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Subject: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: RangerSteve Date: 05 Jan 13 - 11:26 AM I found a great song on Youtube by Frank Crumit called "Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket". It's apparently a British song, along the lines of "Streets of Laredo", This time about a dying soldier. The soldier keeps referring to himself as a "buffer" as in the line from the chorus "Wrap me up in my tarpaulin jacket, and say a poor buffer lies low". My question is, what's a buffer in this context? You folks haven't let me down yet, so I'm waiting for an answer and thanks in advance. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: Leadfingers Date: 05 Jan 13 - 11:37 AM A buffer in this context is a person mate ! Simple as that |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,999 Date: 05 Jan 13 - 11:51 AM RangerSteve, it's great to see you posting again. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: RangerSteve Date: 05 Jan 13 - 12:09 PM Leadfingers, so it's like a bloke or a guy, right? Thanks for a quick reply. I want to learn the song, but I want to know what I'm singing about. 999, Thanks. I didn't know I was missed. I've been in the hospital for 11 months, and didn't always have a laptop with me. I'll be visiting here more often, now. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,999 Date: 05 Jan 13 - 12:25 PM There was a thread a while back asking after you. Indeed you were missed by lots of us, Steve. Kinda had us worried. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: dick greenhaus Date: 05 Jan 13 - 12:26 PM Hi Steve- Hope you're doing better. We've missed you. Words and attributions for Tarpaulin Jacket (and at least one of the thousand or so parodies of it) are in the Digital Tradition. Fine song. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Lighter Date: 05 Jan 13 - 01:02 PM A "buffer" is kind of "duffer" or "poor fool." The words were allegedly written by the English novelist George Whyte-Melville (1821-1878), tune by Charles Coote, but I haven't found proof of this. The words were in print by 1873. The song was popular throughout the English-speaking world. It inspired all sorts of parodies. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST Date: 05 Jan 13 - 01:05 PM Possibly also inspired John Conolly's "Fiddler's Green"? There are certainly resemblances, particularly at the start of the chorus. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Backwoodsman Date: 05 Jan 13 - 01:08 PM More likely he's a sailor. In the RN, the Chief Bosun's Mate is known by the naval slang term "The Buffer". In the times of Nelson's navy, rather than make a timber coffin which (a) would float, and (b) was a waste of valuable timber, sailors buried at sea were sewn up in tarpaulin, with the last stitch being made through the toe or nose. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Lighter Date: 05 Jan 13 - 01:25 PM "Old buffer" in a general sense goes back to the 18th century. In the 1873 version, the earliest discovered, the "old buffer" is a soldier who calls for "six stalwart lancers" to carry him. The fabulous Traditional Ballad Index refers to a text from 1826, but that's a longer and more elaborate song, related to both "Tarpaulin Jacket" and "Rosin the Bow." (And published when Whyte-Melville was only four or five years old!) |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Backwoodsman Date: 05 Jan 13 - 01:27 PM I stand corrected (maybe). |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: RangerSteve Date: 05 Jan 13 - 01:52 PM Dick, thanks. I miss all of the New Jersey gang and hope to see you all soon. And thanks to everyone else who replied. This is really interesting and enjoyable. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Lighter Date: 05 Jan 13 - 02:05 PM Interestingly enough, the 1826 song (about a sailor) contains the line, "Wrap me up in my tarpawling jacket," tarpaulin jackets being associated with sailors. Later versions of the more familiar song (or spin-off) often have "my old stable jacket," which is more appropriate to a lancer. A check of several extensive data bases fails to reveal any connection to Whyte-Melville other than an attribution in the "Scottish Students' Song Book" more than a dozen years after his death. Though credited to Charles Coote, the air is nearly identical to that of the anonymous "Rosin the Bow." The British Library has sheet music of "Wrap Me up in my Tarpaulin Jacket" published by Hopwood & Crew, London, in 1884. I have no access to this. When Hopwood printed a "New Edition" with banjo accompaniment in or before 1892, the only names to appear were those of the arrangers, E. J. Symons (piano) and R. H. Davies (banjo). The 1892 ed. has "Tarpaulin Jacket" in the title, but offers "old stable jacket" as an alternative in the lyrics, which concern a "lancer." |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: Stanron Date: 05 Jan 13 - 04:30 PM Could there be a connection with buffing or polishing. At times the army has had a reputation for encouraging 'spit and polish' so one who buffs could be called a buffer. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: MGM·Lion Date: 05 Jan 13 - 05:16 PM Dictionaries seem to agree that a 'buffer' is a silly or bumbling old man [the word is generally preceded by 'old']. To me it always carries an overtone of one who is constantly nostalgically praising the old ways at the expense of the new, as old buffers like me are prone to do. I mean, dash it all!, fancy all you young people not knowing that, what what! Don't know what education is coming to. Now when I was... Harrummppphhh! ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Lighter Date: 05 Jan 13 - 06:01 PM Americans prefer "old duffer." |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: The Sandman Date: 05 Jan 13 - 07:20 PM old duffer , sounds like someone who eats plum duff |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Lighter Date: 05 Jan 13 - 07:53 PM "Plum duff," you say? Is that anything like a hot dog? |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 05 Jan 13 - 09:19 PM He was plum duff- clueless. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Backwoodsvman Date: 06 Jan 13 - 01:25 AM A silly bumbling old man is a 'Duffer' in my part of The Lincolnshire Backwoods (as in "He's a daft old duffer!"). Never heard of 'buffer' used in that context, but then we're 150 miles away from The Hub Of The Universe, Landon, where they awl talk propah, wiv a purfick English accent, so mebbe we no' nuffink aht 'ere in the cuds, innit? :-) :-) |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Kampervan cookie gone Date: 06 Jan 13 - 01:57 AM BW'sman - You were right about the meaning of buffer with respect to naval slang- the following is quoted from Wikipedia - Buffer is the colloquial title for the senior seaman sailor in a Commonwealth of Nations Navy ship. The formal title is Chief Boatswain's Mate. This person is typically a Chief Petty Officer in frigates or destroyers, and in larger ships may be a Warrant Officer. In smaller ships, such as a patrol boat, the Buffer may be a Petty Officer. The Buffer reports to the Deck Officer, and has a wide-ranging roving commission to supervise seamanship evolutions (activities) and issue directions to seamen as required, and advise "part of ship" Officers and Petty Officers on their activities. As such, directions and orders come with the 'line' authority of the Deck Officer. The Buffer will supervise major ship activities, such as: berthing alongside and taking on equipment in harbour; anchoring, mooring and weighing; rigging for refuelling or stores transfer at sea; sending away and recovering a sea-boat. The Commanding Officer may occasionally call for advice from the Buffer with the Deck Officer and Executive Officer in attendance, so that there is wide agreement and understanding between the senior seamanship staff. The equivalent position in the United States Navy would be that of a Command Master Chief Petty Officer in the Boatswain's Mate rating. But in this particular context which involves a soldier, then buffer probably means an out of date/behind the times/ old person. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: MGM·Lion Date: 06 Jan 13 - 02:03 AM 'That evening's work made us more or less content to leave next morning. And an old buffer was pleased to describe us as "young heroes."' (3.82) Erich Maria Remarque: All Quiet On The Western Front 1929 'Believe me my dear, your future lies with David and not with a silly old buffer like me' Dr Who, long-running BBC tv series ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Backwoodsman Date: 06 Jan 13 - 02:21 AM Thanks Kampervan, I was sure of my ground on that because my dad was a PO in frigates, and frequently referred to 'The Buffer' when reminiscing about his navy days. However, having read the lyrics of the song in question, I have to agree that the buffer in the song is probably a soldier. Ah we'll, can't win em all! :-) |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: MGM·Lion Date: 06 Jan 13 - 02:39 AM The epitome of 'old bufferdom' is of course an old soldier ~~ Colonel Blimp, originally created as an archetype of the buffer by cartoonist David Low for the [London] Evening Standard in the 1930s, but soon becoming antonomasiacally proverbial. Good Wikipedia entry on him. ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: open mike Date: 06 Jan 13 - 03:04 AM wow 11 months...hope you are better now! |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: MGM·Lion Date: 06 Jan 13 - 05:48 AM For those who hadn't come across the phrase ~~ definition of 'plum duff' from Farlex Free Online Dictionary~~ plum duff - a stiff flour pudding steamed or boiled usually and containing e.g. currants and raisins and citron. --duff pudding - any of various soft sweet desserts thickened usually with flour and baked or boiled or steamed Often aka 'spotted dick'. Xmas Pudding a specialist form of it. Lovers of Stevenson's Treasure Island will recall that Captain Smollet disapproved of Squire Trelawney's spoiling of the Hispaniola's crew by such indulgences as ensuring that they were served duff if he chanced to hear that it was any seaman's birthday. ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: MGM·Lion Date: 06 Jan 13 - 05:52 AM The word 'plum', note, is used in the old-fashioned sense of a currant or raisin or sultana, rather than for the actual fruit which bears that name. It would have been one of these that Little Jack Horner was so self-satisfied at having extracted from his Xmas pie. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: MGM·Lion Date: 06 Jan 13 - 05:59 AM Re 'aka spotted dick' above. Also 'spotted dog', which is mentioned in The Orderly's Song on which there was a thread not long ago ~~ Now spotted dog's magnificent prog And so is Irish stew |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,999 Date: 06 Jan 13 - 06:31 AM "BUFFER THE (CHIEF) BUFFER Naval nickname for the Chief Bo'sun's Mate. As he is the First Lieutenant's right-hand man and the one by whom he passes orders to the Captain of Tops, he is considered to be the buffer between officer and ratings." from http://www.hmsrichmond.org/dict_b.htm |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: kendall Date: 06 Jan 13 - 07:36 AM I have a recording by Burl Ives. He sang Duffer. Isn't that a term also used to describe a golfer who doesn't play well? I've heard that many times as a boy, someone talking about an old man, "He's an old Duffer." Tarpaulin jacket tells me the man is a sailor. "Wrap me up in me tarpaulin jacket and say a poor Duffers laid low, get six salty seamen to carry me with steps mournful, solemn and slow. Then let them send for two Holy Stones, place them at my head and my toe, and on them write this inscription, "Here lies a poor Duffer below." And send for six jolly foretopmen and let them all staggering go, etc... "Holy stones" were used to scrub the decks of sailing ships. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: MartinRyan Date: 06 Jan 13 - 08:11 AM An earlier posting: In the RN, the Chief Bosun's Mate is known by the naval slang term "The Buffer". Partridge's Dictionary of Historical Slang has, among several other meanings: 6. A boatswain's mate: naval : mid-C.19-20. That seems the likely explanation here. Regards |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Lighter Date: 06 Jan 13 - 10:02 AM > That seems the likely explanation here. Why? Nineteenth-century sailor/soldier songs aren't noted for their use of contemporaneous slang. My impression is that even Kipling used more Anglo-Indian phrases than outright barracks slang. Partridge also lists the far longer-established "old fool" sense. However, each to his personal folk interpretation. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Lighter Date: 06 Jan 13 - 10:20 AM A look at the Round indexes and the Traditional Ballad Index shows that early collectors rarely bothered with this song - possibly because the existence of sheet music and the attribution to Whyte-Melville and Coote led them to believe it was pure pop. Another possibility is that its popularity came after their elderly informants had stopped learning new songs. Hear Cyril Phillips (1911-1990) sing the "stable jacket" version in 1966: http://sounds.bl.uk/World-and-traditional-music/Traditional-music-in-England/025M-C0903X0153XX-0300V0 Phillips adds the repeated "lies low" bits that were once commonly songm though the Hopwood sheet music doesn't call for them. Though Phillips's performance is sober, the addition of the "lies low," often sung in falsetto, suggests a drift toward the parodic. The next step was out-and-out ironic/cynical/bawdy parodies like "The Dying Aviator" and "The Dying Harlot." Does anyone know versions of these not in the DT? PS: Poor golfers are frequently called "duffers" in the US, regardless of age. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: MGM·Lion Date: 06 Jan 13 - 12:41 PM "Duffer" here in UK can mean an inefficient person [one who is 'duff' = sort of not-fit-for-purpose - a word which can also be used of inanimate objects, as in, eg, "You'll have to find another light-bulb, the one you put in was duff"]: like a poor golfer or whatever. But it is also defined by Partridge as meaning a dolt, or stupid person, which seems to be the more common meaning here; which is not shared with 'buffer' which means more a pompous old creature, except perhaps regionally, as in Lincolnshire according to Backwoodsman's claim 10 or so posts back that it is the local equivalent of 'buffer'. Oh dear me, how all very confusing. Think I'll go back to bed... ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Lighter Date: 06 Jan 13 - 12:49 PM The only sort of "Duff" I can think of in the USA is the name of Homer Simpson's favorite brand of beer. The song doesn't even vaguely suggest that the speaker is "pompous." Calling himself a "poor old buffer" is self-deprecating (unless one thinks of him as a naval petty officer). In outspoken circles "buffer" may easily have been replaced by something stronger and more generic. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: kendall Date: 06 Jan 13 - 01:48 PM Dead seamen were commonly wrapped in a canvas shroud made of old sails, with a weight at their feet. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Backwoodsman Date: 06 Jan 13 - 01:55 PM At the end of th day, who gives a fuck? We can argue, debate and put up conflicting 'proofs' until we're all blue in the face, but no-one' life is changed one iota. Just another pointless Mudcat argument for argument's sake about bugger-all, each one trying to prove he knows more about bugger-all than everyone else. Complete waste of effort. I'm off to clean my walking boots, far more important and productive, IMHO. :-) :-) |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: John Minear Date: 06 Jan 13 - 04:12 PM Over the hill and far away....perhaps. ;-/ |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: Marc Bernier Date: 06 Jan 13 - 04:30 PM Lynn Noel sang a brilliant interpretation of this yesterday at the Seaport. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: Steve Gardham Date: 06 Jan 13 - 05:02 PM Backwoodsman, The members discussing here amicably obviously give a fuck. One man's meat, and all that. Lighten up! |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,BobL Date: 07 Jan 13 - 04:23 AM The first verse describes the subject as a "tall stalwart lancer", and the later reference to "two little white tombstones" would seem to rule out burial at sea. Sounds like the old soldier to be buried coffinless in a tarpaulin shroud: was that ever normal practise? |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Lighter Date: 07 Jan 13 - 07:57 AM Presumably the dying man expected to be dressed in his trusty jacket and buried in an ordinary coffin . As collected, versions with "tarpaulin jacket" omit the stanza about the tombstones, but not all sailors die at sea. Several broadside printers turned out earlier realted songs. Here are the two earliest antecedents, both of which contain the "tarpaulin jacket" line and the funeral with sailor pallbearers. One or the other seems to have inspired the better-known song: Bodleian, Harding B25 (1594), printed by Angus, Newcastle, "between 1774 and 1825." The reference to wishing the wars over implies a date of 1815 or earlier. A New Song, Called THE RAKISH YOUNG FELLOW I am a rakish young fellow, Never took care in my life, I rambled the country all over, In every town I had a fresh wife. Give me the Girl that will love me, And bless me through this happy life, That will dance to me a dutch caper, A country girl for a wife. I have sail'd in stormy bad weather, I have sail'd in both hot and cold, I have sail'd the ocean all over I ventured my life for gold. I wish the wars were all over And myself safe on the shore, And God bless me for ever and ever, If I go to sea any more. I will send for my friends and relations I will send for them every one, All for to make them quite welcome I will send for a cask of good rum. I will send for a cask fo [sic] the best geneva, And two or three barrels of beer, For to welcome the ladies That meet me on Sunderland pier. When I am dead and buried There was an end of my life, Do not be sighing nor sobbing But do a good turn for my wife. Do not be sobbing nor sighing, But one single favour I crave, [Do wrap?] me in my Tarpawling jacket, And fiddle and dance to my grave. Get six bold sailors to carry me, And let them be all very drunk, [As?] they are reeling along let them All tumble down with my trunk. Let them be dancing and capering, Like men just [going?] mad, And drink a glass [illegible] my [illegible], [Saying here?][Illegible]. Bodleian Harding B25 (1883), published by Pitts, Seven Dials, "between 1819 and 1844": TARPAULING JACKET I am a young jolly brisk sailor, Delights in all manner of sport, When I'm in liquor I'm mellow, The girls I then merrily court. But love is surrounded with trouble, And put such strange thoughts in my head, Is is [sic] not a terrible story, That love it should strike me stone dead. Have not I been in stormy weather, Have not I been in heat and in cold, Have not I been with many a brave fellow That has