DTStudy: Goliath of Gath

Subject: DTStudy: Goliath of Gath
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Apr 22 - 04:55 PM

MaJoC the Filk sings this song masterfully. He pointed out that the spelling in the Digital Tradition is wrong - Goliath came from GATH (1 Samuel 17) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath

---

GOLIATH OF GARTH

Goliath of Garth, with his helmet of brass,
One day he sat down upon the green grass,
When up slipped young David, the servant of Saul,
Who said, "I will smite thee, although I am small."

Young David slipped down to the side of the brook,
And from its still waters six small stones he took.
He skillfully slung one, right high in the sky,*
And struck poor Goliath right over the eye.

Goliath he swore, and likewise he spake
(Missing line)
The air all around them was turning quite blue.
He spake all the old words, and thought of some new.

Goliath fell down in a swoon on the sward.
Young David slipped up and swiped his great sword.
He lifted his helmet and swiped off his head,
And all Israel shouted, "Goliath is Dead!"

[A New Zealand camp song from the 1950's. To be sung with a lisp for full effect
. *Alternate line: "And with his suspender he let the sling fly,"]
(Tune, "O Worship the King.")
filename[ GOLIATHG
TUNE FILE: GOLIATHG
CLICK TO PLAY
XX

Popup Midi Player

Subject: ADD Versions: Goliath of Gath
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Apr 22 - 03:06 PM

No doubt, the DT lyrics came from this post: https://mudcat.org/detail.cfm?messages__Message_ID=223831

Thread #21141   Message #223831
Posted By: GUEST,Billy the Bus
05-May-00 - 09:53 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: NZ Folksongs
Subject: Lyr Add: Goliath of Garth^^

Bluddy elle #2

Goliath of Garth
================

[Tune] O Worship the King
Thong to be thung with a lithp for full effect.

Goliath of Garth, with his helmet of brass,
One day he sat down, upon the green grass,
When up slipped young David, the servant of Saul,
Who said I will smite thee, although I am small.

Young David slipped down to the side of the brook,
And from it's still waters six small stones he took,
He skillfully slung one, right high in the sky,
And struck poor Goliath right over the eye.

Goliath fell down, in a swoon on the sward.
Young David slipped up, and swiped his great sword.
He lifted his helmet, and swiped off his head.
And all Israel shouted "Goliath is Dead"
_______________________________

I'm surprised this classic isn't in DT. I doubt it's NZ in origin, but it may be. I can't remember where I first heard it - certainly before I was singing it in tramping huts in the 1950s. Oh you should have heard me lithp it out when I was a boy soprano. The tears would have run down your legs.

Sam

---

In the same thread was this post from Snuffy, which spells "Gath" correctly: https://mudcat.org/detail.cfm?messages__Message_ID=223842

Thread #21141   Message #223842
Posted By: GUEST,Snuffy
05-May-00 - 10:03 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: NZ Folksongs
Subject: Lyr Add: Goliath of Garth

Sam

My mother was at teacher training college in the early 1940s, where they used to sing a version of your Goliath song. As the college was run by the church (St Hild's College), even their comic songs had to be on biblical themes and set to hymn tunes!

Goliath of Gath, with a helmet of brass
Was seated one day upon the green grass.
Along came young David, the servant of Saul,
And said I will smite you, although I'm so small.

Then David he took some stones from the brook
And fastened a sling from pieces of string
And with his suspender he let the sling fly
And caught poor Goliath a bat in the eye.

Goliath he swore, and likewise he spake
- - - (She can't remember this line)
The air all around them was turning quite blue.
He spake all the old words, and thought of some new.

Wassail! V

My mother used to sing the Goliath song - learned it at (church-run) college during WWII. 2nd & 3rd verses not quite the same - I'll post her version tonight when I get back from work.

I always thought burgoo was a Liverpool/Scouse word for porridge (goo that the three burs ate in the Goldilocks story).

