My transcription from the recording on Spotify. I have not attempted to render the dialect, which is not very strong in this recording, but evident in a couple of places.


THRASHING MACHINE
As sung by Joe Davies on the various-artists album "Devon Tradition"

1. I worked up near Taunton when I was a boy,
And courtin' young Rosie was my pride and joy.
Now Rosie was pretty and just seventeen
When I showed her the works of me thrashing machine,
    Thrashing machine, thrashing machine,
    When I showed her the works of me thrashing machine.

2. Now Rosie they said was a much travelled gal,
Been places, seen faces all over the world,
But there was a sight that her eyes never seen:
My vertical piston-drive thrashing machine,
    Thrashing machine, thrashing machine,
    My vertical piston-drive thrashing machine.

[With similar refrain:]

3. So us went to the barn and I took her inside,
And I said, "If you're good, I might give ye a ride,"
For there it stood standing so lovely and clean,
And that's what I calls a thrashing machine.

4. Then her asked me to demonstrate how the thing worked,
So I pushed in the clutch and the thing went berserk.
You couldn't see nowt for smoke and the steam
When I started rubbin' my thrashing machine.

5. Then I let her drive for better or worse,
And the whole damn contraption got into reverse,
And the crankshaft seized up, if you know what I mean,
And that is the end of me thrashing machine.