Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: ard mhacha
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 02:27 PM

When I put this request in for Hiring Fair Songs I never envisaged the amount of assistance I would have received, to all of you thanks and in the language of the gael Slan agus Beannacht [Health and Blessings], great stuff . Ard Mhacha.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 02:52 PM

I know the answer, MMario, but I'll let Pavane tell you.  I too largely gave up on the search facility at the Bodleian a year or so back, as it depends on keywords which are not always consistent or fully descriptive.  Like Nutty, I find the browse facility a lot quicker in most cases.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: pavane
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 03:01 PM

MMario, The Beautiful Muff goes to the tune of Dumble Dum Deary, otherwise known as Richard of Taunton Dean. It is here somewhere as a MIDI, but I have to be quick so I can't give you a link yet. It sounds very familiar, but I can't remember what song I have heard it used for.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: MMario
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 03:04 PM

grazie - that should be enough for me to track down.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: pavane
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 03:11 PM

Oh all right, here's a link Richard of Taunton Dean"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: MMario
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 03:44 PM

thanks! - I would have been back sooner to tell you I had found it - but my computer crashed.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: pavane
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 04:58 PM

I can't remember the name of the song it reminded me of, but it ended 'Who once came a-courting, who once came a-courting my father's grey mare' It also has some resemblence to the tune Martin Carthy used for 'Three Cripples from London'. And my machine crashed when I tried to send this message, so I had to type it all again. :-(

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: pavane
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 06:47 PM

It's in the database as (would you believe) The Grey Mare, but with a different tune.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 07:57 PM

Some additional songs which are, or have been, featured on generally available recordings:

The Cranbally Farmer sung by Tom Lenihan
The Mains O' Fogieloan sung by John MacDonald
Aul Jockey Bruce o' the Fornet sung by Davie Stewart
Come to the Hiring sung by Jamesy McCarthy

I hope I will be forgiven if I don't post any lyrics on this occasion, as it is getting late at night (here in the UK at any rate), and as I have a busy weekend ahead I may not be able to do so until early next week. Perhaps someone else will manage to add the texts by then.
In the meantime I am surprised there has not been a bigger response from Australia: I seem to recall that the practice of seasonal hiring was widespread there.
Regarding living memories of hiring fairs Colm Toibin describes how he was suprised to encounter recent tales (i.e. about 30-40 years old) of hiring fairs when he was researching his 1987 book Bad Blood .Initially he couldn't find anybody who was willing to talk of their experiences, as it seemed to be a topic of shame and embarrassment for those who had been hired labourers. Eventually he tracked down an elderly lady who was willing to recall being hired at Strabane Fair.Young girls and boys, usually from Catholic families, would hire out for six months to Protestant farmers from May to November.The work was hard, and she would be paid £5 or £6 at the end. She would count the days and the journey back "was like heaven", but as her family had no money she would have go and stand at the hiring cross again in the bitter cold of November."It was a cruel country." she recalled.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: ard mhacha
Date: 06 Jul 01 - 06:12 AM

Matthew Edwards, The old lady you refer to was a Mrs Rose McCullagh from around Plumbridge in Co Tyrone. The programme she took part in was a thrre part series on The Hiring Fairs and was broadcast on RTE Radio about 15 years ago, the producer and the person who did the interviews was a Professor O Cathain from Derry. The programme also delved into Donegal writer Patrick McGills early life as a hired hand in Co Tyrone. I have the recordings if you are interested, get in touch Slan Ard Mhacha.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: ard mhacha
Date: 06 Jul 01 - 10:17 AM

Ian C, No problem, leave it to next week, I wil send it on, Slan Ard Mhacha.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,Conán
Date: 06 Jul 01 - 09:58 PM

Bí cúramach, a Ard Mhacha
Prof. Ó Catháin hails - not from Derry - but from West Tyrone - Drumqin, if I'm not mistaken.
Conán

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Nerd
Date: 07 Jul 01 - 05:48 AM

A couple more:

