Tune Add: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)

Subject: REfresh: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)
From: Artful Codger
Date: 30 Aug 11 - 06:51 PM

[refresh]

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)
From: Artful Codger
Date: 28 Aug 11 - 05:40 AM

Well bust my timbers and call me Shorty, the same biographical source mentions some other poetical works by Mungo, most of which are collected in this tome at Google Books:
Comic Tales and Lyrical Fancies

I don't suppose you have any feedback on the song?

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 27 Aug 11 - 08:20 PM

Aaaahhh... just caught sight of this:

Dibdin's wife Mary, who died in 1816, bore him at least 11 children... Mary Ann Dibdin (1799-1886), an excellent harpist, who became Mrs Tonna

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 27 Aug 11 - 08:16 PM

I downloaded some harp pieces on that Archive site by Mary Ann Dibdin whose dates appear to have been 1799-1886, but I can't find much about her. Was she a daughter? She could obviously play the harp to a decent standard, judging by the music she composed.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)
From: Artful Codger
Date: 27 Aug 11 - 05:05 PM

Charles Dibdin jr (whom, for disambiguation, I'll refer to as Mungo, his full name being Charles Isaac Mungo Dibdin) edited a book of his father's songs--a bit odd, since they seem not to have had much contact; the father abandoned that mistress, Mungo's mother, quite early in Mungo's life and left them in destitution; he even resented Mungo's use of his patronymic.

But where there's a buck to be made, or coattails to be ridden.... Some editions of this songbook are augmented with a selection of songs by the sons Thomas and Mungo as well, which does confuse things a bit, though one augmented edition (available at Google Books) clearly identifies who wrote what. The songs with musical scores are, if I recall, all works of the father. "Click Clack" is in none of the editions.

Mungo's book of verse, Mirth and Metre, was compiled early in his songwriting career, so it doesn't contain many of his best-known songs. Notably lacking are two songs recently being discussed: "Hot Codlins" and "Typitywichet", songs which Dibdin wrote for the clown Grimaldi. "Hot Codlins" had been written a year or two previous, but "Typitywichet" wasn't even a twitch in Mungo's neurons at the time. This is the only book I know of entirely of Mungo's verse and songs; as a songwriter, he is considered light fare and a pale reflection of his father--though thankfully of a more comic, less operatic bent.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 27 Aug 11 - 08:54 AM

I don't know whether this is Dibdin Jr or Sr, but you can download a whole book of his songs from either of these two links (one leads to the other) though it doesn't seem to have Click Clack in it (but I haven't checked extensively: it doesn't appear in the index of first lines).

http://www.archive.org/details/songscharlesdib00hogagoog

http://books.google.com/books?id=r0gJAAAAQAAJ&oe=UTF-8


The above edition includes musical scores, and there are also a number of other words-only downloads of his song books, though you'll have to look through the titles and select only the song ones.

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=charles%20dibdin%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts


That whole website is brilliant, though be sure to restrict the field to "Texts" in the drop-down box if you want only printed media. Their online reader is a great way to sneak a preview if you don't feel like going through a whole PDF download just to see if you want an item or not. I've had good luck also with selecting by generic type (i.e. "harp musc" + Texts) though that's mainly classical repertoire.

http://www.archive.org/

[Please excuse lack of clickies - I'm supposed to be working...]

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)
From: Artful Codger
Date: 27 Aug 11 - 04:34 AM

Thank you, Joe.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Aug 11 - 03:15 AM

MIDI files from Artful Codger Posted:

Click to Play (chords)


Click to Play (melody)

Thanks, Artful Codger.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)
From: Artful Codger
Date: 27 Aug 11 - 02:59 AM

ABC notation:

