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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
CupOfTea Origins: Jolly Beggarman (Irish) (37) RE: Origins: Jolly Beggarman (Irish) 08 Mar 19


When I read the lyrics of what Jim Carroll was looking for, I immediately thought of one I sing - "Rambling Man" - which in my notes I attributed it to Peggy Seeger. When searching Mudcat under that name, I came across this post:

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Rambling Man
From: GUEST,Sandy Paton
Date: 14 Aug 06 - 12:11 AM

Peggy thoroughly Americanized the Scottish ballad - The Gaberlunzie Man, Child 279. Some claim the original was written by King James of Scotland who seemed to enjoy dressing as a common beggar and wandering through the countryside in search of pliant young milkmaids and the like.
    The texts of the Scottish versions differ from Peggy's American text, of course, but the plot remains the same. Read them and compare them. Here's the address of a Scottish version on the web: http://www.contemplator.com/child/gaberlunz.html.
I recorded Peggy's American rewrite on "New Harmony" (Folk-Legacy CD-100) and once recorded, many years ago, a lyrical version that I had learned from Jeannie Robertson when I visited her in Scotland in 1958. It's on the old LP I made for Elektra in 1959 ("The Many Sides of Sandy Paton" - Elektra 148).
    Sandy (sans cookie, apparently)

Made me realize I had likely originally gotten it from the New Harmony album, though I also sing another from Peggy Seeger's repertoire that I know came from one of the times I've heard her live. Thanks for this trip through sorting out which Beggarman and which plotline I'm singing in the couple different versions I sing: doing both Little Beggarman and Jolly Beggarman with my trio!

Joanne in Cleveland


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