The salt, an Irish song based at the Ballynaskreen Horse Fair about a fellow who hires with a farmer who turns out to be insane,

and

Seton's Lassie, a Bothy Ballad about a lad who grows up to marry the farmer's daughter. There's a very sad description of his first night as a "slave." But he bounces back fast.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: ard mhacha
Date: 07 Jul 01 - 07:17 AM

Conan, Sorry, you are right Conan, and a good man for all that. Slan Ard Mhacha.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,IanC at British Library
Date: 07 Jul 01 - 07:45 AM

Ard

Cheers! Ian

Subject: Lyr Add: AN SPEALADÓIR
From: Brían
Date: 08 Jul 01 - 07:49 AM

AN SPEALADÓIR

Is spealadóir beag sásta mé anall as an Ghréig
Bíonn mo speal crochta liom is faobhar uirthi chun féir;
Nuair a ligim ar an talamh í, tógann mná na bhfearaibh í
Mar i ndúil go mbeinn sa bhaile agaibh am bhaint an fhéir

Thiar i gContdae Shligigh atá mo muintir fhéin,
Mo mhamaí is mo dheadí is mo chairde uilig go léir
Tá óir buí go pras acu is níl dúil ar bith sa spras acu
Is pósfaidh mise an spealadóir, is é bhainfeadh an féar.

In iochtar an bhaile seo, tá an pháirc fhada réidh
Gan tor gan tom gan foscadh ach a haghaidh ar anró an tsaoil
Tá giota beag le bearradh di is ní mó ná chuir sí i dtalamh mé
Mar i ndúil go mbeinn sa bhaile agaibh in am bhaint an fhéir

a Chailíní is a bhuachaillí nach trua libh mo scéal?
Tá mise a gabháilna farraige is gan dúil liom go héag
Abraigí sibhse an paidrín gach oích ag dul chun na leapa daoibh
Le mise bheith sa bhaile agaibh in am bhaint an fhéir

From the singing of Róise Bean Mhic Ghrianna(Róise na nAmhrán) SONGS OF A DONEGAL WOMAN.The tune is "THE CUCKOO'S NEST". Altan does a fine version of this on their 1st album.

No hiring fair is mentioned, but it is certainly implied in the song.

Beidh mé ag caint leat aríst,
Brían.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 09 Jul 01 - 08:23 PM

'Seton's Lassie' was written by the late Davy Steele.

Subject: Lyr Add: AUL' JOCKEY BRUCE O' THE FORNET
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 12 Jul 01 - 08:29 PM

Here's a song I mentioned earlier:


Aul' Jockey Bruce o' the Fornet

At Martinmas time when I gaed to the fair,
To view the young lassies and to get the fresh air,
And I fee'd wi' a mannie to work a third pair,
It was aul' Jockey Bruce o' the Fornet.

On a Sunday mornin' he taunted an' teased,
Cam oot o' the stable wi' a flagon o' grease,
Rubbed the horse weel doon frae the queets to the knees
For they're a' cripple nags at the Fornet.

The sun it cam oot,it had melted the grease,
An' oot frae the hive cam a hale swairm o' bees,
But I says to mysel':It's a plague o' the fleas,
Cam doon wi' the lads o' the Fornet.

Noo oor foreman chiel he cam frae Balquhain,
He eenst was a navvie,and wrocht on the line,
He feeds his horse weel but he hangs in the twine,
For the wark's aye ahind at the Fornet.

Here's tae oor second,he's a strappin' young chiel,
Tae dae his wark,it sets him right weel,
He wisna lang hame,he thocht he would heel,
An' he never looked back tae the Fornet.

A loon he was fee'd tae advance an' retire,
Atween the neep-park an' the aul' coo-byre,
But he wisna lang hame,he seemed soon to tire
O' aul' Jockey Bruce o' the Fornet.

Here's to oor third, a rantin' tae reel,
A bit of a poem an' a half of a fule,
An' the lassies a' roond,they like him sae weel,
If he'll sing: Win Awa Wi' The Fornet.

We aye hae a baillie, he cam frae Kinnaird,
A wee little mannie, some scairt o' a beard,
For courtin' the lassies, he'd ain be prepared,
Than for sortin' his stots at the Fornet.

