Subject: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: anne@cbc.topnz.ac.nz Date: 15 Oct 96 - 06:10 PM I am trying to find a song we used to sing as a kids. There are various parody versions around on the net ("old ladies got stuck in the lavatory" for example) but I can't find the original - about Johnny being late home from the fair. If anyone has the words please e-mail me as well as posting - I can only check in here very occasionally Thanks Anne anne@cbc.topnz.ac.nz |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: GUEST Date: 15 Oct 96 - 06:48 PM Hi- I've only encountered two verses: Oh, Dear, what can the matter be (3 times) Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons (3 times) To tie up my bonny brown hair. dick greenhaus |
Subject: Lyr Add: OH DEAR WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE From: KickyC@aol.com Date: 17 Oct 96 - 12:06 AM I remember this song from when I was a girl, but just a little differently. Oh,dear, what can the matter be, Dear, dear, what can the matter be, Oh, dear, what can the matter be, Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised to buy me a basket of posies, A garland of lillies a bouquet of roses. He promised to bring me a bunch of blue ribbons, To tie up my bonnie brown hair. |
Subject: Lyr Add: OH DEAR WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE From: lhorstka@osf1.gmu.edu Date: 23 Oct 96 - 08:35 PM I'm a music major at George Mason in Fairfax and we sang that in our voice class: Dear, dear, what can the matter be?(3x) Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised he'd buy me a basket of posies, a garland of lilies a wreath of red roses, he promised he'd bring me a bunch of blue ribbons, to tie up my bonnie brown hair. And it's oh, dear, what can the matter be? Dear, dear, what can the matter be, Oh dear, what can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised he'd buy me a beautiful fairing, a gay bit of lace that the lassies are wearing, a little straw hat to set off the blue ribbons that tie up my bonnie brown hair. (repeat chorus) laura horstkamp |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Kevin Date: 24 Jan 97 - 03:20 PM Does anyone remember a parody of this that went something like...... Oh, dear, what can the matter be? Seven old ladies got stuck in the lavatory. They've been there from Sunday to Saturday.......
Anyone know the rest? Kevin |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Les Blank blank@wt.net Date: 24 Jan 97 - 08:31 PM The entire song can be heard on an old Vanguard recording called "Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads" by Oscar Brand. I have the album somewhere and will try to find it if you get no further help. Did you try the Web site concerning Hash Songs. The keeper of the site often corresponds with DT. |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Les Blank (again) Date: 24 Jan 97 - 08:43 PM Kevin: Didn't have to seek out my copy. Try www.usa.net/~zippy/songtoc.html. Happy humming !!! Les |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: dick greenhaus Date: 24 Jan 97 - 09:09 PM Well, you could always look it up in the DT. Try a search on [old ladies] or lavatory. |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: raredance@aol.com Date: 24 Jan 97 - 09:17 PM The seven old ladies were covered in some detail about tw weeks ago in the usenet group rec.music.folk. There were enough verses for about 15 old ladies. Look under "seven old ladies" rich r |
Subject: Lyr Add: OH DEAR WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE From: ah827@rgfn.epcc.edu (Gene Graham) Date: 29 Jan 97 - 06:53 PM From Reader's Digest Boxset RDA-27 CHO: Oh! dear, what can the matter be? Dear, dear, what can the matter be? Oh, dear, what can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised to buy me A fairing [souvenir from the fair] would please me And then for a smile, oh, he vow'd he would tease me He promis'd he'd bring me a bunch of blue ribbons To tie up my bonny brown hair. He promised to buy me a basket of posies A garland of lilies, a garland of roses A little straw hat to set off the blue ribbons That tie up my bonny brown hair. CHO: |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Bobby O'Brien Date: 29 Jan 97 - 10:07 PM This song was released on an album entitled "The Charm of Carmel Quinn" by Rego Irish Records, Garden City NY (516) 325-7800. (album catalogue #R-6000). It's the 12th (last) track on the album of truly lovely Irish songs sung only as Carmel can. You may also call me (518)842-5857. |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Susan of DT Date: 30 Jan 97 - 09:39 AM I remember part of another parody: Oh dear, what can the matter be Mommy and Daddy haven't spoken since Saturday... Can anyone help? |
Subject: Lyr Add: SEVEN OLD LADIES From: Jim Rosenkrans Date: 11 Feb 97 - 01:02 AM I first heard the song 50 years ago or more, so long ago I have no recollection whatsoever about the original verses. I heard the following parody from Kevin James, a well-known Washington, DC metro area folk singer: REFRAIN: Oh dear, what can the matter be Seven old ladies locked in the lavatory They were there from Sunday till Saturday Nobody knew they were there The first old lady was old Mrs. Flynn She prided herself on being quite thin But when she sat down the poor dear fell in Nobody knew she was there The second old lady was old Mrs. Humphrey She twisted and turned until she got comfy But when she was through she could not get her bum free Nobody knew she was there The third old lady was old Mrs. Hart Every two minutes to the toilet she'd dart But when she got there all she