Wassail! V

---

And one more, this message: https://mudcat.org/detail.cfm?messages__Message_ID=1938020

Thread #21141   Message #1938020
Posted By: GUEST
16-Jan-07 - 05:37 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: NZ Folksongs
Subject: Lyr Add: GOLIATH OF GATH

Goliath of Gath, with his helmet of brath,
Was seated one day upon the green grath,
When up slipped slim David, the servant of Saul,
Who said "I will slay thee although I am small."

Slim David slipped down to the side of the brook,
And from its still waters five small stones he took.
He skillfully slung one right high in the air
And got old Goliath right under the hair.

Goliath he swore and he swore and he swore:
"Blank, blankety blank, blank, blank blankety" some more.
The air all around him it turneth quite blue.
He used up the old words and made up some new.

Goliath fell down in a swoon on the sward.
Slim David slipped up and swiped his great sword.
He lifted his helmet and swiped off his head,
And all Israel shouted, "Yippee! Goliath is dead!"

Subject: ADD: Goliath of Gath (poem by Phyllis Wheatley)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Apr 22 - 03:22 PM

GOLIATH OF GATH
(by Phyllis Wheatley)
SAMUEL Chap. xvii.

Ye martial pow'rs, and all ye tuneful nine,
Inspire my song, and aid my high design.
The dreadful scenes and toils of war I write,
The ardent warriors, and the fields of fight:
You best remember, and you best can sing
The acts of heroes to the vocal string:
Resume the lays with which your sacred lyre,
Did then the poet and the sage inspire.


Now front to front the armies were display'd,
Here Israel rang'd, and there the foes array'd;
The hosts on two opposing mountains stood,
Thick as the foliage of the waving wood;
Between them an extensive valley lay,
O'er which the gleaming armour pour'd the day,
When from the camp of the Philistine foes,
Dreadful to view, a mighty warrior rose;
In the dire deeds of bleeding battle skill'd,
The monster stalks the terror of the field.
From Gath he sprung, Goliath was his name,
Of fierce deportment, and gigantic frame:
A brazen helmet on his head was plac'd,
A coat of mail his form terrific grac'd,
The greaves his legs, the targe his shoulders prest:
Dreadful in arms high-tow'ring o'er the rest
A spear he proudly wav'd, whose iron head,
Strange to relate, six hundred shekels weigh'd;
He strode along, and shook the ample field,
While Phoebus blaz'd refulgent on his shield:
Through Jacob's race a chilling horror ran,
When thus the huge, enormous chief began:


"Say, what the cause that in this proud array
"You set your battle in the face of day?
"One hero find in all your vaunting train,
"Then see who loses, and who wins the plain;
"For he who wins, in triumph may demand
"Perpetual service from the vanquish'd land:
"Your armies I defy, your force despise,
"By far inferior in Philistia's eyes:
"Produce a man, and let us try the fight,
"Decide the contest, and the victor's right."


Thus challeng'd he: all Israel stood amaz'd,
And ev'ry chief in consternation gaz'd;
But Jesse's son in youthful bloom appears,
And warlike courage far beyond his years:
He left the folds, he left the flow'ry meads,
And soft recesses of the sylvan shades.
Now Israel's monarch, and his troops arise,
With peals of shouts ascending to the skies;
In Elah's vale the scene of combat lies.


When the fair morning blush'd with orient red,
What David's fire enjoin'd the son obey'd,
And swift of foot towards the trench he came,
Where glow'd each bosom with the martial flame.
He leaves his carriage to another's care,
And runs to greet his brethren of the war.
While yet they spake the giant-chief arose,
Repeats the challenge, and insults his foes:
Struck with the sound, and trembling at the view,
Affrighted Israel from its post withdrew.
"Observe ye this tremendous foe, they cry'd,
"Who in proud vaunts our armies hath defy'd:
"Whoever lays him prostrate on the plain,
"Freedom in Israel for his house shall gain;
"And on him wealth unknown the king will pour,
"And give his royal daughter for his dow'r."


