ADD: Cod Liver Oil (various) + Orange Juice

Subject: Cod Liver Oil
From: Rick
Date: 02 Jul 97 - 12:28 PM

I remember singing a song by (I think) Hamish Imlach called Cod Liver Oil or some such.

Very baudy and scottish.

I tried to remember the words and chords the other day and realised that time (and, yes, probably the beer as well) had wiped most of the verses.

Can anyone please help?

Answers in a plain brown e-mail, to [e-mail] or [e-mail] or [e-mail], but please post here as well.

---

Click for Lyrics in Digital Tradition

TIA

Rick.

Subject: Lyr Add: COD LIVER ILE^^^
From: Paul Kennedy
Date: 02 Jul 97 - 02:20 PM

COD LIVER ILE

I'm a young married man that is tired in life
Ten years I've been married to an ailing young wife
She does nothing all day but sit down and cry
A wishing to God that soon she could die

CHORUS
Doctor oh Doctor, oh dear Doctor John
Your cod liver ile is so pure and so strong
I'm afraid of me life I'll go down in the sile
If my wife don't stop drinking your cod liver ile

I bought her a bottle twas just for to try
And the way that she drank it you'd swear she were dry
I bought her another which vanished the same
I think she's got cod liver ile on her brain
CHORUS

She likes it so much that there is no doubt
Me wife she got fat and terrible stout
And when she got stout of course she got strong
And then I got jealous of Doctor dear John

CHORUS

Me house it resembles a big doctor's shop
With bottles and bottles and bottles on top
And then in the morning when the kettle does bile
I swear it be singing of cod liver ile

CHORUS
^^^

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: alan B
Date: 02 Jul 97 - 02:46 PM

Rick

I don't recognise Paul's song, Hamish may have sung that, but I remember Hamish singing a (humerous?) song about "the Cod liver oil & the Orange Juice". It sticks in my mind, just as, when little in the post-war years, the daily dose of "the Cod liver oil & the Orange Juice" my mother insisted on giving me (together with "National Dried" powdered milk) stuck in my throat!

Can't remember the words, but the refrain went something like

Oh Oh, Glory Allelulia, Cod liver oil & the Orange Juice

Is this familiar to you?

Alan B

If so I'd like to know the words too!

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: LaMarca
Date: 02 Jul 97 - 02:57 PM

Dear Rick,
I have one of those "Best of the British Folk Boom" compilations that has Hamish Imlach's version of "The Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice". If I get a chance this weekend, I'll transcribe it and post it Monday, if no-one else has done it yet! I like it 'cause it's all about "Hairy Mary" - since I'm one of those folks some other correspondent scornfully referred to as "hairy-pitted hippy chicks"...My husband and I vaguely remember Ed Miller, the Austin, Texas Scotsman, singing it at one of his DC concerts, too...

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Öjje
Date: 02 Jul 97 - 05:06 PM

Rick

You will also find the text in the DT! The Dubliners have recorded this song. It is on the album "Celebration".

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Rick
Date: 03 Jul 97 - 02:46 AM

Thanks all for the answers so far. The song I am thinking of is indeed about orange juice as well as the delightful Hairy Mary and her amorous adventures in Glasgow.

Paul/Öjje - sorry wrong song but still good words - I see in the DT that its from Burl Ives. Might use it sometimes.

LaMarca - really looking forward to Monday (if I survive the Rudolstadt Folk Festival this weekend, which looks like it will be a mudbath :-( ).

Thanks again

Rick.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: alan
Date: 03 Jul 97 - 10:05 AM

I've got a home recording of Jerry Adams from Madison County, NC playing banjo and singing Cod Liver Oil. He says he got it from Walter Forbes bluegrass album some 30 years ago. It matches the words that Paul B put down in this thread. If anyone would like I can record part of it to a *.wav file and email attach it. Let me know. By the way, Jerry does an absolutely beautiful job with this tune.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From:
Date: 03 Jul 97 - 12:17 PM

alan

yes please, if you have the time I'd really like to hear it.