We hae a bit dochter, the flooer o' the glen,
She plays the pianna, an' whiles wi' the men,
An' rins in the close, to get keppit again,
Wi' the plooman lads in the Fornet.

At the kirk on a Sunday, she wears a lang veil,
A yaird o' her dress ahind her did trail,
Her hair is tied up like my horse's tail,
For tae charm a' the lads o' the Fornet.

O the hairst being back,an' the weather awfu' bad,
He turns us a' oot tae the pick an' the spad,
He tore off his jacket, the aul' man he gaed mad,
An' he danced an' he raved at the Fornet.

Sung by Davie Stewart in Dundee in 1956, and recorded by Peter Kennedy. Issued on Saydisc cassette CSDL407 Songs of the Travelling People

It is a slightly inconsequential song, but very attractively sung by Davie Stewart. It is typical of many workplace songs in describing the characters of each of the hired hands. Creating such a song, and singing it afterwards, would surely have been great fun in the bothies, at the end of a very hard day's labour.

Subject: Lyr Add: AN SPEALADÓIR translation
From: Brían
Date: 12 Jul 01 - 10:11 PM

Here's the translation of AN SPEALADÓIR:

I am a happy little mower over from Greece
I keep my scythe along with me ready for the hay
When I lay it on the ground the men's women take it from me
In hopes that I'll be home with you at haymaking time.

My own people are over in County Sligo
My Mammy and daddy and all my friends.
They have plenty of yellow gold, and do not like brass
And I will marry the mower, 'tis he would cut the hay.

At the bottom of the townland there is a long, level field
Without a shrub, without a bush, without a shelter and it faces the hardship of life.
There is a little bit to cut from it, and it nearly put me under the sod
In hopes that I'll be home with you at haymaking time.

Girls and boys, isn't my story a pity
I am going over the ocean, without a hope 'til I die
Say a little prayer each night when you go to bed
That I will be home with you at haymaking time.

Brían.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 07:06 PM

Brian that's a lovely song. Where did you get the last verse? My copy of Roise na nAmhran only gives three verses. Anyway thanks for reminding us of her. I don't know if this has been told before on the Forum, but even if it has the story will bear a little repetition.These were recordings of a great Donegal singer made in 1953 but at some point some nameless official thought the bulky tapes took up too much room and threw them on a dump. Proinsias o Conluain found them there, somewhat the worse for wear, and it is thanks to him that these priceless recordings of Gaelic singing are still available.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Brían
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 10:00 PM

Those recordings have been made into an RTE CD. Sean Ó heochaidh collected the last verse from Róise later. I picked them up at a C.C.E. concert. There's a little book with additional lyrics and the whole story in it. Even at her advanced age her singing was mesmerising. I would love to get the book on her life, which I had in my hand at a gaeltacht week, but someone had all ready bought it.

Slán go fóill,
Brían.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Wolfgang
Date: 15 Aug 01 - 12:04 PM

A late contribution, but I only listened to the CD last week for the first time:

The CD 'Come all my lads that follow the plough' from TOPICs 20 volume series 'Voice of the people' has many hiring fair songs complete with lyrics:

Barnyards of Delgarty
Copshawholm Fair
Cranbally farmer
Mains O' Fogieloan
Nicky Tams
Rocks of Bawn
Tarves Rent

Most of them have been mentioned above, but it is the best collection of this type of songs one a single CD I know.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: ard mhacha
Date: 15 Aug 01 - 02:40 PM

Thanks Wolfgang, Some good songs in that lot,I have various groups singing them, Clancy Brothers, and Steeleye Span. Slan Ard Mhacha.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,Annraoi
Date: 15 Aug 01 - 07:23 PM

a Bhriain,
Since there is no mention of any hiring practices in "an Spealadóir" might it not be possible that what is being hinted at is the Reaper's legendary sexual prowess? It takes but little imagination to read btween the lines. I offer this as a very possible alternative to "hiring"
Also, the same prowess in Cupid's arena was frequently believed to belong to the Ploughman - again for very obvious reasons.
Annraoi
P.S. There is an Irish idiom "ag déanamh fómhair" = making love. Literally "making the harvest." The connection seems an obvious one to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,folktrax.org
Date: 16 Aug 01 - 06:58 AM