Then Jesse's youngest hope: "My brethren say,
"What shall be done for him who takes away
"Reproach from Jacob, who destroys the chief.
"And puts a period to his country's grief.
"He vaunts the honours of his arms abroad,
"And scorns the armies of the living God."


Thus spoke the youth, th' attentive people ey'd
The wond'rous hero, and again reply'd:
"Such the rewards our monarch will bestow,
"On him who conquers, and destroys his foe."


Eliab heard, and kindled into ire
To hear his shepherd brother thus inquire,
And thus begun: "What errand brought thee? say
"Who keeps thy flock? or does it go astray?
"I know the base ambition of thine heart,
"But back in safety from the field depart."


Eliab thus to Jesse's youngest heir,
Express'd his wrath in accents most severe.
When to his brother mildly he reply'd.
"What have I done? or what the cause to chide?


The words were told before the king, who sent
For the young hero to his royal tent:
Before the monarch dauntless he began,
"For this Philistine fail no heart of man:
"I'll take the vale, and with the giant fight:
"I dread not all his boasts, nor all his might."
When thus the king: "Dar'st thou a stripling go,
"And venture combat with so great a foe?
"Who all his days has been inur'd to fight,
"And made its deeds his study and delight:
"Battles and bloodshed brought the monster forth,
"And clouds and whirlwinds usher'd in his birth."
When David thus: "I kept the fleecy care,
"And out there rush'd a lion and a bear;
"A tender lamb the hungry lion took,
"And with no other weapon than my crook
"Bold I pursu'd, and chas d him o'er the field,
"The prey deliver'd, and the felon kill'd:
"As thus the lion and the bear I slew,
"So shall Goliath fall, and all his crew:
"The God, who sav'd me from these beasts of prey,
"By me this monster in the dust shall lay."
So David spoke.  The wond'ring king reply'd;
"Go thou with heav'n and victory on thy side:
"This coat of mail, this sword gird on," he said,
And plac'd a mighty helmet on his head:
The coat, the sword, the helm he laid aside,
Nor chose to venture with those arms untry'd,
Then took his staff, and to the neighb'ring brook
Instant he ran, and thence five pebbles took.
Mean time descended to Philistia's son
A radiant cherub, and he thus begun:
"Goliath, well thou know'st thou hast defy'd
"Yon Hebrew armies, and their God deny'd:
"Rebellious wretch! audacious worm! forbear,
"Nor tempt the vengeance of their God too far:
"Them, who with his Omnipotence contend,
"No eye shall pity, and no arm defend:
"Proud as thou art, in short liv'd glory great,
"I come to tell thee thine approaching fate.
"Regard my words.  The Judge of all the gods,
"Beneath whose steps the tow'ring mountain nods,
"Will give thine armies to the savage brood,
"That cut the liquid air, or range the wood.
"Thee too a well-aim'd pebble shall destroy,
"And thou shalt perish by a beardless boy:
"Such is the mandate from the realms above,
"And should I try the vengeance to remove,
"Myself a rebel to my king would prove.
"Goliath say, shall grace to him be shown,
"Who dares heav'ns Monarch, and insults his throne?"


"Your words are lost on me," the giant cries,
While fear and wrath contended in his eyes,
When thus the messenger from heav'n replies:
"Provoke no more Jehovah's awful hand
"To hurl its vengeance on thy guilty land:
"He grasps the thunder, and, he wings the storm,
"Servants their sov'reign's orders to perform."


The angel spoke, and turn'd his eyes away,
Adding new radiance to the rising day.


Now David comes: the fatal stones demand
His left, the staff engag'd his better hand:
The giant mov'd, and from his tow'ring height
Survey'd the stripling, and disdain'd the fight,
And thus began: "Am I a dog with thee?
"Bring'st thou no armour, but a staff to me?
"The gods on thee their vollied curses pour,
"And beasts and birds of prey thy flesh devour."