Thanks

Rick [e-mail] or [e-mail] or [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From:
Date: 05 Jul 97 - 02:24 PM

I believe the version sent by Paul Kennedy is on the mark. Burl Ives recorded this probably in the fifties or sixties or earlier. The lyrics given by Paul are pretty close to correct.

Jeanie

Subject: Lyr Add: THE COD LIVER OIL AND THE ORANGE JUICE
From: LaMarca
Date: 08 Jul 97 - 06:48 PM

Well, Rick, here it is; I've tried my best at translating the Glaswegian off my tape; there'll be a few holes in the verses where I just can't make out the placenames through Hamish Imlach's accent... maybe one of our Scottish correspondents can fill in or correct the gaps!

Well, oot of the east, there came a hard man,
Ohhoohh, all the way from Bricton (Brighton? with a Scots accent?)

Ahhahh, glory hallelujah,
Cod liver oil and the orange juice.

Well, he went intae a pub and he come oot paralytic,
Ohhoohh, VP and cider,

Aahhahh, what a hell of a mixture,
Cod liver oil and the orange juice.

Spoken aside:"Sex rears its ugly head now!"

Does this bus go to the (Danister Parley)?
Ohhoohh, I'm lookin' for a lumber,

Ahhahh, glory hallelujah,
Cod liver oil and the orange juice.

Spoken: "Eyes up the talent, and lo, and behold..."

In the dancin' he met Hairy Mary,
Ohhohh, the flo'or o' the Gorbels,

Aahhahh, etc.

Spoken: "He chats her up.."

"Ah, noo, Mary, are ye dancin'?"
"Oh, no, it's jest the way I'm standin'"

Aahahh, etc.

Spoken:"Rebuffed!"

"Well, then, Mary, you're one in a million",
"Ohhohh, so's yer chances!"

Aahhahh, etc.

Spoken:"Rebuffed again!"

"Well, then, Mary, can I run ye hame?
Ohhoohh, I've got a pair of sandshoes(?)"

Aahhaahh," yer hell of a funny..."etc

Spoken:"Never say die; sways aboot non-chalantly pickin' his nails wi' 'is bayonet; an 'e knocks 'er off!..."

Well, doon through the back close, and intae the dunny,
Ohhoohh, it wasnae for the first time,

Aahhahh, etc.

Then oot came her mammy, she was goin' tae the clodgy(?)
Ohhoohh, half-buggered off Sharpies(?)

Aahhahh, etc.

Noo Hairy Mary's lookin' for her hard man
Ohhoohh, he's joined the Foreign Legion

Aahhaahh, Sahara under a camel
Cod liver oil and the orange juice

Then Hairy Mary had a little baby,
Ohhoohh, his father's in the army,

Aahhaahh, glory hallelujah,
Cod liver oil and the orange juice.

Truly perverse; I guess that's why I like it!

Subject: Lyr Add: THE COD LIVER OIL AND THE ORANGE JUICE
From:
Date: 09 Jul 97 - 04:25 AM

Lamarca

You're a treasure

From the dim & distant memories, can I suggest the following?

Thanks for these lyrics - they're great. Few points

I would guess that bricton is a suburb of Glasgow,
though I could not find it on the map

the Palais was a local dance hall
The cludgy is local parlance for a primitive external water closet

half-buggered off Sharpies(?) Could this be
he buggered off sharpish? would make sense

  THE COD LIVER OIL AND THE ORANGE JUICE
  
  
Well, oot of the east, there came a hard man,  
Ohhoohh, all the way from Bricton   
  
     Ahhahh, glory hallelujah,  
     Cod liver oil and the orange juice.  
  
Well, he went intae a pub and he come oot paralytic,  
Ohhoohh, VP and cider,  
  
     Aahhahh, what a hell of a mixture,  
     Cod liver oil and the orange juice.  
  
     Spoken aside:"Sex rears its ugly head now!"  
  
