George Best

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Jul 08 - 08:44 AM

What a fine thread!

I'm always amazed with the added detail that can be provided when folks from all over the world put their heads together.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Anyone know 'broadside seller' poem?
From: Neil D
Date: 12 Jul 08 - 10:04 AM

Betsy, not much of an investigation really. I know I'm a bit behind many here in the study of these Traditional songs but I love history and I love music and over the last year since, I finally got the Internet, I've spent much time discovering more of both. Its what drew me to Mudcat in the first place and I got hooked. Threads like this are especially interesting.
    The songs "Sam Hall" and "Captain Kidd" besides being great songs, are great examples, I believe, of what I've learned is referred to as the folk process. There are so many versions of "Sam Hall" out there. An American version quite different from the English original. From slow and mournful to up tempo and defiant. I love them all and learning that it is a 300 year old song based on a real man just fascinates me. Thanks to all here for the wonderful discussion.