David undaunted thus, "Thy spear and shield
"Shall no protection to thy body yield:
"Jehovah's name———no other arms I bear,
"I ask no other in this glorious war.
"To-day the Lord of Hosts to me will give
"Vict'ry, to-day thy doom thou shalt receive;
"The fate you threaten shall your own become,
"And beasts shall be your animated tomb,
"That all the earth's inhabitants may know
"That there's a God, who governs all below:
"This great assembly too shall witness stand,
"That needs nor sword, nor spear, th' Almighty's hand:
"The battle his, the conquest he bestows,
"And to our pow'r consigns our hated foes."


Thus David spoke; Goliath heard and came
To meet the hero in the field of fame.
Ah! fatal meeting to thy troops and thee,
But thou wast deaf to the divine decree;
Young David meets thee, meets thee not in vain;
'Tis thine to perish on th' ensanguin'd plain.


And now the youth the forceful pebble slung
Philistia trembled as it whizz'd along:
In his dread forehead, where the helmet ends,
Just o'er the brows the well-aim'd stone descends,
It pierc'd the skull, and shatter'd all the brain,
Prone on his face he tumbled to the plain:
Goliath's fall no smaller terror yields
Than riving thunders in aerial fields:
The soul still ling'red in its lov'd abode,
Till conq'ring David o'er the giant strode:
Goliath's sword then laid its master dead,
And from the body hew'd the ghastly head;
The blood in gushing torrents drench'd the plains,
The soul found passage through the spouting veins.


And now aloud th' illustrious victor said,
"Where are your boastings now your champion's dead?"
Scarce had he spoke, when the Philistines fled:
But fled in vain; the conqu'ror swift pursu'd:
What scenes of slaughter! and what seas of blood!
There Saul thy thousands grasp'd th' impurpled sand
In pangs of death the conquest of thine hand;
And David there were thy ten thousands laid:
Thus Israel's damsels musically play'd.


Near Gath and Edron many an hero lay,
Breath'd out their souls, and curs'd the light of day:
Their fury, quench'd by death, no longer burns,
And David with Goliath's head returns,
To Salem brought, but in his tent he plac'd
The load of armour which the giant grac'd.
His monarch saw him coming from the war,
And thus demanded of the son of Ner.
"Say, who is this amazing youth?" he cry'd,
When thus the leader of the host reply'd;
"As lives thy soul I know not whence he sprung,
"So great in prowess though in years so young:"
"Inquire whose son is he," the sov'reign said,
"Before whose conq'ring arm Philistia fled."
Before the king behold the stripling stand,
Goliath's head depending from his hand:
To him the king: "Say of what martial line
"Art thou, young hero, and what sire was thine?"
He humbly thus; "The son of Jesse I:
"I came the glories of the field to try.
"Small is my tribe, but valiant in the fight;
"Small is my city, but thy royal right."
"Then take the promis'd gifts," the monarch cry'd,
Conferring riches and the royal bride:
"Knit to my soul for ever thou remain
"With me, nor quit my regal roof again."


Notes: Phillis Wheatley was an internationally known American poet of the late 18th century. She was born in West Africa circa 1753, and thus she was only a few years younger than James Madison. Of course, her life was very different. She was kidnapped and enslaved at age seven. Too young to be sold in the West Indies or the southern colonies, she was purchased by John Wheatley, a prominent Boston tailor, in 1761. She was spared the worst of slavery, but the harsh New England climate (harsher then than now) would take its toll.

Source: https://allpoetry.com/Goliath-Of-Gath

Subject: ADD Version: Goliath of Gath
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Apr 22 - 03:46 PM

And a version from Deacon Sil's Homiletic Resources:

Friends,
The following note appeared on one of the chat networks to which I belong during the discussions on this text. The notes which accompanied the hymn text were as funny as the text so I have included them too. Enjoy!

Sil

"Here's the whole thing. My dad would ALWAYS do this at church concert parties when we had such a thing. He would giggle the whole way through... He thaid it, never thung it.


