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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Joe Offer Lyr Req: We shepherds are the best of men (16) ADD: The Shepherd's Song 07 Oct 17


The song can be found at the folkinfo Website, http://joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/251.html

THE SHEPHERD'S SONG

We shepherds are the best of men,
That e'er trod English ground;
When we come to an alehouse
We value not a crown.
We spend our money freely,
We pay before we go;
There's no ale on the wolds,
Where the stormy winds do blow.

(Chorus)
We spend our money freely,
We pay before we go;
There's no ale on the wolds,
Where the stormy winds do blow.


A man that is a shepherd
Does need a valiant heart,
He must not be faint-hearted,
But boldly do his part.
He must not be faint-hearted,
Be it rain, or frost, or snow,
With no ale on the wolds
Where the stormy winds do blow.

(Chorus)
He must not be faint-hearted,
Be it rain, or frost, or snow,
With no ale on the wolds
Where the stormy winds do blow.

When I kept sheep on Blockley Hills
It made my heart to ache
To see the ewes hang out their tongues
And hear the lambs to bleat;
Then I plucked up my courage
And o'er the hills did go,
And penned them in the fold
While the stormy winds did blow.

(Chorus)
Then I plucked up my courage
And o'er the hills did go,
And penned them in the fold
While the stormy winds did blow.


As soon as I had folded them
I turned me back in haste
Unto a jovial company
Good liquor for to taste;
For drink and jovial company
They are my heart's delight,
Whilst my sheep lie asleep
All the fore-part of the night.

(Chorus)
For drink and jovial company
They are my heart's delight,
Whilst my sheep lie asleep
All the fore-part of the night.


Source: Lucy Broadwood and J A Fuller Maitland. 1893, English County Songs, Leadenhall Press, London

Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on the song:

We Shepherds Are the Best of Men

DESCRIPTION: "We shepherds are the best of men that e'er trod English ground." We spend freely at the ale-house. We pen our sheep safely in spite of hale, rain and snow; then "unto a jovial company good liquor for to taste"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1793 (according to Broadwood)
KEYWORDS: drink storm England nonballad sheep shepherd
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,West))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Broadwood/Maitland, pp. 82-83, "The Shepherd's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Williams-Thames, pp. 241-242, "Shepherds Are the Best of Men" (1 text) (also Wiltshire-WSRO Gl 116)

Roud #284
RECORDINGS:
Fred Jordan, "We Shepherds Are the Best of Men" (on Voice20)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ye Gentlemen of England (I)" [Laws K2] (stucture and theme:virtue and courage of an occupational group)
cf. "The Lonely Life a Shepherd Leads" (contrary viewpoint)
NOTES: Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 20" - 15.1.04: "Fred learnt this from the song-collector Fred Hamer, who had it from Lucy Broadwood's English County Songs [1893]." Broadwood said it was taken in 1793 in Gloucestershire (source: "The Shepherds' Song" in Song Database at the Folkinfo site).
Last updated in version 3.8
File: RcWSATBM

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2017 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.



Also look at https://mainlynorfolk.info/watersons/songs/stormywinds.html


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