Lyr Req: Tally Man

Subject: Lyr Add: THE TALLY-MAN (from Bodleian)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Feb 03 - 06:50 PM

Transcribed from the broadside image at http://bodley24.bodley.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/acwwweng/ballads/image.pl?ref=Firth+c.21(65)&id=19564.gif&seq=1&size=1
I modernized the spelling and punctuation somewhat.

THE TALLY-MAN

It is of a buxom tally-man who dwells in London Town,
And every day throughout the week, he always goes his rounds;
Last week he called on Mrs. Bounce, and began to show his airs,
So she wopped him with the rolling pin and kicked him down the stairs.

CHORUS: Little Billy out aloud does bawl, and so does Kit and Sam,
"Oh! Mother, mother, shut the door. Here comes the tally-man."

SPOKEN: --Good morning, Mrs. Bounce.
--Good morning, Mr. Cheatem. What is your pleasure this morning?
--Why, I hope you have got some money for me?
--Oh, indeed! My husband declares I shan't pay a farthing for them infernal blankets you sold me for 7s 6d. They are full of moth holes and not worth fourpence apiece.
--Then I shall summons you, Mrs. Bounce, so here goes.

It would make you laugh to see the women hide away complete
Whene'er they hear the tally-man is coming down the street.
Some run into a neighbour's house, so nimble, it appears,
While others in the coal-hole get all underneath the stairs.

SPOKEN: --Well, my little boy, is your mother at home?
--No, sir. My mother is just popped out.
--Where is she gone to?
--Why, to the gin shop, I suppose.
--Has she left any money for me?
--I don't think she has left any for anybody. But who are you, sir?
--Who am I? Why, I am the tally-man.
--Oh, if you are Mr. Cheatem, the tally-man, you had better cut your stick, for my father has wopped my mother with a broomstick for buying your rotten twopenny halfpenny calico, and mother says you are an infernal old rogue, and I would not like to stand in your shoes if father catches you.

There is scarce a street in London Town, let it be rich or poor,
But you will see a tally-man knocking at the door.
It is well known to any that has a grain of sense
That they will make you pay a crown for what is not worth eighteen pence.

SPOKEN: --Dear me, Mrs. Ginger, what a rumpus there is over the way at Mr. Nipper's! Do you know what it is all about?
--Why Mr. Nipper, you must know, has been summoned by Mr. Swindle, the tally-man, for £1 10s 11d for goods taken upon the tally my Mrs. Nipper. The two Miss Nippers had a new gown each, a fine pair of stockings, a bustle, some lace caps, and some furbelows.
--Well, I wondered! Do you know, Mrs. Ginger, how the devil the Nippers went so flashy?
--I thought they must have got their things upon the tally, or some other way, I could not tell how. But there it is, you see. Well, I gets nothing on the tally but a little tea, and that's all sloe leaves; but tally shops are the ruination of all persons, you may depend upon it, for I know very well in our street, that there is many a woman takes out a tremendous lot of things unknown to their husbands, who never find it out until they are summoned to pay a pound for articles not worth five shillings.

"Pray, Mrs. Ginger, are you at home?" bawls out the tally-man.
"No, Mr. Swindle, I'm not," she cries, "and you must understand
That, call when you will, my husband swears you shall not have a mag,
Since you've turned rogue. You took me in, for your things are all a gag."

SPOKEN: --Is your mother at home, my little girl?
--No, sir.
--Where is she?
--How should I know?
--Why, I saw her looking out of the window, and I saw her popping out of the door just now, and if I am not mistaken, she is gone to her uncle's to spout a shawl for a shilling that she got upon the tally for 18s 6d. Is your father at home?
--No, my father's gone a-hopping and he wanted to get a donkey on the tally, but mother could not tell where to find the tally-man.
--Oh, he did, did he?
--Yes, he did indeed.
--Where is your sister?
--In her skin, I suppose.
--Well, my girl, you are a keen lass.
--Ah, so mother says: half as keen as a tally-man, but not so big a rogue; and I can assure you, that somebody in a family need be a little sharp; for if every one was so silly as my mother, we should be hunted to death by tally-men, who would sell you their rubbish and expect eleven-pence half-penny profit out of a shilling.

Every day throughout the week, so visit rich and poor,
You may behold the tally-man a-creeping near the door.
The children will bawl out aloud, "Mr. Tally-man, I say,
Mother is in the station house, and father is run away."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tally Man
From: masato sakurai
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 09:45 PM

This may not be the one, but there's a broadside titled "The Tally Man" at Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads. The same version is printed in Roy Palmer's Touch on the Times (pp. 190-192).

Printer: Hodges, E.M.A. (London)
Date: between 1846 and 1854
Imprint: E. Hodges from Pitt's Toy and Marble Warehouse, 31, [Dudley] Street, 7 Dials
Ballads on sheet: 1   
Copies: Firth c.21(65)   
Ballads: 1. The tally man ("It is of a buxom tally-man ...")
Subject: Tallymen
Note: Verse and prose

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tally Man
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 09:23 PM

I'm not sure vixen and Malachy are requesting the same song, but I combined the threads in hope that we can get answers for both of them.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Lyr Req: Tally Man
From: Malachy
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 09:17 PM

Was out for a few jars with an old singing mate tonight..reminiscing etc..when we remembered a song we heard years ago at Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham (UK)...at some kind of festival. The band was excellent and the song was very humurous. All we can remember is the line....'Mother go down and answer the door..for it is the Tally Man'.
Can anyone help..?
Mal

Subject: LyrReq: 'tally' song
From: Vixen
Date: 29 Mar 99 - 01:38 PM

Dear Mudcatters--

My memory, now that I'm getting "old-timers" disease, ain't what it used to be. I was at a song circle this weekend, and everybody (but me, that is) sang a "tally man" song that is listed in the DT as the Banana boat song. That's not the "tally man" song I (barely) remember. There are a bunch of other "tally" songs in the DT, but they're not the one I'm looking for. The one I (sort of) recall goes:

"Tally man, he come every morning, curses the boy and take his pay..."

Anyone know the rest of the words? Will you share 'em with me? It's driving me cra----zy!

In 'umble gratitude,

V