  X:1
  T:Click Clack
  C:Words by Charles Dibdin, jr. and Robert Wahl
  C:Music by Robert Wahl
  %%header \                 Click Clack
  %%writehistory 1
  S:Charles Dibdin's _Mirth and Metre_, 1807.
  N:Robert Wahl revised the lyrics, added a chorus and wrote the music.
  N:The original text is in the public domain; the music and chorus text are
  N:copyrighted.
  %%MIDI bassprog 24
  %%MIDI chordprog 24
  % -- To suppress the accompaniment, change "on" to "off" in the following line:
  %%MIDI gchordon
  M:3/4
  L:1/4
  Q:1/4=172
  K:Eb
   B, | "Eb"EEG | B2G/G/ | "Ab"ABG | "Bb"(3G/A/G/ F G/A/ |
  w: 1.~A mill-er I am, well-re-spect-ed my name___ And it's
  w: 2.~A daugh-ter she left~me, in her im-age com-plete,___ Whom I
  w: 3.~I've~a lit-tle Welsh maid of a spir-it quite high,___ And on
   "Eb"BGc | "Fm"AF "Bb7"B/A/ | "Eb"GE "Ab"C | "Bb"B,z (G/A/) |
  w: three or four years since I* bur-ied my dame; A*
  w: fan-cied would ren-der life's* ev-e-ning sweet; But*
  w: her, I ad-mit, I have* cast a sheep's eye; But she's
   "Eb"BB_d | "Ab"c2B/A/ | "Fm"(G/F/)CF | "Bb7"E{FE}DC/D/ |
  w: good soul she was, though my pa-*tience she tried,_ So I
  w: she fell in love, and so then* we fell out,_ And from
  w: not to be caught, by a prayer* or a purse._ By her
   "Cm"EEA | "Ab"c>BA | "Bb7"GAF | "Eb"Ez/D/E |
  w: found a vast change in the house when she died; Be-tween
  w: morn-ing to night it's but both-er and rout; Could I
  w: grace I may wed her for bet-ter or worse; And_
   "Bb"FF"Eb"G | "Bb"F2D/E/ | FF"Eb"(A/G/) | "Bb"FCD |
  w: her and my mill lay per-pet-u-al* strife, For click
  w: ev-er for-get her ma-ma, my lost* pearl, When click
  w: then my wife's spir-it will nev-er be* laid, For click
   "Cm"EEA | "Ab"c>BA | "Bb7"GAF | "Eb"Ez ||
  w: clack went my mill, and click clack went my wife.
  w: clack goes my mill, and click clack goes my girl.
  w: clack goes my mill, and click clack goes my maid.
  %
  %%text Chorus
   .B, | "Eb".Ez.G | .Bz2 | "Ab"AG"Bb"F | "Eb"G<Ez |
  w: Click clack, click clack, nag nag nag, cav-il!
   "Ab"A/A/c<z | "Eb"G/G/B<z | "F7"FG>=A | "Bb"B<B,z |
  w: Bick-er, pout, bick-er, shout, storm, shriek, be-de-vil!
   "Ab"c/B/A/G/F/A/ | "Eb"B/A/G/F/E/G/ | "F7"F/F/GE | "Bb7".Dz2 |
  w: Squab-ble, quar-rel, quib-ble, nee-dle, net-tle, nig-gle, wor-ry, fuss and flak!
   "Eb"B,/B,/E>z | "Ab"C/C/F<z | "Bb7".A.G.F | "Eb".Ez ||
  w: Moan and groan, harp and carp, click clack, click clack!
  %
  %%vskip .25in
  %%center Copyright (c) 2001 by Robert Wahl.  All rights reserved.
  %
  %%newpage
  %%vskip .5in
  %%leftmargin 2in
  % -- Note: Don't remove the initial blank line below.  It serves a purpose.
  %%begintext
  
  CLICK CLACK
  
  1. A miller I am, well-respected my name,
  And it's three or four years since I buried my dame;
  A good soul she was, though my patience she tried,
  So I found a vast change in the house when she died;
  For 'tween her and my mill lay perpetual strife,
  For click clack went my mill, and click clack went my wife.
  
          Chorus:
    Click clack click clack, nag nag nag, cavil!
    Bicker, pout, bicker, shout, storm, shriek, bedevil!
    Squabble, quarrel, quibble, needle, nettle, niggle, worry, fuss and flak!
    Moan and groan, harp and carp, click clack click clack!
  
  2. A daughter she left me, in her image complete,
  Whom I fancied would render life's evening sweet;
  But she fell in love, and so then we fell out,
  And from morning to night it's but bother and rout;
  Could I ever forget her mama, my lost pearl,
  When click clack goes my mill, and click clack goes my girl?
  
