Very baudy and scottish.

I tried to remember the words and chords the other day and realised that time (and, yes, probably the beer as well) had wiped most of the verses.

Can anyone please help?

Answers in a plain brown e-mail, to rfears@bigfoot.com or rfears@serco.com or rfears@esoc.esa.de, but please post here as well.

Click for Lyrics in Digital Tradition

TIA

Rick.

I don't recognise Paul's song, Hamish may have sung that, but I remember Hamish singing a (humerous?) song about "the Cod liver oil & the Orange Juice". It sticks in my mind, just as, when little in the post-war years, the daily dose of "the Cod liver oil & the Orange Juice" my mother insisted on giving me (together with "National Dried" powdered milk) stuck in my throat!

Can't remember the words, but the refrain went something like

Oh Oh, Glory Allelulia, Cod liver oil & the Orange Juice

Is this familiar to you?

Alan B

If so I'd like to know the words too!

You will also find the text in the DT! The Dubliners have recorded this song. It is on the album "Celebration".

Paul/Öjje - sorry wrong song but still good words - I see in the DT that its from Burl Ives. Might use it sometimes.

LaMarca - really looking forward to Monday (if I survive the Rudolstadt Folk Festival this weekend, which looks like it will be a mudbath :-( ).

Thanks again

Rick.

yes please, if you have the time I'd really like to hear it.

Thanks

Rick rfears@bigfoot.com or rfears@esoc.esa.de or rfears@serco.com

Jeanie

Well, oot of the east, there came a hard man,
Ohhoohh, all the way from Bricton (Brighton? with a Scots accent?)

Ahhahh, glory hallelujah,
Cod liver oil and the orange juice.

Well, he went intae a pub and he come oot paralytic,
Ohhoohh, VP and cider,

Aahhahh, what a hell of a mixture,
Cod liver oil and the orange juice.

Spoken aside:"Sex rears its ugly head now!"

Does this bus go to the (Danister Parley)?
Ohhoohh, I'm lookin' for a lumber,

Ahhahh, glory hallelujah,
Cod liver oil and the orange juice.

Spoken: "Eyes up the talent, and lo, and behold..."

In the dancin' he met Hairy Mary,
Ohhohh, the flo'or o' the Gorbels,

Aahhahh, etc.

Spoken: "He chats her up.."

"Ah, noo, Mary, are ye dancin'?"
"Oh, no, it's jest the way I'm standin'"

Aahahh, etc.

Spoken:"Rebuffed!"

"Well, then, Mary, you're one in a million",
"Ohhohh, so's yer chances!"

Aahhahh, etc.

Spoken:"Rebuffed again!"

"Well, then, Mary, can I run ye hame?
Ohhoohh, I've got a pair of sandshoes(?)"

Aahhaahh," yer hell of a funny..."etc

Spoken:"Never say die; sways aboot non-chalantly pickin' his nails wi' 'is bayonet; an 'e knocks 'er off!..."

Well, doon through the back close, and intae the dunny,
Ohhoohh, it wasnae for the first time,

Aahhahh, etc.

Then oot came her mammy, she was goin' tae the clodgy(?)
Ohhoohh, half-buggered off Sharpies(?)

Aahhahh, etc.

Noo Hairy Mary's lookin' for her hard man
Ohhoohh, he's joined the Foreign Legion

Aahhaahh, Sahara under a camel
Cod liver oil and the orange juice

Then Hairy Mary had a little baby,
Ohhoohh, his father's in the army,

Aahhaahh, glory hallelujah,
Cod liver oil and the orange juice.

Truly perverse; I guess that's why I like it!

  THE COD LIVER OIL AND THE ORANGE JUICE
  
  
Well, oot of the east, there came a hard man,  
Ohhoohh, all the way from Bricton   
  
     Ahhahh, glory hallelujah,  
     Cod liver oil and the orange juice.  
  
Well, he went intae a pub and he come oot paralytic,  
Ohhoohh, VP and cider,  
  
     Aahhahh, what a hell of a mixture,  
     Cod liver oil and the orange juice.  
  
     Spoken aside:"Sex rears its ugly head now!"  
  
Does this bus go to the Danister Palais  
Ohhoohh, I'm lookin' for a lumber,  
  
     Ahhahh, glory hallelujah,  
     Cod liver oil and the orange juice.  
  
     Spoken: "Eyes up the talent, and lo, and behold..."  
  
In the dancin' he met Hairy Mary,  
Ohhohh, the flo'or o' the Gorbels,   
  
     Aahhahh, etc.  
  
     Spoken: "He chats her up.."  
  
"Ah, noo, Mary, are ye dancin'?"  
"Oh, no, it's jest the way I'm standin'"  
  
     Aahahh, etc.  
  
     Spoken:"Rebuffed!"  
  
"Well, then, Mary, you're one in a million",  
"Ohhohh, so's yer chances!"  
  
     Aahhahh, etc.  
  
     Spoken:"Rebuffed again!"  
  