ventur'd his honour for gold. But now the wars are all over, And I am safe landed on shore, The devil shall have me forever, If ever I enter any more. Some where is the girl that will love me, And lay with me this very night, Come jig it away with the fiddle, A country dance or hornpipe. Let the weakest not go with the strongest, But let them be equally yok'd, For the strongest will last out the longest, The jacket ne'er values the stroke. Here's health to my friends and acquaintances When death for me it doth come And let them behave in their station, And send me a cask of good rum. Let it be good royal stingo, With three barrels of beer, To make my friends the more welcome, When they meet me at derry down fair. Let there be six sailors to carry me, Let them be damndable drunk, And as they are going to bury me, Let them fall down with my trunk. Let there be no sighing or sobbing, But one single favor I crave, Take me up in a tarpauling jacket, And fiddle and dance to my grave. The line, "The jacket ne'er values [i.e., cares about] the stroke [of the lash]" sounds like either a real or a would-be proverb. The earliest version of "Wrap Me up in my ... Jacket" would thus seem to have been about a sailor, with the soldiers' version coming later. Baseless conjecture: Herman Melville was thinking of one of these songs when he wrote "White-Jacket" (1850), though the connection - the unusual preciousness of the jacket to the hero - is tenuous at best. The Bodleian appears to have no broadside text of "Wrap Me up in my Tarpaulin/ Old-Stable Jacket." How about the Madden Collection? [Joe, you might combine this one with the earlier "Tarpaulin Jacket" thread] |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST Date: 07 Jan 13 - 09:15 AM "Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: Steve Gardham Date: 06 Jan 13 - 05:02 PM Backwoodsman, The members discussing here amicably obviously give a fuck. One man's meat, and all that. Lighten up!" Two smileys at the end of my post Steve - I was 'aving a larff! Perhaps you need to lighten up? :-) :-) |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: Steve Gardham Date: 07 Jan 13 - 01:09 PM Apologies, Backwoodsman. I'm new to these little images, but neat! I like them. :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Backwoodsman Date: 07 Jan 13 - 01:42 PM No problem Steve, my wife tells me I'm a weirdo with a very strange SOH, so I'm not surprised I was misinterpreted! :-) :-) |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: MGM·Lion Date: 07 Jan 13 - 04:00 PM Reverting to a usage discussed above that we have rather left behind, but finding it in a recent post that has been running intermittently for 16 years on this song, it seemed relevant to draw attention here to the use of a word in a group much canvassed above by one of our leading C20 dramatists and songwriters:~ MARY MAKE BELIEVE Lyrics and Music by Noel Coward New York: Harms, Inc., 1928. CHORUS: Mary Make Believe dreamed the whole day through. Foolish fancies, love romances, how could they come true?... She's just a duffer of the ineffective kind. She's bound to suffer from her introspective mind. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: GUEST,Jay Date: 04 Jan 16 - 12:38 AM Apologies for reopening an old thread, but has anyone suggested that the "buffer" reference is to a soldier of the former British Army regiment known as "the Buffs" (the Royal East Kent Regiment)? This makes a lot of sense to me given the song's origins and that it's pretty clearly about a soldier dying. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: MGM·Lion Date: 04 Jan 16 - 04:13 AM Good point indeed, Guest Jay. 'Forward The Buffs!' ≈M≈ |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: Lighter Date: 04 Jan 16 - 08:35 AM > given the song's origins But what are the origins that support that interpretation? "Buffer" (fellow) appeared in the 18th century and was well known; but the suggested "Buffer" (member of the Buffs) seems not to be traceable anywhere. If a specialized meaning of "buffer" is desired (though it's certainly not required) I'd suggest the naval "boatswain's mate," recorded in the 1870s. |
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Subject: RE: Wrap Me Up In My Tarpaulin Jacket From: Lighter Date: 04 Jan 16 - 09:55 AM The presumed Kentish "Buffer" does not appear in Partridge, the OED, or Google Books, for example. "Wrap Me Up in My Tarpaulin Jacket" is credited to George J. Whyte-Melville and Charles Coote. A related, anonymous broadside, called "Tarpaulin Jacket" (beginning "I'm a rambling and roving young fellow") may have supplied the inspiration. It is explicitly a naval song, printed by Pitt between 1819 and 1844. This thread contains further discussion: thread.cfm?threadid=16016#reply |
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