Does this bus go to the Danister Palais  
Ohhoohh, I'm lookin' for a lumber,  
  
     Ahhahh, glory hallelujah,  
     Cod liver oil and the orange juice.  
  
     Spoken: "Eyes up the talent, and lo, and behold..."  
  
In the dancin' he met Hairy Mary,  
Ohhohh, the flo'or o' the Gorbels,   
  
     Aahhahh, etc.  
  
     Spoken: "He chats her up.."  
  
"Ah, noo, Mary, are ye dancin'?"  
"Oh, no, it's jest the way I'm standin'"  
  
     Aahahh, etc.  
  
     Spoken:"Rebuffed!"  
  
"Well, then, Mary, you're one in a million",  
"Ohhohh, so's yer chances!"  
  
     Aahhahh, etc.  
  
     Spoken:"Rebuffed again!"  
  
"Well, then, Mary, can I run ye hame?  
Ohhoohh, I've got a pair of sandshoes"  
  
     Aahhaahh," yer hell of a funny..."etc  
  
     Spoken:"Never say die; sways aboot non-chalantly pickin' his nails wi' 'is bayonet; an 'e  
     knocks 'er off!..."  
  
Well, doon through the back close, and intae the dunny,  
Ohhoohh, it wasnae for the first time,  
  
     Aahhahh, etc.  
  
Then oot came her mammy, she was goin' tae the cludgy  
Ohhoohh, he buggered off sharpish  
  
     Aahhahh, etc.  
  
Noo Hairy Mary's lookin' for her hard man  
Ohhoohh, he's joined the Foreign Legion  
  
     Aahhaahh, Sahara under a camel  
     Cod liver oil and the orange juice  
  
Then Hairy Mary had a little baby,  
Ohhoohh, his father's in the army,  
  
     Aahhaahh, glory hallelujah,  
     Cod liver oil and the orange juice.   

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Rick
Date: 09 Jul 97 - 04:39 AM

Many thanks to you all - you've brought back memories of my student days that are probably best forgotten...

On the details, I think its Brigto(w)n, he certainly did bugger off sharpish. Alan B's ideas about Palais and cludgy are correct.

We used to sing slightly different words in some places, for instance "And so's yer f***ing chances", after "it wasnae for the first time" we sang "Aahhaahh, it woudnae be the last time" and the final chorus was "Aahhaahh, the Salvation Army...". Oh, and our hero was engaging in some very unlikely activities with the camels while in the foreign legion.

The last time I sang the song was in 1972 (late on at a wedding reception in St. Andrews, Scotland - the bride's family never forgave me...)

Again many thanks

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Wolfgang Hell
Date: 09 Jul 97 - 05:24 AM

I have a copy of an "official version" of the lyrics and can just fill in the very few holes left in LaMarca's version:
- verse 1: Brigton (LaMarca's guess should be correct)
- verse 3: Dennistown Palais
- verse 4: Gorbals
- verse 7: sandshoes's correct
- verse 9: cludgy (I was told that's a Scottish word for an outdoor toilet); buggered off sharpish
- verse 10: Sahara Rat or the camels
Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: del
Date: 11 Jul 97 - 08:08 PM

don't talk to me about godeliver oil see i'm him. and if you're about to leave don't talk to me about giving it up cause i really don't give a shit

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Rick
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 07:04 AM

Wolfgang

taking advice from a Glaswegian, a cludgy can be outdoors but the main difference between cludgy and toilet is that there is no sexual discrimination - i.e. males and females use it, sometimes at the same time....

Again thanks to all contributors to this minor thread.

