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Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole

DigiTrad:
DAHN THE PLUG'OLE


Related threads:
Lyr Req: Alice, where are you going? Upstairs to.. (60)
Norf and Sarf - cockney songs (72)
Lyr Req: My baby got washed down the plughole (55)
Lyr Req: A Mother's Lament / Dahn the Plug'ole (21)
Lyr Req: Dahn the Plug Hole (14)
Tune Add: Dahn the Plug'ole / Down the Plughole (6)


clueless don 14 May 12 - 09:11 AM
GUEST,sophie 14 May 12 - 06:52 AM
GUEST 24 Jul 10 - 04:50 PM
GUEST,Kev Boyd 15 Jan 10 - 07:07 AM
GUEST,dave the bludy Rave 15 Jan 10 - 06:12 AM
GUEST,dave the bludy Rave 15 Jan 10 - 06:05 AM
Rasener 03 Sep 09 - 02:39 PM
Jamming With Ollie Beak (inactive) 03 Sep 09 - 02:15 PM
Rasener 03 Sep 09 - 02:11 PM
Jamming With Ollie Beak (inactive) 03 Sep 09 - 02:06 PM
Jamming With Ollie Beak (inactive) 03 Sep 09 - 01:54 PM
Rasener 03 Sep 09 - 01:54 PM
Charmion 03 Sep 09 - 01:44 PM
Joe Offer 03 Sep 09 - 12:35 AM
Reinhard 03 Sep 09 - 12:34 AM
Peace 02 Sep 09 - 08:51 PM
GUEST 02 Sep 09 - 08:40 PM
GUEST,Dave Burland 29 Aug 09 - 05:53 AM
GUEST,june 29 Aug 09 - 05:40 AM
Melissa 22 Mar 08 - 09:35 PM
Nerd 22 Mar 08 - 09:30 PM
Jim McLean 22 Mar 08 - 06:25 PM
GUEST,Miss Marples 22 Mar 08 - 06:17 PM
Big Mick 13 Jul 99 - 12:14 AM
Sumac 12 Jul 99 - 10:20 PM
Lonesome EJ 12 Jul 99 - 10:03 PM
Lonesome EJ 12 Jul 99 - 09:59 PM
SeanM 12 Jul 99 - 09:58 PM
Big Mick 12 Jul 99 - 09:56 PM
John in Brisbane 12 Jul 99 - 09:54 PM
ragnar@barint.on.ca 12 Jul 99 - 09:42 PM
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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: clueless don
Date: 14 May 12 - 09:11 AM

Although I'm working strictly from memory here, I'm quite certain that on the Cream version they say "He's a muckin' about ..." and not "He's makin' a fuss ...". On John and Tony's version, they say "He's workin' 'is way through the sewer ...".

Don


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: GUEST,sophie
Date: 14 May 12 - 06:52 AM

i remeber that, my mum used to sing it to me when i came out of the bath but can anyone help me remeber how the tune went?


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 04:50 PM

omg ... i remembered all the words lol thanks for the memories =)) xx


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: GUEST,Kev Boyd
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 07:07 AM

There's a more recent recording by Martin Carthy from his 60th birthday concert in 2001 included on the CD-ROM that came with the Carthy Chronicles box set.


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: GUEST,dave the bludy Rave
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 06:12 AM

A bit more (getting old).
A Mother was washing her baby one night
The youngest of ten, and a delicate mite
The Muvver was poor and the baby was fin *
Was nought but un skelington; *
Covered in skin. *
The mother turned round for the soap off the rack
She was only a moment ,but when she turned back
'er baby had gone, and in anguish she cried
"Oh where has my baby gone?",the Angels replied
Ooooh, your baby has gone down the plug-hole, your baby has gone down the plug
the poor little thing was so skinny and thin, it should've been washed in a jug
your baby is perfectly happy, he won't need a bath anymore
He's a-muckin abaht, with the angels above
Not lost, but gone before


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: GUEST,dave the bludy Rave
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 06:05 AM

I memorised this off the Gears Album and the words are a bit short. As I remember.
A Mother was washing her baby one night
The youngest of ten, and a delicate mite
The Muvver was poor and the baby was fin *
Was nought but a skelington; *
Covered in skin. *
The mother turned round for the soap off the rack
She was only a moment ,but when she turned back
'er baby had gone, and in anguish she cried
"Oh where has my baby gone?",the Angels replied
Ooooh, your baby has gone down the plug-hole, your baby has gone down the plug
the poor little thing was so skinny and thin, it should've been washed in a jug
your baby is perfectly happy, he won't need a bath anymore
He's a-makin a fuss, with the angels above
Not lost, but gone before


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: Rasener
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 02:39 PM

Yes they are. I had seen them a long time ago, but forgotten.