HIREMAN CHIEL, THE - "There was a knight and a baron bright" - his son, after being well schooled and trained at the plough, goes off to be hired and what follows is a complex story of entangled lovers – ROUD#5624 - BUCHAN ABSNS 1875 2 p104-12 "The Baron turned Ploughman" - GREIG-DUNCAN 5 1995 #1055 pp518-532 13var 58v/7m – ORD BS&B pp480-6

HIRING see also FAIRS (also called "Mops" and "Statutes") - BARGAIN WITH ME/ MAGHERAFELT/ TAM BOY) – BARNYARDS O DELGATY - BOGIE'S BONNY BELLE - COME TO THE HIRING – COPSHAWHOLME - COUNTRY STATUTES – CRANBALLY FARMER - DAVIE HUNTER FEEIN' TIME – JOCKEY BRUCE O THE FORNET - MAINS O FOGGIELOAN - MARLIN FAIR - MUCKLE FRIDAY FAIR – NICKY TAMS – ROCKS O BAWN – TARVES RANT -- BBC LP 37157 Hiring Fairs at turn of century: interviews & music (not ABR) - FREE REED FRR-001 Seamus ENNIS Story - FRR- 003 Eddie BUTCHER Derry - FOLKTRAX FTX-019 Dicky LASHBROOK "Bargain with me"/ FTX-059 Talk about hiring: Jimmy Mc BEATH/ FTX-066 John STRACHAN Aberdeensh/ FTX-134 Bertha BROWN "Magherafelt Hiring Fair Song"/ FTX-175 John CORRY/ FTX-183 Duncan Mc PHEE Song: "Tam Buie"

HIRING DAY, THE - to tune of "The Spanish Lady"-- Michael GALLAGHER rec by Peter Kennedy, Belleek, Co Fermanagh 7/7/52 HIRING FAIR, THE - "From Omagh Town unto Strabane" - Servant goes into alehouse to meet a girl and marry her - tune: As I walked through Dublin City or THE SPANISH LADY - ROUD#2905 - DUNCAN W357/ M1239 "The Feeing Times" - MORTON FSU 1970 #24 pp38-40 Biddy Maguire, Follom, Co Fermanagh - MORTON CDGD 1973 p34 "Strabane Hiring Fair" - TOCHER 30 (1979) p403 "Aberfeldy Fair" rec by Hamish Henderson from Donald MacMartin, Coldingham Berwicksh -- Michael GALLAGHER rec by Peter Kennedy, Belleek, Co Fermanagh 20/7/52: 7"RTR-0554/ FOLKTRAX 163 - Biddy MAGUIRE rec by Robin Morton, Co Fermanagh: MERCIER IRL-12 1970 - Eddie BUTCHER, rec by Robin Morton, Magilligan, Co Derry: FREE REED FRR-003 1976 "I once was a daysman"

HIRING FAIR AT HAMILTONSBAWN, THE - "Come all ye lads and lassies and listen unto me" - "man called Tom McCann" - ROUD#2890 - MORTON FSSU 1970 pp36-38 Bob Wallace, Ballylisk, Co Armagh

HIRING FAIR AT KELSO - see VICTORIA WALTZ

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: ard mhacha
Date: 16 Aug 01 - 01:07 PM

Hello Guest Folktrax, Any more on that Marlin Fair song. Slan ARD Mhacha.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HIRING FAIRS OF ULSTER (O'Lochlainn)
From: Big Tim
Date: 16 Aug 01 - 05:42 PM

Ard, you're a card! How about this one from our old friend O'Lochlainn, THE HIRING FAIRS OF ULSTER, first verse,

The ploughboy with a steady hand,
He will engage to plough the land,
The dairymaid is well prepared, to mind her milk and dairy,
The cowboy with a staff or stave,
Will mind his cows by brook or brae,
The shoe boy too is wanted there to polish boots for ladies...

OK another verse,

The servants' wages now should rise,
As beef and butter got so high,
There’s ten eggs sold at pence a piece, turkey eggs three ha'pence,
The paper states the London price,
Of wheat and oats and bacon dry,
And Gladstone seeking tenant right, it's now in contemplation.