Rick.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Alex
Date: 25 Jul 97 - 11:01 PM

The Palais was a dance hall where folks went to meet. At the time the song was written, The Gorbals was a slum district of Glasgow - the old tennements have now been razed. In each stairwell of a tennement, there was a common toilet, known as a "Cludgy" - an onomatopoeic word which decribed the noise it made when it was flushed. (Victorian area toilets had a water tank about 7 feet above the bowl and a chain and handle hung down from the tank to operate it. When you pulled the chain - there was a mechanical "Cludge" - the "Clank" was dampened by the water and then a "Cheeee" as the water flowed down - hence the "CLUDGEE")

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: John Nolan
Date: 28 Jul 97 - 08:21 PM

From the same Hamish Imlach album, (sadly lost in this house) could someone please trouble to post the classic words of The 37 Bus - which used to run from Springburn to Castlemilk. And who wrote the song? Not Adam McNaughtan - he denied authorship, although it has the same black humor as The Body. The 37 Bus's tune, as I recall, is, or is akin to Nicky Tams.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Rick
Date: 29 Jul 97 - 11:59 AM

John

Can I suggest you repost your request in a separate thread - not that I mind you appearing here, but you might get more replies if you make your own thread.

Cheers

Rick.

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: COD LIVER OIL^^^
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Sep 01 - 09:14 PM

This version is a bit different from what's in the Digital Tradition, although I don't think I'll harvest it for the database. It has one extra verse, and the wording and chorus are a bit different. The tune is in the database.
-Joe Offer-

---

COD LIVER OIL

        Em            B7          Em
  I'm a young married man that is tired of life,
                      Am       Em
  Ten years I've been wed to a sickly wife.
            G                                D
  She does nothing all day but sit down and cry,
     Em         B7           Em
  A praying to God she'd get better or die.
  
  Chorus:
  
                  B7          Em
  Oh Doctor, dear Doctor, Oh Doctor dear John,
                     Am    Em
  Your Cod live: oil is so pure and so strong,
        G                                    D
  I'm afraid of me life, I'd go down to the still,
        Em               Bm           Em
  If me wife don't stop drinking your Cod liver oil.
  Em
  Cod liver oil, Cod liver oil.

Now, an old friend of mine came to see me one day,
He said that my wife, she was pinin' away.
He afterwards told me that she would get strong,
If I got her a bottle from Doctor, dear, John.

Well, I got her a bottle, 'twas just for to try,
And the way that she drank it, you'd think she was dry;
I got her another, it vanished the same,
And now she's got Cod liver oil on the brain.

Now, my house it resembles a big doctor's shop,
'Tis filled up with bottles from bottom to top,
And when in the mornin', the kettle does boil,
You'd swear it was singin' out: "Cod liver oil !"

Now, come all you young fellows, where e'er you may be,
I hope you will heed this fair warnin' from me,
From sickely women, I pray you recoil,
Or you'll end up a-swimmin' in Cod liver oil!


^^^ JRO

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Whippet
Date: 12 Sep 01 - 05:39 AM

Hamish now sadly departed from this mortal coil wrote an excellent book called I believe 'Cod Liver Oil and the orange Juice' subtitled reminiscences of a Fat Scottish Folksinger which was published by Mainstream Press. It's a really funny book with a lot of classic Hamish stories of life on the road plus some lyrics.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE 37 BUS (Ian McCarry, Tom Docherty)
From: GUEST,little john cameron
Date: 12 Sep 01 - 08:00 AM

THE 37 BUS
(written by Ian McCarry and Tom Docherty)

Ah wiz sittin on the upper deck o' a 37 bus
Ah seen big Jimmie swillin wine an' stirrin up a fuss
The driver stopped the bus right sharp an' belted up the stair
"Yie can get the hell right aff this bus if ye gie us any mair"
“Pal, no offense" big Jimmie said: "if ye knew what I've been through
Ye widnae say such things tae me or blame a man that's fu'
Fur Ah lost ma pile on the dugs taenight, Ah'll huv yes fur tae know
Fur Ah put down all ma overtime pay on a dug that widnae go"

The driver said "Ah dinnae care nor gie a Tinker's curse
Yer swearin an yer bawlin is disturbin a' the bus
Ah've hud aboot enough of you, a lot more than Ah need
If ye dont haud that big tongue o' yours, Ah'll stuff it doon yer heid."
Big Jimmie looked up and he sighed and he finished aff his wine
He says "The way ye've spoke tae me has went right oot o' line
Ah've sorted out 15 like you tae get intae a fight
Get doon on yer knees and beg fur help, yah dirty little shite."

