BBC Radio 4 5:45am 31 December Farming Today
The Derby Tup is a traditional Derbyshire agricultural folk song, performed at Christmas. It tells the story of a farmer, his wife (Our Owd Lass), their son and a giant tup - the ram used for breeding. The sheep's reared, sheared and eventually butchered. Originally children would visit remote farmhouses and ask for pocket money. It later became a regular Christmas fixture at pubs and working men’s clubs