Slan, BT.

HTML line breaks added --JoeClone, 1-Dec-01.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 16 Aug 01 - 07:00 PM

Nice to have this thread refreshed. I'd agree with Wolgang that the Topic CD Come all my lads that follow the plough TSCD655 is a great resource. There is another in the same series There is a man upon the farm TSCD670 which has some relevant songs (besides having a great selection of songs in the first place):
Seán Mac Donnchaadha An Spailpín Fánach
Jamesy McCarthy Come To The Hiring

Another recording well worth listening to is from the School of Scottish Studies Bothy Ballads issued on Greentrax CDTRAX 9001, with a well researched booklet written by Hamis Henderson.
With regard to the list posted by GUEST above,apparently from Folktracks; this is a very valuable resource. Peter Kennedy who operates Folktracks collected a great number of songs in Great Britain and Ireland in the 1950's, many of which appeared on the seminal Caedmon/Folk Songs of Britain LPs in the 1960's. Peter and the team who worked with him deserve our undying respect for their efforts.
BUT, and it is with some distress that I add this; a number of people whose opinions I trust have expressed concern that Peter Kennedy has failed to acknowledge the singers and collectors who gave their material to him. Tapes have apparently been issued without the consent of those who sang or played,or collected, and I understand that no royalties have been paid in some cases. Personally I do not know all the in and outs of this issue, but I am not willing to support Folktracks until I have a clearer explanation.
I hope that this is a fair account; I would be happy if the Folktracks archive could be made available on terms which are fair to those singers, players, and collectors who created it,

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: ard mhacha
Date: 17 Aug 01 - 01:22 PM

To all of you good people my grateful thanks, when I posted this thread I never imagined the amount of information I would receive. Annraoi you dirty muckle brute, wading through the cowpats on a respectable site. Slan Ard Mhacha.

Subject: Lyr Add: COME ALL YE JOLLY PLOUGHMAN LADS
From: IanC
Date: 11 Sep 01 - 04:32 AM

I'm reviving this thread as I've got a couple of songs for my old friend Ard Mhacha. I was in Dumfries last week, and I bought, in a secondhand bookshop, a copy of:

KERR CAMERON, DAVID "The Ballad and The Plough: A Folk History of The Scottish Farmtouns" (London, Gollancz, 1987).

Here's two untitled bothy ballads from the book.

"There was one man in particular to avoid in Turriff's Porter Fair." (pp 88-90)

Come all ye jolly ploughman lads,
I pray you, have a care,
Beware o' going to Swaggers,
For he'll be in Porter Fair

He'll be aye lauch-lauchin',
He'll aye be lauchin' there;
And he'll hae on the blithest face
In a' Porter Fair.

Wi' his fine horse and harness,
Sae well he'll gar ye true,
But when ye come to Auchterless,
Sae sair's he'll gar ye rue.

He'll tell ye o' some plooin' match
That isna far awa';
And gin ye clean yer harness richt,
Ye're sure to beat them a'.

For the tackle's gained the prize afore
At every country show;
And gin that ye lat it fa' back,
Ye'll be thocht little o'.

A pair o' blues that lead the van
Sae nimbly as they go;
A pair o' broons that follow them,
That never yet said no.

A wee bit shaltie ca's the neeps,
And, oh, but it is sma';
But Swaggers he'll declare to you
It's stronger than them a'.

But he'll aye be fret-frettin',
He'll aye be frettin' there;
And he'll gie ye regulations
That are worn a' threadbare.

And Swaggers in the harvest time,
He's got too much to do
For the twa-three jovial laddies
That ca's his cairt and ploo.

Sae he'll gang on some twenty miles,
Faur people disna him ken,
And he'll engage some harvest hands
And bring them far frae hame.

He'll say unto the foreman chiel,
"Keep aye the steady grind,
And dinna lat the orra lads
Fa' idle back behind.

"For I pay ye a'guid wages,
And sae ye maun get on,
And gin ye are not able,
There's another when ye're done."

He'll say unto the girlies,
As they are comin' back,
"Come on, my girls, and hurry up,
Gie them nae time to sharp."