At this the bus began tae clear as people got off fast
Wi' good auld Glasgow chivalry the wimmen an children last
They gathered round and they shouted out fur they didnae like big Jim
“Come now driver sink the boot, get stuck right intae him."
The driver smiled and waded in kicking and swinging blows
Until he got Jim's big square heid aplanted on his nose
His knee came up, his fist went doon that wiz the battle o'er
So he jumped a couple o' times on his heid as he lay upon the floor

An' staightaway the polis came up tae capture Jim
In threes an' fours an' dozens, well he laid them oot round him
An' when wi' forty stoatin him he finally sensless sank
Ah counted fourteen polis hats washed away doon a stank
So if ye're ever sittin on a 37 bus
An see big Willie swillin wine and kickin up a fuss
Don't try tae act the hero an throw big Jimmie aff
Cos the poor old Glasgow polis, They huvnae got the staff.

IN MEMORY ON MAH PAL BIG JIM [SOX] McSORLIE
John Cameron

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,Rosie
Date: 28 May 02 - 02:29 PM

From a Glaswegian. I was looking for the lyrics of this song and came across this forum. The right name is Bridgeton pronounced Brigton. It is in the east end of Glasgow definitely not England. The Dennistoun Palais is the other name mentioned It was a dance hall also in the east end of Glasgow Sandshoes are sneakers. I know I am several years late but hope that helps.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Emma B
Date: 28 May 02 - 04:02 PM

Thanks for the thread - brought back happy days in the late 60's when I was a social work student in Glasgow and met Hamish while 'doing Rose St' in Edinburgh (I woke up in a sidings the next morning!) I stayed for a while in a working girls hostel in the red light district (no pun intended) and was given Hamish's L.P. as a leaving present from the 'teuchters- and proud of it' I left behind By the way the other Codliver oil song on this thread I'm sure is something like 'Dr Dijohn' as it was a proprietery concoction sold under that name. I'll ask my friend in West Cork who taught me the song

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 28 May 02 - 07:40 PM

The Dubliners (on 'Celebration', 1987) call 'the other one' Cod Liver Oil as well - but no orange juice! Does anyone want the lyrics?

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Jon Bartlett
Date: 28 May 02 - 09:38 PM

Susanne's Folksong-Notizen (Henry's Liederbuch) has the words to Hamish' song. Note the significant variations: v2: Lanliq and cider (said by Nigel Gatherer to be a potent fortified wine; identified as Lang's Liqueur (ex South Africa), also known as Lannie by Gerry Milne). "Gorbals" is correct spelling. I think the Sahara line is "Sahara and a ra camel", a usage I recognize from G.M. Fraser's "The General Danced at Dawn" but I have no idea of its provenance, other than that it's probably a Glasgow usage. The song (a parody of "Virgin mary Had a Little Baby") was made by Ron Clark and Karl McDougall, according to Hamish himself in the accompanying notes.

The other Cod Liver Oil song is very well known in Newfoundland, but has its origins in Ireland. I believe the chorus starts: "O Doctor, O Doctor, O Doctor De Jongh/Your cod liver oil is so pure and so strong..."

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,ozmacca
Date: 28 May 02 - 10:34 PM

Loved this song (song?) when I first heard it performed back in the dim dark folk boom days of the sixties. Guaranteed to crack up audiences - especially with the likes of Imlach and McGinn around. Oh those were the days all right. And the 37 Bus and the body found on the policeman's beat....... Oh, dear. Harumph.. Changes into serious tone....

Interesting point for all you scholars out there. Re Cludgy (cludgie - cludgee - whatever) Do I remember aright that the latin for a sewer was a via cloaca (or similar). There is thus an obvious marked similarity between the modern Glasgow word still in common useage, and the ancient latin. This then would indicate that the term generally adopted for all kinds of toilet facilities by the indigenous native inhabitants of that portion of the territory neighbouring the outflung Roman Empire may in fact be a possible corruption of the latin.