"Well, then, Mary, can I run ye hame?  
Ohhoohh, I've got a pair of sandshoes"  
  
     Aahhaahh," yer hell of a funny..."etc  
  
     Spoken:"Never say die; sways aboot non-chalantly pickin' his nails wi' 'is bayonet; an 'e  
     knocks 'er off!..."  
  
Well, doon through the back close, and intae the dunny,  
Ohhoohh, it wasnae for the first time,  
  
     Aahhahh, etc.  
  
Then oot came her mammy, she was goin' tae the cludgy  
Ohhoohh, he buggered off sharpish  
  
     Aahhahh, etc.  
  
Noo Hairy Mary's lookin' for her hard man  
Ohhoohh, he's joined the Foreign Legion  
  
     Aahhaahh, Sahara under a camel  
     Cod liver oil and the orange juice  
  
Then Hairy Mary had a little baby,  
Ohhoohh, his father's in the army,  
  
     Aahhaahh, glory hallelujah,  
     Cod liver oil and the orange juice.   

On the details, I think its Brigto(w)n, he certainly did bugger off sharpish. Alan B's ideas about Palais and cludgy are correct.

We used to sing slightly different words in some places, for instance "And so's yer f***ing chances", after "it wasnae for the first time" we sang "Aahhaahh, it woudnae be the last time" and the final chorus was "Aahhaahh, the Salvation Army...". Oh, and our hero was engaging in some very unlikely activities with the camels while in the foreign legion.

The last time I sang the song was in 1972 (late on at a wedding reception in St. Andrews, Scotland - the bride's family never forgave me...)

Again many thanks

taking advice from a Glaswegian, a cludgy can be outdoors but the main difference between cludgy and toilet is that there is no sexual discrimination - i.e. males and females use it, sometimes at the same time....

Again thanks to all contributors to this minor thread.

Rick.

Can I suggest you repost your request in a separate thread - not that I mind you appearing here, but you might get more replies if you make your own thread.

Cheers

Rick.

        Em            B7          Em
  I'm a young married man that is tired of life,
                      Am       Em
  Ten years I've been wed to a sickly wife.
            G                                D
  She does nothing all day but sit down and cry,
     Em         B7           Em
  A praying to God she'd get better or die.
  
  Chorus:
  
                  B7          Em
  Oh Doctor, dear Doctor, Oh Doctor dear John,
                     Am    Em
  Your Cod live: oil is so pure and so strong,
        G                                    D
  I'm afraid of me life, I'd go down to the still,
        Em               Bm           Em
  If me wife don't stop drinking your Cod liver oil.
  Em
  Cod liver oil, Cod liver oil.

The other Cod Liver Oil song is very well known in Newfoundland, but has its origins in Ireland. I believe the chorus starts: "O Doctor, O Doctor, O Doctor De Jongh/Your cod liver oil is so pure and so strong..."

Interesting point for all you scholars out there. Re Cludgy (cludgie - cludgee - whatever) Do I remember aright that the latin for a sewer was a via cloaca (or similar). There is thus an obvious marked similarity between the modern Glasgow word still in common useage, and the ancient latin. This then would indicate that the term generally adopted for all kinds of toilet facilities by the indigenous native inhabitants of that portion of the territory neighbouring the outflung Roman Empire may in fact be a possible corruption of the latin.

Now I wonder if this will lead to a learned discourse on the adoption of foreign phrases into modern language, or will they realise I'm kidding... aren't I?

Although living in England I still sing these songs which go down well albeit with the occasional quizical look.

All of which means that "ra" usually is the sound made by an inhabitant of the great east city when he or she means "the". Interestingly, the interpretation of the "th" sound can be varied from the extreme "RRR" as in "ra" (empahtic "the") to total deletion. A fine example of the latter is "..err" for "there". Thus, a typical conversation can be as follows.

"Errnaebus" - There is no bus.

"Ayrrerabus" - There is indeed a bus.

"Wherrabus?" - Where is the bus?

"Errabus" - There is the bus.

"Whitt, wherrabus?" - Excuse me, I see no bus.

"Errabusowrrer" - The bus is over there.

"Wherrowrrer?" - Where in particular.

"Errowrrer" - Indicating a specific location.

"Awrratsrrer" - Thank you for your assistance.

I meant WEST city.... I shall now go and bile ma heid in a pale......... Erryinowrrer

Happy memories! Very incomprehensible lyrics, esp. when sung by a drunken Irishman!

Alan

I love this thread. Takes me straight back to the much missed local folk club in the seventies, where a true Scot used to do "Cod Liver Oil etc." every other week. In the "between" weeks he would do "If it wisnae fur yur wellies". Each song always by request and to much acclaim.

Happy daze.

This, by the way, is a parody of the Christmas song "Virgin Mary Had a Little Baby". Was it Harry Belafonte? Somebody calypso. The tune is roughly the same.