But noo the cuttin's ended,
And we've begun to lead,
And mony's the curious plan he tries
For to come muckle speed.

And noo the sheaves they are all in,
And formed in the stack;
And noo the windy days are come
When we maun hunt the brock.

Whe we maun hunt the brock, my boys,
Wi' mony a fret and frown;
And Swaggers cries, "Come on, my boys,
It's like for to ding on."

And when that we gang up the raips,
He gets up wi' a bawl,
Says, "Come on, my girls, ply in the twine,
Ye're sure to beat them all."

Now the harvest's ended,
And a' thing is made snod;
The harvest hands wi' bundles big
They now must pad the road.

They now must pad the road, my boys,
Amang the frost and snaw;
And they hae sworn a solemn oath,
They'll ne'er come back ava.

But Martinmas it has worn on,
My fee's into my pouch;
And sae merrily, merrily, I will sing,
"I'm oot o' the tyrant's clutch."

For he is the worst master
That ever I did serve;
And gin ye dinna me believe,
Never mind ye this observe.

"Yet another ballad, from the same area, gives a reminder of the farmer's approach to a youngster [at his] first feeing fair." (pp 91-91).

Twas in the merry month of May
When flowers had clad the landscape gay,
To Ellon fair I bent my way
With hopes to find amusement.

A scrankie chiel to me cam' near,
And quickly he began to spier
If I would for the neist half-year
Engage to be his servant.

"I'll need you as an orra loon;
Four poun' ten I will lay down
To you, when Martinmas comes roun'
To close at our engagement.

"Five shillings more will be your due,
If you to me prove just and true;
But that will be referred to you
By my good will and pleasure."

An' to a tent he then set sail,
And bade me follow at his tail;
And he called for a glass o' ale
Therein to keep us sober.

Said he, "A sixpence noo, my loon,
I freely will to you lay down,
Thrippence for ale I will pay soon,
And thrippence buys my fairin'."

When I went hame to my new place,
And at the table showed my face,
It's to the brose they said nae grace -
The time was unco precious.

Although our usage was but scant,
Of wark we never kent the want;
And aye to carry on the rant
The farmer cried, "Come on, lads."

An' when the hairst it did come roun',
It's to a scythe I hid to boun';
Likewise to draw the rake aroun',
To keep the fields in order.

Cheers!
Ian

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: ard mhacha
Date: 11 Sep 01 - 08:24 AM

IanC, Good on you. "Its to the brose they said nae grace the time was unco precious", Ian, I would say that the pair of hirelings hadn`t an unco precious time with their masters. Two good songs. Thanks Ard Mhacha.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,Boab
Date: 12 Sep 01 - 02:13 AM

Has Brian McNeil's "Lads o' the Fair" [the "Trystin' Fair at Falkirk"] been mentioned?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,dougboywonder
Date: 12 Sep 01 - 02:41 PM

I just found out that Fred Jordan became a farmer through being hired at a hiring fair. He undoubtably has a song about it.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HIRING FAIR
From: weerover
Date: 14 Feb 03 - 09:22 AM

I found this in a splendid little volume of songs sung in Inishowen and remembered the thread:

THE HIRING FAIR

As I roved down through Antrim Town
Through Antrim town I took my way
Where all around the road was clad
With lads and bonnie lasses gay

Sure I espied one amongst them all
How lonely she walked by herself
For fear the rain would her gown stain
I shared with her my umbrell'

Says I, "My lass, how do you do?
Or have you travelled far?"
"For Antrim town, kind sir, I'm bound
You know it is the hiring day"

Says I, "My lass, will you accept
A glass of brandy, ale or wine?
We'll have a glass before we part
And we'll be in about hiring time"

She gave consent and in we went
Unto an alehouse by the way
Glass after glass did merrily pass
Till she forgot her hiring day

The clock struck three, she smiled at me
She says, "Young man the fault is thine
I'm here alone and I'm far from home
And besides , I missed my hiring fair"

"Oh never fret, my dearest dear
I don't intend to harm you
For marriage I intend to try
For baker lads they all prove true"

"Kind sir, to marry sure I am too young
Besides my ma has none but me
But I'll comply, I'll never deny
I'll marry before hired I'll be"