Les


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: Jamming With Ollie Beak (inactive)
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 02:15 PM

Villian, I didn't take a close look, but I think most of Disraeli Gears is up on You Tube, along with other Cream tracks

Charlotte Olivia Robertson (Ms)
doesn't play guitar nearly
as well as Eric Clapton


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: Rasener
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 02:11 PM

Nice one Charlotte :-)


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: Jamming With Ollie Beak (inactive)
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 02:06 PM

I found this, Charmion and The Villan

Mother's Lament

Charlotte Olivia Robertson (Ms)


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: Jamming With Ollie Beak (inactive)
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 01:54 PM

On Disraeli Gears it's listed (last track side 2) as

Mother's Lament (Traditional, arr. Clapton, Bruce, Baker)

Charlotte Olivia Robertson (Ms)
my baby 'as gorn dahna plug 'ole


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: Rasener
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 01:54 PM

Thats correct, I used to have that LP, until it got totally knackered.

Slight change to the lyrics from LEJ above

A Mother was washing her baby one night
The youngest of ten, and a delicate mite
The mother turned round for the soap off the rack
She was only a moment ,but when she turned back
'er baby had gone, and in anguish she cried
"Oh where has my baby gone?",the Angels replied
Ooooh, your baby has gone down the plug-hole, your baby has gone down the plug
the poor little thing was so skinny and thin, it should've been washed in a jug, in a juuuuuuuuuuuug
your baby is perfectly happy, he won't need a bath anymore
He's a-makin a fuss, with the angels above
Not lost, but gone before


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 01:44 PM

It's the very last cut on the flip side of the Disraeli Gears, and not included in either the set list or the credits.


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 12:35 AM

I thought I had all the Cream recordings, but I don't recognize that one. What album is it on?
-Joe-


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: Reinhard
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 12:34 AM

Hootenanny in London, Decca LK 4545, 1963, is not exactly a compilation but a recording of a "midnight folk concert" in London in May 1963. It was the first ever recording with Martin Carthy and would have been one of the first with Anne Briggs too if only the Decca people would have managed to put her on the actual record instead of on the album cover picture. She did appear on the next Decca album though, Edinburgh Folk Festival, Decca LK 4546.

On the Hootenanny album, the author of Your Baby 'as Gorn Dahn the Plug'ole is given as Spade, without first name. In another Mudcat thread, Lyr Req: My baby got washed down the plughole, nearly exactly a year ago Q explained Jack Spade as a composite pseudonym.

This is what Martin Carthy sings:

Now a mother was bathing her baby,
bathing her baby one night.
The mother was fat and the baby was thin,
Just like a skelington covered with skin.

She only turned round for a minute,
To fetch oh some sope from the rack,
She only turned round for a minute,
But oh, when she turned back.

Why, the baby had utterly vanished,
A-vanished completely away.
Oh where, oh where is my baby?
And she heard an angel say:

Madam, your baby has gone down the plughole,
Your baby has gone down the plug.
The poor little thing was so skinny and thin,
It should have been washed in a jug.

Your baby is perfectly happy,
He won't need no bathing no more.
Your baby has gone down the plughole
Not lost, just gone before!


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: Peace
Date: 02 Sep 09 - 08:51 PM

YOUR BABY HAS GONE DOWN THE PLUGHOLE (A MOTHER'S LAMENT)
(Writer Unknown - London Music Hall Song))

Martin Carthy - 1964
Cream (vocal: Ginger Baker)- 1967



A mother was bathin' her baby one night
The youngest of ten, a poor little mite
The mother was fat and the baby was fin
T'was nawt but a skellington wrapped up in skin

The mother turned round for the soap from the rack
She weren't gone a minute, but when she got back
Her baby had gone, and in anguish she cried
"Oh, where is my baby?", and the angels replied

Your baby has gorn dahn the plug'ole
Your baby has gorn dahn the plug
The poor little thing was so skinny and thin
He shoulda been bathed in a jug

Your baby is perfik'ly happy
He won't need no bathin' no more
He's workin' his way through the sewers
Not lost, just gone on before

Your baby has gorn dahn the drainpipe
And the chlorine is bad for his eyes
He's havin' a swim, and it's healthy for him
He needed the exercise