did was read Nobody knew she was there The fourth old lady was old Mrs. Moore She was drunk as skunk when she came through the door The seats were all full so she peed on the floor Nobody knew she was there The fifth old lady was old Mrs. Brewster She don't get around like she uster' When she sat down she said somebody goosed her Nobody knew I was there The sixth old lady was old Mrs. Bender When she sat down she snapped a suspender It hit her in the feminine gender Nobody knew she was there The seventh old lady was old Mrs. Mason She came in and peed in the basin That's the water I washed my face in Nobody knew I was there |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Bert Hansell Date: 11 Feb 97 - 07:57 AM There were only Three Dear Old Ladies when I first heard it. Thanks for the other four. Bert. |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: lynn Date: 15 Feb 97 - 04:38 PM He promised to buy me a beautiful fairing A gay bit of lace that the girls are all wearing He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons To tie up my bonnie brown hair. Or
He promised to buy me a fairing should please me Or
Oh dear, what can the matter be, |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Nigel Parsons Date: 13 Aug 03 - 12:53 PM Subject raised again in a recent quiz, and someone asked "Why was Johnny so long at the fair?" It seems the song fails to answer the question. Is Johnny being unfaithful? Has he had an accident & not returned? If he was unfaithful, is he a forerunner of that other 'Johnny' mentioned in "It's my Party" "Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone...." I think these questions need answering! CHEERS Nigel |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: GUEST,Bruce O. Date: 13 Aug 03 - 01:53 PM "O, dear what can the matter be", 'A Favourite Duet', single sheet song with music, c 1792. Also in the Mansfield/St. Clair MS slightly earlier and #494 in 'The Scots Musical Museum', V, 1796. |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Herga Kitty Date: 13 Aug 03 - 05:00 PM The version I heard, many years ago was: Oh dear what can the matter be Trouble is brewing way down in Battersea 29 coppers were laid out on Saturday Down at the Suicide Arms Kitty |
Subject: RE: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Joe_F Date: 13 Aug 03 - 07:04 PM Round about 1963, at Caltech, one of the freshman sections had a version of this (21 freshmen all locked in a lab'rat'ry) inspired by the agonies of the chemistry laboratory course. Each stanza was a squib about one of the students, with a rhyme for his name & an apposite taunt: The next poor freshman was Uncle John ---------. It's been seven months and a week since he's been home. His girl's been out with all his buddies and then some, And nobody gives a shit. I suppose it is long forgotten, but it was a real folksong by the strictest standards. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: GUEST,Annegi Date: 14 Aug 03 - 05:30 AM Billy Connolly had a version of this. Oh dear what can the matter be I'm feart tae go tae the lavat'ry Ah've no been since three weeks last Saturday Ah know who's hidin' doon there |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: MairSea Date: 14 Aug 03 - 06:24 AM Another version: Oh dear what can the matter be? Dear, dear what can the matter be? Oh dear what can the matter be? Women are wanting the vote. A version from the turn or the 20th century! :-) |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Willie-O Date: 14 Aug 03 - 08:01 AM Didja know that Natalie MacMaster recorded the tune Oh Dear... as part of a medley of jigs in G on her second album "Road to the Isle". Excellent set. Other tunes in the set are Mahone Bay, Peggy's, Fraser's (the latter in Gm making for a very cool modulation). W-O |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: GUEST Date: 15 Aug 03 - 11:15 AM Traditional versions lsited at #1279 in Steve Roud's folk song index. The song's early popularity is evident from nearly 50 early copies of the tune noted on the EASMES website. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Tradsinger Date: 09 Aug 05 - 07:15 PM Can anyone provide the full text and author of "Down at the Suicide Arms"? Gwilym |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Susan of DT Date: 09 Aug 05 - 10:00 PM It doesn't look like anyone else knew the "Mommy and Daddy haven't spoken since Saturday" version I asked about in 1997. |
Subject: Lyr Add: OH DEAR WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE From: Peace Date: 09 Aug 05 - 10:03 PM O dear, what can the matter be And what can the matter be O what can the matter be Johnny bydes lang at the fair He'll buy me a twopenny whistle He'll buy me a threepenny fair He'll buy me a Bunch o' Blue Ribbons To tye up my bonny Brown Hair O saw ye him coming And saw ye him coming O saw ye him coming Hame frae the Newcastle fair Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised to buy me A trinket to please me And then for a smile, Oh, he vowed he would tease me He promised to buy me A bunch of blue ribbons To tie up my bonnie brown hair. Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised to bring me A basket of posies A garland of lilies, A wreath of red rosies A little straw hat to Set off the blue ribbons That tie up my bonnie brown hair. Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised he'd buy me A beautiful fairing, A gay bit of lace that the lassies are wearing, To set off the hat that Sets off the blue ribbons, That tie up my bonnie brown hair. Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. It is more popularly known as "Johnny's so Long at the Fair". |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: R. Padgett Date: 10 Aug 05 - 06:30 AM O dear what can the matter be some silly beggar has moved us to Athersley We,ve been up Athersley three weeks on Saturday EEh how I wish we weren't here! Use as a link into verses such as (diiferent tune) Now my aunty Kitty she mad a rice pud And when it were finished she said it were good But she made it in't kettle and we could'nt get beggar art So we all took it in turns sucking it art through the spart Now my Uncle Jabeus was fond of a stunt__ (NO NO its very clean)!! Now I went out walking with my Uncle Jim Some naughty young children threw tomatoes at him___ I had a fiancee her name was Miss Brown____ There was tramp he was tattered and torn He was eighting the grass on the front of ower lawn__ Any body heard these before? any more links author? I do know the rest but by all means if you have others! Heard Bernard Wrigley working on some similar recently Ray |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Susanne (skw) Date: 11 Aug 05 - 05:34 PM Another song that uses this tune can be found in the thread Reprobate's lament |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Liz the Squeak Date: 12 Aug 05 - 12:50 AM RE: quantities of elderly females availing themselves of the facilities... I knew a version of the 7 which had this as the first verse. The first two were off to have tea with the vicar, They went in together, they thought it'd be quicker, The lavatory door was a bit of a sticker And vicar had tea all alone. I used to sing it whilst cleaning the toilet floor of the restaurant I worked in..... LTS |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: GUEST,Barrie Roberts Date: 12 Aug 05 - 12:06 PM RE: Old Ladies etc. Then there's a verse that goes: The next was the Bishop of Chichester's daughter, Who popped in to pass some superfluous water; She pulled on the chain and the rising tide caught her, And nobody knew she was there. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: GUEST,Can't say as. Date: 26 Apr 06 - 10:52 AM The song if what I was told years ago is true originates from the days of the press gang in England, where young men were often "pressed" into service in the royal navy. The favourite place for this to happen would be taverns in coastal towns, and on many occasions this would occur during fairs and markets as it gave the best recruiting chances. The locals would mainly sit watching the door to give them a chance to escape should the press gang arrive, while the green country youngsters would enjoy too much ale and be off guard. Hence Johnny probably either didn't come back from the fair at all or came back several years later... |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Mo the caller Date: 26 Apr 06 - 11:08 AM Oh dear, what can the matter be Answers to questions that were not asked yesterday Ten long years of waiting there has to be Funny how things come around |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Leadfingers Date: 26 Apr 06 - 11:12 AM I used to know a Whitewashed version of the three old ladies but can now only remember two verses !! Oh Dear what can the matter be Three old ladies nattering happily They were at it from Monday to Saturday And Nobody knew they were there. The first ladies name was Old Mrs Humphrey She sat down and made herself comfy She revelled in scandal and she let her tongue free While nobody knew she was there The second old lady was Old Mrs Porter Her favourite topic was stopping her daughter From letting the wrong man lead her to the altar While nobody knew she was there |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: GUEST,crybaby Date: 21 Jul 06 - 11:28 AM The next old lady was old Mrs. Draper She reached around and there was no paper All that was left was a bricklayer's scraper And nobody knew she was there |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: GUEST Date: 21 Jul 06 - 03:37 PM The next old lady, her name was Miss Carter, And she was a most incredible farter, From God Save the Queen to The Moonlight Sonata, And nobody knew she was there Jim Carroll |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Liz the Squeak Date: 21 Jul 06 - 03:55 PM As a Mrs Draper can I point out that a) there is only the one P in the surname... and b) there is a copious supply of paper if you would care to look in the cupboard. LTS |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Barbara Date: 21 Jul 06 - 04:09 PM The next to come in was Sylvia Perkins She was terribly fond of sweet gherkins She ate 63 and and she pickled her workin's And nobody knew she was there. Blessings Barbara |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Bryn Pugh Date: 13 Aug 08 - 07:30 AM The next lady's name was Elizabeth Twitt Who only sat down for a minute to knit. I bet you all thought I was going to say "Shit" And nobody knew they were there. The next lady's name was Elizabeth Tandy Who'd take all her clothes off on one lager shandy. The lads all agreed "She is cheap, but she's handy" And nobody, etc. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Bryn Pugh Date: 13 Aug 08 - 08:27 AM I know another verse about Elizabeth Draper, but out of respect for Liz the Squeak I's't not type it . . . |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be From: Bryn Pugh Date: 13 Aug 08 - 10:46 AM Scrawping the barrel, now - The next lady's name was Elizabeth Slaughter She only went in so that she could passs water ; She thought she had queefed, but had birthed a fine daughter And - well, you all know the rest. I'll get me Barbour . . . |
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