Now I wonder if this will lead to a learned discourse on the adoption of foreign phrases into modern language, or will they realise I'm kidding... aren't I?

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 29 May 02 - 06:24 PM

Hamish recorded the song several times and used slightly different lyrics. The version in Henry's Songbook that Jon's posting refers to came from 'I Was Born In Glasgow', an LP of Glasgow songs produced by Ewan McVicar in 1991. I have two more but can't recall their precise lyrics.
I'd love to know what 'Sahara and a ra camel' actually means - 'under a camel' was all I could work out, but it has always sounded too sane to me! Unfortunately, Hamish did not include the lyrics in his book, although it takes its title from the song. Pity!

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,Jim I
Date: 29 May 02 - 07:18 PM

"Sahara and ra camel" is simply "Sahara and the camel". This refers to the common mode of transport in that region where, unfortunately, the 37 Bus does not reach, due to a manning dispute with the Glasgow bus drivers.

Although living in England I still sing these songs which go down well albeit with the occasional quizical look.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Jon Bartlett
Date: 29 May 02 - 08:46 PM

Guest JIMi, do you mean that we are mishearing the phrase, or that the *meaning* of "and ra camel" is simply "and the camel"? If the latter, do you know where I could find out about the :ra" usage? Is it only Glaswegian? Cheers!

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,ozmacca
Date: 29 May 02 - 10:25 PM

As is becoming obvious to the meanest intelligence (don't you just love that phrase....)certain sounds used by the native Glaswegian, and other inhabitants of the neighbouring territories are in fact derived from the stress placed upon the "parent" word as a result of a dialect which utilises such definitive pronunciation aids as the deliberate consonant slur and the emphatic glottal stop in its' make-up.

All of which means that "ra" usually is the sound made by an inhabitant of the great east city when he or she means "the". Interestingly, the interpretation of the "th" sound can be varied from the extreme "RRR" as in "ra" (empahtic "the") to total deletion. A fine example of the latter is "..err" for "there". Thus, a typical conversation can be as follows.

"Errnaebus" - There is no bus.

"Ayrrerabus" - There is indeed a bus.

"Wherrabus?" - Where is the bus?

"Errabus" - There is the bus.

"Whitt, wherrabus?" - Excuse me, I see no bus.

"Errabusowrrer" - The bus is over there.

"Wherrowrrer?" - Where in particular.

"Errowrrer" - Indicating a specific location.

"Awrratsrrer" - Thank you for your assistance.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,ozmacca
Date: 29 May 02 - 10:27 PM

Aaaaaarrrrghhhhh!!!!

I meant WEST city.... I shall now go and bile ma heid in a pale......... Erryinowrrer

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,Moleskin Joe
Date: 30 May 02 - 11:03 AM

Sahara an' ra camels is what you get if you join the Foreign Legion.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,Jim I
Date: 30 May 02 - 05:18 PM

ozmacca has put it much better than I ever could. For your further delectation I suggest listening to anything by that great Scots comedian Stanley Baxter especially his sketches on the subject of 'Parliamo Glasgow'.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Lanfranc
Date: 30 May 02 - 05:36 PM

Apart from Hamish, the best rendition of this I ever heard was that of Jim McCann, which probably transmogrified into the Dubliners' version, with which I am not familiar.

Happy memories! Very incomprehensible lyrics, esp. when sung by a drunken Irishman!

Alan

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 30 May 02 - 06:24 PM

Thanks, ozmacca! I should have realised that - but it was late at night! BTW, your conversation sample reminded me of the demonstration Hamish and Iain MacKintosh used to do of 'Glaswegian', ending up with the sentence 'There is an aeroplane over there' coming out as 'Eraneriorere' (more or less phonetic spelling ...)