GOLIATH OF GATH
(Tune: "O Worship the Lord"; thung with a lithp. )

Goliath of Gath
With his helmet of brath,
One day he that down
Upon the green grath;
Along came young David,
A thervant of Thaul,
And thaid "I will thmite thee
Although I am thmall".

So David nipped down
To the thide of the brook,
And from the thtill waterth
Thix thmall thtoneth he took;
He thkilfully threw them
Right high in the thky,
And got poor Goliath
Right over the eye.

Goliath fell down
In a thwoon on the thward,
Young David nipped up
And thwiped hith great thword;
He lifted hith helmet
And chopped off hith head,
And all Ithrael thouted
"Goliath ith dead".

"I don't know who wrote it. God bless.

"(P.S. Is it offensive to lispers? Well I had a lisp when I was little and still found it funny. My parents (who didn't know when I was born that I would have a lisp) named me Lythan Elisabeth Rees. It took years of orthodentistry to be able to say it. Marrying helped!)"

Lythan Nevard
Minister in Romford UK, currently on Thabbatical.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Goliath of Gath
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 29 Apr 22 - 06:09 PM

Copy/pasted from way down Lyr Add: NZ folksongs, where I parked this info:

Goliath of Gath was my father's party piece, which he sang at high treble (as did I in the Singaround). I now understand he got it from a book called "Youth Club Songs", which had been given to my mother as a Christmas present in 1946. He described the book as "unbound" and now in poor condition, and with no obvious author or publication date; for some reason he had the year 1909 in his mind, but couldn't remember why. Discussion ensued over the lack of publication details in older documents, so 1909 doesn't seem especially outrageous.

The song Goliath of Gath has only three verses, and is attributed to Sid G Hedges; my father remarked that said person has a Wikipedia entry. Does this help the search, folks?

Subject: ADD: Goliath of Gath (from 'David')
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Apr 22 - 09:50 PM

There's another song titled "Goliath of Gath" from the Musical King David, Music and Lyrics by Alan Menken and Tim Rice

GOLIATH OF GATH
(Alan Menken and Tim Rice)

Philistines
Goliath of Gath!
Goliath of Gath!

Goliath
Am I a dog that you should wave a stick?
See how the folly of Israel increases
I'll hack off your head, your arms, your legs, your prick
Leaving the bloody festering pieces
To fowls of the air

Philistines
Goliath of Gath!

Goliath
To beasts of the field

Philistines
Goliath of Gath!

David
You can hide yourself behind metal
With a javelin, a sword, a coward's shield
But the armor of the godless has to yield to God

I have never yet killed
Any man on this earth
Can imagine no cause
To be worth such a terrible measure

But the blood never spilled
And the deaths never seen
In my innocent past do not mean
That if I am the one
Through whom God's will is done that I
Shall not kill, and with pleasure

Here lies the dog that missed a fatal trick
Thus is the folly of Israel refuted
This is the head of the slaughtered heretic
Slimy and severed and perfectly suited

To fowls of the air

Israelites
Goliath of Gath!

David
To beasts of the field

Israelites
Goliath of Gath!

Joab
And two armies were still as they took in the sight
Of destruction, of death and delight
One elated, one shattered

Joab and Israelites
Then from high on a hill
Came a thunderous roar
And the Israelites started to pour
In unstoppable waves
Over Philistine graves-to-be
And the enemy scattered

Saul has chosen well
David our redeemer
Who'd have ever thought Goliath could be slain?

Joab
You can never tell
David did not seem a
Man of such potential but he used his brain

Joab and Israelites
David and King Saul!
Hero and supporter
As a team they fought a very great campaign
Finally we've paid for
(Goliath of Gath!)
all the years of pain
(Goliath of Gath!)

Goliath of Gath!

