Origins/ADD: Truro Agricultural Show

Subject: Lyr Req: Truro Agricultural Show
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Aug 20 - 04:04 PM

I heard a fun song this afternoon. The singer says:

Truro Agricultural Show. I learned it from a collection sold in Cornwall called "Canow Kernow"... but its also in a book called "Songs of the West" collected and compiled by Sabine Baring Gould. Its on one of my old CDs "Sue White,, Best of Cornish Folksongs".

Anybody got the lyrics?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Truro Agricultural Show
From: RTim
Date: 06 Aug 20 - 04:38 PM

Joe...Here (below) is a link to the complete "Songs of the West"....and I can't see the song there....maybe there is another title..??

Tim Radford

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/56625/56625-h/56625-h.htm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Truro Agricultural Show
From: cnd
Date: 06 Aug 20 - 04:39 PM

Listen to the song here.

Here are the lyrics, from http://www.an-daras.com/music/m_tuneindex_p_truroagriculturalshow.htm - no comment on accuracy! There is also sheet music at that lnk.

Trura Ager-i-cultral Shaw

Collected from Capt. Collett, Perrancoombe 1930 and Frank Trebilcock, Perranporth. Cornish Dialect and Folk Songs p22

Good people oll oo ear me voys,
You now av reason t’ rejoice.
Fer off t’ Trura you may goa
T’ see tha Ager-i-cultral shaw.
But doan ee goa kessen tha maeds you knaw
At tha Trura Ager-i-cultral shaw!

A maazlen pare you will see theer:
Fat fermers an ther wives soa reer,
Their bouncen daughters net an clean
With a pork-py at an a crinoline Soa ...

Frum Newlyn East an Sen Colum too,
Theers’s hump-backed Jim an carroty Joe,
An a speeshel traen upon tha rail
T’ bring all tha thieves from Bodmint jail.

They’ve got a band frum Plumuth down
Tha bettermoast ever woz en town,
An oll tha gintry will be theer.
Tes moast as purdee as Whitsun feer!

Ther’s osses, ponus, cows an caavs
fer Trura doan’t do things be aavs.
Ther be Debm bulls, sheep, pigs an gees.
You geek at un oll fer a shillen a pees.

I’m glad yer cum, I see ee eer,
Thers thowsans cum frum evreeweer.
Rech an poor an igh an law,
at Trura Ager-i-cultral shaw!
But doan ee goa kessen tha maeds you knaw
At tha Trura Ager-i-cultral shaw!

The Bath and West of England Show visited Cornwall in 1861. The Royal Cornwall Show was merged with it and the combined event held at Truro. This song has become the signature tune of Mo Keast who delivers it in broad dialect. Here an attempt has been made to reflect this dialect including one or two changes in vocabulary. Five of the eight verses to be found in Cornish Dialect and Folk Songs are given.

Dialect substitutions: maeds for girls, pare for group, maazlen for motley, bettermost for the best, purdee for pretty, geek for see

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Truro Agricultural Show
From: Reinhard
Date: 06 Aug 20 - 11:41 PM

Cyril Tawney sang Truro Agricultural Show on his album A Mayflower Garland.
He gave as his source Dr. Dunstan’s Cornish Dialect and Folk Songs, too.

Cyril Tawney: Truro Agricultural Show

TRURO AGRICULTURAL SHOW

Ee-I-O and away we go
To Truro Agricultural Show.

Good people all who hear my voice,
You now have reason to rejoice;
For off to Truro you may go,
To see the Agricultural Show.

CHORUS (after each verse):
But/So/And don’t go kissing the girls you know
At Truro Agricultural Show.

A motley group you will see there,
Fat farmers and their wives so rare;
Their bouncing daughters neat and clean,
With a pork-pie hat and a crinoline.

From Newlyn East, St Columb, too,
There’s hump-backed Jim and carroty Joe;
And a special train upon the rail
To bring all the thieves from Bodmin Jail.

They’ve got a band from Plymouth down,
The best that ever was in the town;
All the gentry will be there:
It’s twice as pretty at Whitsun Fair.

There’s horses, ponies, cows and calves,
Truro don’t do things by halves.
Devon bulls, sheep, pigs and geese:
You can see it all for a shilling apiece.

There’s things up there that’ll make you laugh;
There’s a two-legged cow and a nine-legged calf,
A billy-goat that comes from Wales
With sixteen eyes and seventeen tails.

Now all around I hear them say,
“We’ll see this show this very day;
Off we go, all in a row,
To Truro Agricultural Show.”

I’m glad you’re come, I see you’re here;
There’s thousands come from everywhere:
Rich and poor and high and low,
At Truro Agricultural Show.

Roy Palmer has nearly the same verses in his book A Touch on the Times.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Truro Agricultural Show
From: Reinhard
Date: 06 Aug 20 - 11:55 PM

I can't find Truro Agricultural Show in neither "Canow Kernow" nor in "Songs of the West" as referenced in the original post. Can you give page numbers?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Truro Agricultural Show
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 01:24 AM

Sorry, Reinhard, that's all I got. Now I know why the song sounded familiar - I have Cyril Tawney's A Mayflower Garland, a very nice recording. I couldn't find that recording on YouTube, but here's one by Ian Marshall:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ykqQcSo8Ew

I couldn't find a listing for the song in Roud or other indexes. What was Roy Palmer's source, Reinhard?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins/ADD: Truro Agricultural Show
From: Reinhard
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 04:32 AM

Roy Palmer was referring to "Cornish Dialect and Folk Songs" too -- like everybody else, it seems.