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Kenny B (inactive)
Date: 31 May 02 - 03:09 PM

Knock Knock ..... Who's err ......Erin ......Erin Who Erinurraeriowererr.
mmmmmmm should i have started anurra thread "Knock Knock"?

Ps Parliamo Glesca and a glossary of Scots/ GlescaWords

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Gray D
Date: 31 May 02 - 08:35 PM

We're drifting into "Wersa pears? Errsa pair o' pears owererr", aren't we?

I love this thread. Takes me straight back to the much missed local folk club in the seventies, where a true Scot used to do "Cod Liver Oil etc." every other week. In the "between" weeks he would do "If it wisnae fur yur wellies". Each song always by request and to much acclaim.

Happy daze.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Yorkshire Tony
Date: 03 Jun 02 - 11:30 PM

Could someone provide guitar chords for the Hamish Imlach version please?

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Leeder
Date: 03 Jun 02 - 11:42 PM

By the way, I was told (by Hamish, and others), that in the Glasgow of those times, a woman who had cod liver oil and orange juice was likely pregnant and on welfare. Others couldn't afford it. Hence the chorus.

This, by the way, is a parody of the Christmas song "Virgin Mary Had a Little Baby". Was it Harry Belafonte? Somebody calypso. The tune is roughly the same.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE POLICEMAN'S SONG (Hamish Imlach)
From: Teribus
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 02:58 AM

Three songs recorded by Hamish were mentioned earlier in the thread.
"Codliver Oil & the Orange Juice"
"37 Bus"
The third one I think is called "The Policeman's Song"

"THE POLICEMAN'S SONG"

It was doon in auld Invertoddy
The gestapo were oot oan there beats
Lookin' for murder and arson
An drunks as they stot doon the street

Noo two of the Chief Constables agents
Had note books quite full of names
Fourteen men, three women and a dug
For peein' up closes and lanes

It was twelve o'clock when they found it
Lyin' there just like a log
Twas a badly bashed aboot body
Tyre marks scotched up its physog

They went through the usual procedure
Kicked it to make sure it was dead
Then they went through its pockets and shared oot its cash
And smoked aw its fags while it bled

They then lifted up the body
Wan at its head and its feet
And they carried it af tae an alleyway
And they dumped it on anither mans beat

It was four o'clock when they re-found it
Propped up in and old chip shop door
It was naked be noo wi a note roond its neck
Not wanted on beats three or four

Cheers,

Bill.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,ozmacca
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 03:12 AM

By jings, Teribus, that's scraping the barrel innit... though I have memories of slightly different phrases here and there.....

"The gestapo wis pounding the beat."

"Had notebooks that were stapped fu' o' names / Forty three men, twa wimmen, wan dug.."

"Twas jist aboot midnight they found it / Lyin' there jist like a log / A bad--ly badhed aboot body / Wi' tyre marks scorched up its' fizzog... (spoken) - Aye, sheer poetry."

They followed the normal procedure / A kick tae make sure it was deid...."

"Then they decided tae move it / Wan each tae its' heid and its' feet / They carted it up a wee alley / Tae dump on some ither bloke's beat."

Ahhh, how it takes me back. They knew how to write songs back in those days.... it's just that they didn't bother.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,Guest Teribus
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 08:50 AM

Hi Ozmacca,

Thanks for the corrections - I was dredging this one up from memory - last heard it about thirty years ago!! That's why I wasn't all that sure of the title. Your lines are more likely to be the right ones.

Your closing comment:
"Ahhh, how it takes me back. They knew how to write songs back in those days.... it's just that they didn't bother."

Had me in stitches...Thanks for brightening up an otherwise dull day!!!

Cheers,

Bill.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: HuwG
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 10:21 AM

Lovely thread, of course I love Imlach's music and humour.

One possible clarification of the lyrics for "Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice" ; "VP and cider ...". Is that possibly "Feed B and cider ...". I seem to recall hearing "Fed B" or "Feed B" as a reference to "Federation Breweries". (Federation Heavy is often described as a drink ideally suited to hand-to-hand combat).

