Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes

Subject: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: GUEST,John Stafford
Date: 28 Apr 26 - 01:02 AM

Can anyone help with the lyrics to Foddered Me Yowes as recorded by Gary and Vera Aspey on A taste of Hotpot?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: r.padgett
Date: 28 Apr 26 - 02:29 AM

Fed the ewes (sheep)

Ray

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: Helen
Date: 28 Apr 26 - 02:51 AM

Yes Ray, but can you post the lyrics please?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: r.padgett
Date: 28 Apr 26 - 08:37 AM

Well no ~ Gary was a chatty socialist and what I could see from checking the words above seems to refer to a monologue ~ rather than a song!

If anyone knows different please let us know!

Ray

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 26 - 10:11 AM

Dig around here at mudcat - I remember reading about a lot of spoken-word performances and the texts of some of those monologues.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: Helen
Date: 28 Apr 26 - 11:58 AM

I found this video and the song starts at 2 minutes Foddered Me Yowes

I had trouble understanding the lyrics but someone else here may have more success.

Confusingly, when I did a search for Lyrics a list of politicians' names and what appears to be a political speech was shown. So I am none the wiser.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: r.padgett
Date: 28 Apr 26 - 12:36 PM

Helen yes those are the lyrics I found ~ I'm not sure that is what he is singing though

Gary is/was Lancastrian and the tune sounds like a familiar Geordie tune ~ Vera played accordion very well ~ Nick Jones is reputably reported as saying "What's he selling" (sorry) the singing seems well received
I couldn't decipher the words ~ I am a Yorkshire man

Ray

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: Reinhard
Date: 28 Apr 26 - 01:08 PM

I also can barely understand Gary's words but at least I can supply his liner notes:

Foddered Me Yowes
This was sung to us by a Cumbrian huntsman and relates to a farmer’s plight of not having enough fodder to see his animals through winter. ‘A little bit on the balks’ refers to the small amount of hay left on the beams of the barn. The words are set to the well known tune of McNamara’s Band.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: Helen
Date: 28 Apr 26 - 04:02 PM

I'm an Aussie so I have no hope of deciphering more than a word or two, here and there. :-)

Thanks Reinhard, I also found that information on a page about the songs on the album.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: r.padgett
Date: 29 Apr 26 - 01:49 AM

Thanks Reinhard!

Ray

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 04 May 26 - 06:53 PM

idk
Might be worth contacting them direct
www.garyandveraaspey.com/enquiries/
or
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064183922730

---

^^^A Taste Of Hotpot(Topic) sleeve notes
www.topicrecords.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/TSDL299.pdf

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: Helen
Date: 05 May 26 - 05:26 PM

Thanks FreddyHeadey. Unfortunately I suspect that GUEST,John Stafford is not likely to come back to check out the results of his original question.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jun 26 - 07:29 AM

Thanks FreddyHeady. I have contacted them through their website but haven't yet got a reply. Would still appreciate any help

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: cnd
Date: 28 Jun 26 - 11:13 AM

Ok, while not a Brit, I can't resist a good challenge... here's what I got. I've included some of the spoken introduction (but not the entire 1:30 or so leading up to it). There's still a few sections I can't quite make out, but it's a start.


FODDERED ME YOWES

And this is a song that I got off this farmer. It's about this farmer who's going short... of hay. Bang in the middle of winter so he can't fodder his yowes -- feed the bloody things. Fodder his yowes (ewes). Fodder his cows -- cause it rhymes with bloody yowes. So there --

(spoken freely)
Can't fodder his yowes, nor fodder his cows
And this won't last so long, for the bit of brass he has in the bank, has all gone with a bang -- none at all
But the neighbors keep on asking him, and the wife, she fairly talks
But tell you the truth, all th' hay that's left, a little bit, on the box
Now box is a very interesting word -- I thought you'd never ask! Now a box is a beam in the barn...

CHORUS
So I've... foddered me yowes, I've foddered me cows, and this won't last so long
The bit of brass I have in the bank has all gone with a bang
The neighbors keep on asking me, and the wife, she fairly talks
But tell you the truth, all th' hay that's left, a little bit, on the box

Now, a farmer up in Langdon, he was getting short of hay
This winter's made a mess of me in every sort of way
For when I started winter, I thought I'd hayed just fair
But now it's nearly finished, and I'll have to bale some air

CHORUS

Now when we go to bed at night, we dream in ???
We often look at th' almanac and count the days to May
It'll be a bit before we see the grass begin to sprout
Oh, I wish that I could sit and hear that cooker shout

CHORUS

Now I went to Kendall MacAdoo, he'd ???? plight he saw
Made soup for me, me mind at ease, and sold me a load of straw
I paid him with a check, and I thought I'd got a lock
But when the hit Langdon, well, it was not for bloody mock

CHORUS

Oh, ought to noise the cows kick up when they come home each day
Their tongues are hanging from their heads a-waiting for their hay
I'd put them all on rations now, but this won't last so long
So I open the door and chuck a bit in, then slam the bugger and run

CHORUS (x2)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: cnd
Date: 28 Jun 26 - 11:15 AM

And of course, "box" should be "balks" as supplied by Reinhard above.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: cnd
Date: 28 Jun 26 - 11:17 AM

And "ought to noise the cows kick up" should likely be "what a noise the cows kick up"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: Helen
Date: 28 Jun 26 - 05:16 PM

Wow, cnd! I'm impressed! I could barely identify any words in the song. I guess an Aussie accent is an impediment for understanding UK dialects. LOL

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: cnd
Date: 01 Jul 26 - 08:24 AM

Thank you! It's come with lots and lots of practice.

Having the spoken chorus first really helped a lot; gave me a good foundation to base the rest on.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: GUEST,James E
Date: 01 Jul 26 - 10:28 AM

And another few edits:

"bale some air" should be "bale some mair", as in "more"

"Now when we go to bed at night, we dream o' nowt but hay"

"cooker shout" should be "cuckoo shout"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Foddered Me Yowes
From: cnd
Date: 03 Jul 26 - 03:00 PM

Good ear, James, thanks for the revisions