"THE POLICEMAN'S SONG"

It was doon in auld Invertoddy
The gestapo were oot oan there beats
Lookin' for murder and arson
An drunks as they stot doon the street

Noo two of the Chief Constables agents
Had note books quite full of names
Fourteen men, three women and a dug
For peein' up closes and lanes

It was twelve o'clock when they found it
Lyin' there just like a log
Twas a badly bashed aboot body
Tyre marks scotched up its physog

They went through the usual procedure
Kicked it to make sure it was dead
Then they went through its pockets and shared oot its cash
And smoked aw its fags while it bled

They then lifted up the body
Wan at its head and its feet
And they carried it af tae an alleyway
And they dumped it on anither mans beat

It was four o'clock when they re-found it
Propped up in and old chip shop door
It was naked be noo wi a note roond its neck
Not wanted on beats three or four

Cheers,

Bill.

"The gestapo wis pounding the beat."

"Had notebooks that were stapped fu' o' names / Forty three men, twa wimmen, wan dug.."

"Twas jist aboot midnight they found it / Lyin' there jist like a log / A bad--ly badhed aboot body / Wi' tyre marks scorched up its' fizzog... (spoken) - Aye, sheer poetry."

They followed the normal procedure / A kick tae make sure it was deid...."

"Then they decided tae move it / Wan each tae its' heid and its' feet / They carted it up a wee alley / Tae dump on some ither bloke's beat."

Ahhh, how it takes me back. They knew how to write songs back in those days.... it's just that they didn't bother.

Thanks for the corrections - I was dredging this one up from memory - last heard it about thirty years ago!! That's why I wasn't all that sure of the title. Your lines are more likely to be the right ones.

Your closing comment:
"Ahhh, how it takes me back. They knew how to write songs back in those days.... it's just that they didn't bother."

Had me in stitches...Thanks for brightening up an otherwise dull day!!!

Cheers,

Bill.

One possible clarification of the lyrics for "Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice" ; "VP and cider ...". Is that possibly "Feed B and cider ...". I seem to recall hearing "Fed B" or "Feed B" as a reference to "Federation Breweries". (Federation Heavy is often described as a drink ideally suited to hand-to-hand combat).

Glasgow is of course the home of the story in which a constable knocks at the door of a tenement flat: PC "Does the widow McAlistair live here?"
Woman "I'm Mrs. McAlistair, aye, but I'm no' a widow."
PC "If you jist gae doon to the Infirmary, I think you'll find you're wrong. Good day to ye."

...Before my time yoiu understand, but I'm singularly sure that VP is fortified wine.

Perhaps some of my elders and betters can cast some light...

Z

Was it Hamish who sang "The Derry and Cumberland Boys"; a song about sectarian Glasgow street gangs?

As far as correct words go, most of that sort of song used to change a fair bit anyway, as the performers added a wee twist here and there, so I don't think anyobody can claim to have the definitive version, unless sworn to by the original composer on a stack of pints o' heavy that high.

Oh ye canna fling pieces oot a twenty story flat Seven hundred hungry weans will testify to that If its butter, cheese or jelly If the bread be plain or pan The odds against it reachin earth is 99 tea one

The "COD LIVER OIL (ILE)" that Burl Ives did, pretty much is the one posted here by Joe Offer and Paul Kennedy. It was on my favorite LP of his---BURL IVES--CORONATION CONCERT.----an old Decca LP record recorded in England during those celebration festivities just about exactly 50 years ago. It was recorded in concert from a house speaker with a very inexpensive microphone by Burl himself on his own personal reel-to-reel tape recorder because Mr. Ives wanted to have it for himself. It turned out to be so good that Decca Records issued it as it stood even though it was not the best fidelity.

Art Thieme

"THE DERRY AND CUMBERLAND BOYS"

Noo ye've heard o the Billies and Sallys
The Norman Cong and the Sang Toy
Here's two more tae add tae yer tally
The Derry and Cumberland Boys

Noo the Cumbie Boys are Roman Catholic
Tae chapel they've been wance ot twice
But Parkhead is their new Jerusalem
And Jock Stein the latter day Christ

And the Derry Boys are tae be christians
That's plain baith tae hear and tae see
For their language is really religious
"Jesus Christ", "Oh my God", "FTP"

When asked what they think o religion
They'll say "Aw religions aw right"
But these guys are only religious
When they want an excuse for a fight

So don't wear a green scarf in Brigton
Or a blue scarf in Cumberland Street
No unless your a heavy weight champion
Or hell o a quick on yer feet

Cheers,

Bill.

Now a new challenge... There was one about the trials and tribulations of living in a single end up a close (a one room flat in a Glasgow tenement building for the uninformed. No idea who by or even when, just a vague memory, perhaps from the days of the One O'Clock Gang STV show (Francie & Josie?)..... Anybody?

It might have been from the same stable as that one about "Back hame in dear auld Gorbals/In ma ain close......." to the same tune as the Kenneth McKellar/Moira Anderson type song "My Own Folk"

As to single ends there is always "The Dundee Ghost"! and the other one about top floor tenement flats which I think is called "The Dundee Cat".

[Am] Oot o' the [F] east there [Am] cam' a wee hard man ,
Ah, Ha [C] a' the way frae Brigton,

Chorus
[Am] Oh, Oh, Glory Hallelujah,
Cod liver oil and the [G] orange juice,

Keith