Glasgow is of course the home of the story in which a constable knocks at the door of a tenement flat: PC "Does the widow McAlistair live here?"
Woman "I'm Mrs. McAlistair, aye, but I'm no' a widow."
PC "If you jist gae doon to the Infirmary, I think you'll find you're wrong. Good day to ye."

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Zipster
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 11:10 AM

... try again (pressing control I in the forum does really wierd things).

...Before my time yoiu understand, but I'm singularly sure that VP is fortified wine.

Perhaps some of my elders and betters can cast some light...

Z

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,Jim I
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 02:15 PM

VP wine was indeed a cheap, strong, fortified wine often used by drunks to get stocious as quickly as possible. As to the Copper's Song I don't think the exact words matter too much; I've been singing it for over 30 years and I use the words given by Teribus but who cares, it's still a great song.

Was it Hamish who sang "The Derry and Cumberland Boys"; a song about sectarian Glasgow street gangs?

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,ozmacca
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 06:40 PM

Heh, JimI, Ah mind o' ratt song (well, some of it anyway) but don't know if it his or McGinn's. Either way, it was another long time favourite in a lot of the clubs, depending on where you were of course....... but unfortunately these days it needs a fair bit of explanation before you can sing it - at least out here it does. Especially the bit about "...Parkheid is their new Jerusalem, and Jock Stein's a latter-day Christ..." there's usually a general issue of blank looks all round.

As far as correct words go, most of that sort of song used to change a fair bit anyway, as the performers added a wee twist here and there, so I don't think anyobody can claim to have the definitive version, unless sworn to by the original composer on a stack of pints o' heavy that high.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Yorkshire Tony
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 08:11 PM

Can someone post all the words to the Derry and Cumberland boys? I had a tape of it once but it seems to have gone the way of all flesh. Also has anyone the full words to the Jelly Piece song?

Oh ye canna fling pieces oot a twenty story flat Seven hundred hungry weans will testify to that If its butter, cheese or jelly If the bread be plain or pan The odds against it reachin earth is 99 tea one

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: Art Thieme
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 08:55 PM

PERFECT TIMING-----------for Queen Elizabeth

The "COD LIVER OIL (ILE)" that Burl Ives did, pretty much is the one posted here by Joe Offer and Paul Kennedy. It was on my favorite LP of his---BURL IVES--CORONATION CONCERT.----an old Decca LP record recorded in England during those celebration festivities just about exactly 50 years ago. It was recorded in concert from a house speaker with a very inexpensive microphone by Burl himself on his own personal reel-to-reel tape recorder because Mr. Ives wanted to have it for himself. It turned out to be so good that Decca Records issued it as it stood even though it was not the best fidelity.

Art Thieme

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DERRY AND CUMBERLAND BOYS
From: Teribus
Date: 05 Jun 02 - 02:35 AM

Again from dim and distant memory, I may have this mixed up a bit, but somebody out thre will know:

"THE DERRY AND CUMBERLAND BOYS"

Noo ye've heard o the Billies and Sallys
The Norman Cong and the Sang Toy
Here's two more tae add tae yer tally
The Derry and Cumberland Boys

Noo the Cumbie Boys are Roman Catholic
Tae chapel they've been wance ot twice
But Parkhead is their new Jerusalem
And Jock Stein the latter day Christ

And the Derry Boys are tae be christians
That's plain baith tae hear and tae see
For their language is really religious
"Jesus Christ", "Oh my God", "FTP"

When asked what they think o religion
They'll say "Aw religions aw right"
But these guys are only religious
When they want an excuse for a fight

So don't wear a green scarf in Brigton
Or a blue scarf in Cumberland Street
No unless your a heavy weight champion
Or hell o a quick on yer feet

Cheers,

Bill.

Subject: RE: Cod Liver Oil
From: GUEST,Moleskin Joe
Date: 05 Jun 02 - 03:52 AM

Norman Conks and San Toi (Glasgow Gangs).