BRIEF SUMMARY OF CHARACTERS

• Absalom - David's firstborn son
• Bathsheba - became David's wife after an adulterous affair
• David - shepherd boy who becomes king of Israel
• Goliath - Philistine giant slain by David
• Jesse - David's father
• Joab - David's steward (?)
• Jonathon - Saul's son, David's friend
• Michal - Saul's daughter, married David
• Samuel - prophet who anointed David
• Saul - first real king of Israel
• Solomon - Bathsheba's second son, David's heir
• Uriah - Bathsheba's husband

Goliath of Gath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNIYEZBzF9U
King David: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roOYlEQ2Pk4&list=PL1153B001DAD9196E
Menken and Rice also did Aladdin for Disney.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Goliath of Gath
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Apr 22 - 01:44 AM

My late good friend Alan Berry, rest his soul, sang it well, lisp and all. The missing bit is

Goliath he twore, blank blank blank blank blank
Blank blank blank blank blank, and much much much more

He also had another verse as verse 2

Goliath he laughed, ha ha ha ha ha
(Then continue with ha has for all syllables until manic laugher at the end)

Hope this helps

Subject: ADD: David, what will you do with your pebbles?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Apr 22 - 04:55 PM

Dave, is any of this related to what Alan Berry sang? https://www.nubeat.org/audio/1kd/mh/LYRdavid.html

"DAVID, WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH YOUR PEBBLES"
Music & Lyrics: Peter Gehr

Intro [voice of God]
“David, go down to the river, collect five smooth stones,
And get ready with your sling.”

Verse 1
He was just a little boy who lived a simple life.
He played a harp and cared for sheep, and prayed by day and night.
He took a stone and put it in his humble, little sling,
And warned the giant to give up before things got too hot.

Chorus 1
Oh, David, what will you do with your pebbles?
Can you help Israel out of trouble?

Verse 2
Goliath, he laughed, “Ha! Ha! Ha!” He mocked so carelessly.
“I am over ten feet tall, and you are just a flea! Ah! Ha! Ha!”

Repeat Chorus 1

Verse 3
David slung the sling around, and the stone went whooshing by,
And struck Goliath by surprise, right between the eyes.
He tumbled and he stumbled, landed right at David’s feet.
The end of old Goliath. David won the victory.

Chorus 2
Oh, David, God used you with your pebbles
To help Israel out of trouble. Oh, David,
God used you with your pebbles to help Israel out of trouble.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Goliath of Gath
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 01 May 22 - 03:37 AM

Maybe Alan picked up the laughing verse from there but sadly I will never know!

Subject: ADD Version: Goliath of Gath
From: Thompson
Date: 05 Nov 23 - 11:23 AM

While we're on the subject of the Amalekites, the version I learned was:

GOLIATH OF GATH

Goliath of Gath
In hith helmet of brath
Wath theated one day
All on the green grath

When up wan thlim David
The thervant of Thaul
And thaid, "I will thlay you
"Although I am thmall."

He wan to the wiver
And chothe five thmooth thtoneth
To thling at Goliath
And break all hith boneth.

He dwew one, and thlang it -
It thoared through the thky
And thmote bold Goliath
Wight over the eye!

Goliath fell down
All on the gween thward
And up wan thlim David
And took up hith thword.

He picked up the thword
And hewed off hith head
And Ithrael thouted
"GOLIATH ITH DEAD!"

(a little unthertain about the conjunction between the thecond-latht and latht vertheth there.)

Subject: ADD Version: Goliath of Gath
From: Thompson
Date: 05 Nov 23 - 11:23 AM

While we're on the subject of the Amalekites, the version I learned was:

GOLIATH OF GATH

Goliath of Gath
In hith helmet of brath
Wath theated one day
All on the green grath

When up wan thlim David
The thervant of Thaul
And thaid, "I will thlay you
"Although I am thmall."

He wan to the wiver
And chothe five thmooth thtoneth
To thling at Goliath
And break all hith boneth.

He dwew one, and thlang it -
It thoared through the thky
And thmote bold Goliath
Wight over the eye!

Goliath fell down
All on the gween thward
And up wan thlim David
And took up hith thword.

He picked up the thword
And hewed off hith head
And Ithrael thouted
"GOLIATH ITH DEAD!"

(a little unthertain about the conjunction between the thecond-latht and latht vertheth there.)