  3. I've a little Welsh maid of a spirit quite high,
  And on her, I admit, I have cast a sheep's eye;
  But she's not to be caught by a prayer or a purse.
  By her grace I may wed her for better or worse;
  And then my wife's spirit will never be laid,
  For click clack goes my mill, and click clack goes my maid.
  %%endtext
  %%vskip .25in
  %%leftmargin 1in
  

Using the folkinfo.org ABC converter you can generate a score or MIDI, transposed to suit your preference.

If you want to print only the first verse in the score, so that the staff notation will fit entirely on one page, substitute the following for the verse notation above (between the "K:Eb" and the first "%" line after it):

   B, | "Eb"EEG | B2G/G/ | "Ab"ABG | "Bb"(3G/A/G/ F G/A/ |
  w: 1.~A mill-er I am, well-re-spect-ed my name___ And it's
   "Eb"BGc | "Fm"AF "Bb7"B/A/ | "Eb"GE "Ab"C | "Bb"B,z (G/A/) |
  w: three or four years since I* bur-ied my dame; A*
   "Eb"BB_d | "Ab"c2B/A/ | "Fm"(G/F/)CF | "Bb7"E{FE}DC/D/ |
  w: good soul she was, though my pa-*tience she tried,_ So I
   "Cm"EEA | "Ab"c>BA | "Bb7"GAF | "Eb"Ez/D/E |
  w: found a vast change in the house when she died; Be-tween
   "Bb"FF"Eb"G | "Bb"F2D/E/ | FF"Eb"(A/G/) | "Bb"FCD |
  w: her and my mill lay per-pet-u-al* strife, For click
   "Cm"EEA | "Ab"c>BA | "Bb7"GAF | "Eb"Ez ||
  w: clack went my mill, and click clack went my wife.
  

---

Click to Play (chords)
Click to Play (melody)

Subject: Tune Add: Click Clack (Charles Dibdin, jr)
From: Artful Codger
Date: 27 Aug 11 - 02:38 AM

Here is an obscure song by Charles Dibdin, jr, which I've just worked up. First, the original text, from his Mirth and Metre (1807), p. 200; the book can be found online at Google Books and the Internet Archive.


CLICK CLACK

A miller I am, and respected's my name,
And some three or four years since I buried my dame;
A good soul she was, tho' my patience she tried,
But I found a vast change in the house when she died;
For 'tween her and my mill seem'd perpetual strife,
For click clack went my mill, and click clack went my wife.

A daughter she left me, her image complete,
Whom I fancied would render life's evening sweet;
But she fell in love, and so then we fell out,
And from morning to night here's a pother and rout;
So her mother forget, while she lives I ne'er shall,
For click clack goes my mill, and click clack goes my girl.

I've a little welch maid, with a spirit quite high,
And at her, I own, I have cast a sheep's eye;
But she's not to be caught by a pray'r or a purse,
So perhaps I may take her for better or worse;
And then my wife's spirit will never be laid,
For click clack goes my mill, and click clack goes my maid.


My modified version:


CLICK CLACK
   Original text by Charles Dibdin, jr, by 1807.
   Lyric revisions and chorus by Robert Wahl, 2011.

A miller I am, well-respected my name,
And it's three or four years since I buried my dame;
A good soul she was, though my patience she tried,
So I found a vast change in the house when she died;
For 'tween her and my mill lay perpetual strife,
For click clack went my mill, and click clack went my wife.

        Chorus:
   Click clack click clack, nag nag nag, cavil!
   Bicker, pout, bicker, shout, storm, shriek, bedevil!
   Squabble, quarrel, quibble, needle, nettle, niggle, worry, fuss and flak!
   Moan and groan, harp and carp, click clack click clack!

A daughter she left me, in her image complete,
Whom I fancied would render life's evening sweet;
But she fell in love, and so then we fell out,
And from morning to night it's but bother and rout;
Could I ever forget her mama, my lost pearl,
When click clack goes my mill, and click clack goes my girl?

I've a little Welsh maid of a spirit quite high,
And on her, I admit, I have cast a sheep's eye;
But she's not to be caught by a prayer or a purse.
By her grace I may wed her for better or worse;
And then my wife's spirit will never be laid,
For click clack goes my mill, and click clack goes my maid.


Revisions and chorus: Copyright © 2011 by Robert Wahl. All rights reserved.

ABC and MIDIs to follow...