Don't worry 'baht 'im, just be 'appy
For I know he is suff'rin' no pain
Your baby has gorn dahn the plug'ole
Let's hope he don't stop up the drain

ALTERNATE VERSE:

Your baby is perfik'ly 'appy
He won't need a bath any more
He's muckin' abaht with the angels above
Not lost but gone before


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song? Baby Down Plughole
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Sep 09 - 08:40 PM

I know this song from my grandad a broad geordie and my gran a broad glaswegian and another song to the same tune both in a heavy geordie accent.
    My poor baby's gone down the plughole
    My poor baby's gone down the drain
    The poor little mite, what a terrible sight
    He ought to bathed in an old corned beef tin
the other being
    My Bonnie lies over the ocean
    My Bonnie lies over the sea
    My bonnie lies over the ocean so bring back by Bonnie to me

Also learnt the second one at Pelaw infant school in 1993


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: GUEST,Dave Burland
Date: 29 Aug 09 - 05:53 AM

Martin Carthy sang it on a vivyl LP entitled Hootenanny in London, on the Decca label if my memory is correct, a compliation album in the early 60's.
Also on the record, Wally Whyton, Bob Davenport, Nigel Denver, Redd Sullivan and others .


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: GUEST,june
Date: 29 Aug 09 - 05:40 AM

thanks for the memory,my uncle sang this to me in the 60s,i try to sing it to my grandchildren but could never remember all the words


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: Melissa
Date: 22 Mar 08 - 09:35 PM

Miss M, if you don't get an answer for your question here, you might have better luck starting a new thread.


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: Nerd
Date: 22 Mar 08 - 09:30 PM

"Dahn the Plughole" is on John Roberts and Tony Barrand's very first LP, Spencer the Rover is Alive and Well...

You can find one version of the lyrics here


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: Jim McLean
Date: 22 Mar 08 - 06:25 PM

Martin carthy used to sing it in the sixities, I'm sure he must have recorded it.


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: GUEST,Miss Marples
Date: 22 Mar 08 - 06:17 PM

Anybody heard of a childrens action rhyme with the ending "sqeaky the mouse"?


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: Big Mick
Date: 13 Jul 99 - 12:14 AM

Told you. My Da told me about the song. :-)

Mick


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: Sumac
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 10:20 PM

John Roberts and Tony Barrand did it on one of their earlier albums, can't remember which album. If you're desperate, I'll dust 'em off...


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 10:03 PM

Hey four posts in 5 minutes! A new record?


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 09:59 PM

J...you are making me feel VERY old. That song was a tag at the end of Cream's album Disraeli Gears released 1967. Let's see...


A Mother was washing her baby one night
The youngest of ten, and a delicate mite
The mother turned round for the soap off the rack
She was only a moment ,but when she turned back
'er baby had gone, and in anguish she cried
"Oh where has my baby gone?",the Angels replied
Ooooh, your baby has gone down the plug-hole, your baby has gone down the plug
the poor little thing was so skinny and thin, it should've been washed in a jug
your baby is perfectly happy, he won't need a bath anymore
He's a-makin a fuss, with the angels above
Not lost, but gone before

Regards,LEJ


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: SeanM
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 09:58 PM

From one of the 'young' fogies...

Yes, it is Cream. Yes, the Eric Clapton one. From what I understand, it's a traditional song that they just REALLY liked (a la 'Maggie May' on Abbey Road from the Beatles). Very silly version... all it needs are the sound of the crowd in the background and it could have come straight out of a pub.

M


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: Big Mick
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 09:56 PM

Sure, I think it was off the Disraeli Gears album by Cream. Either that or Fresh Cream. I have them both around here some damn place. I will try to find them and tell you the name. But with the average age of the rest of these old fogies being what it is, I will bet one of them comes up with it before I do.

All the best from a very young,

Big Mick


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Subject: RE: Anybody know this song?
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 09:54 PM

You'll find it if you search for 'DAHN' in the search box at top right of this Forum. The tune for the Chorus is 'My Bonny Lies Over The Ocean' and believe it or not was recorded by Cream in the 60's - or am I wrong.

Regards
John


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Subject: Anybody know this song?
From: ragnar@barint.on.ca
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 09:42 PM

I remember a song from when I was very young (early 1960's), that my parents knew. Neither of them can remember the words now either. All we know is the following:

The baby has gone down the plughole, The baby has gone down the plug, The poor little thing was so skinny and thin, It should have been born in a jug (in a jug).

This was sung in a heavy Cockney accent. Can anybody help me with this one? Thanks.

J. Ellis


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