So we drank a round with mirth and fun
And we got married the very next day
And every now and then she would say
"I'm glad I missed the hiring day"

Note says the original song came from Scotland where it was called "My friends and I left sweet Milngavie" - Milngavie is a suburb of Glasgow and is pronounced Mill-guy (or to a Glaswegian Mull-guy)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,stooriefit
Date: 14 Feb 03 - 10:14 AM

I think what you lot are calling "hiring fair songs" are called Bothy Ballads in Scotland ,Bogie,s Bonnie Belle,Drumdelgie,Nicky Tams being only a tiny fraction of them. They describe life on the farms and in the bothy,s (where the single farmworkers or "bothy loons"lived,Loon being the term for boy)of North East Scotland during the later half of the 19th century and up until the late 1970,s

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: weerover
Date: 14 Feb 03 - 10:41 AM

I should have added that there is a basic melody given for the last (Antrim) song. It is pretty much like the first line of "Banna Strand", repeated twice (is that a tautology?) for each verse.

wr

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Ballyholme
Date: 14 Feb 03 - 11:05 AM

Thanks for posting the Hiring Fair, Weerover. My late grandfather was one of those labourers who hired out at fairs in County Antrim. That would have been around 1900, I suspect.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,Guest, Big Tim
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 10:56 AM

I got a good wee book on the (Irish) hiring fairs last time I was in Derry:

"Hiring fairs & farm workers in north-west Ireland" by Michael O'Hanlon. Guildhall Press[Derry?]. No date. ISBN 0 949451 20 6. Blurb by Dr Jonathan Bell, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Still in print I think.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,Jim I
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 04:32 PM

Norman Kennedy (mentioned above) also did "Sleepytoon" about being hired at the fair and about how it was not as advertised.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 06:15 PM

Entering "Hiring Day" and "Hireing Day" in Search in the Bodleian Collection bring up three songs on the subject, with many duplicates of "The Hiring Day" (a copy of The Hireing Day is also in American Memory).
"The Hiring of the Servants" also concerns farm labor. In this song is the caution:

You farmers take warning I hear the people say
The servants of Ireland are all going away
They are going to America as you may understand
You must give them all wages or give up your land.

Interesting is "A New Song on the Hireing Fairs of Ulster," Ballads Catalogue 2806 C.7(32), which mentions "The cowboy with a staff or stave(?), Will mind the cows in brook or bray." If he emigrates he may become a "real" cowboy with horse and lariat.

"Country Statutes, or Hiring Day for Servants" (Ballads Catalogue Firth C 19(159) warns young girls of what may happen in 9 months time, as does "The Hiring Day."

As might be expected, these songs are Irish.

Subject: Lyr Add: Magherafelt Hiring Fair
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 04 Apr 03 - 06:57 AM

A widow goes to Magherafelt to hire a farm worker and ends up marrying one who drives a hard bargain!

1. "Would you hire with me, Tam Bo, Tam Bo?
Would you hire with me, my heart and my Jo?
Would you hire with me? say you and say I.
And what an's rantin' young widow am I.

(He says: "What wages, mistress?")

2. "Two pounds five," etc.

(He says: "Too little wages, mistress")

3. "Then two pounds ten," etc

(He says: "What diet, mistress?")

4. "Sowans and eels," etc. -
or"Sowans, oats and water porridge"

(He says: "Too slippy diet, mistres?")

5. "Then potatoes and beef ...

(He says: "Where will I lie, mistress?")

6. "You'll lie in the loft,"

(He says: "The rats might eat me, mistress")

7. "You'll lie wi' the weans," ...

(He says: "The weans might kick me, mistress")

8. "Well then we'll get married," ...

When I saw this thread the first song that came into my mind was the Magherafelt May Fair (which has been recorded by Kevin Mitchell). The song above also bears Magherafelt in the title, but could belong almost anywhere. I see it has been mentioned in previous threads, and also as "Tam Boy". I copied these lyrics from a booklet by George Sweeny, "Hiring Fairs in Derry, Tyrone and Donegal". Derry: Guildhall Press,n.d. (circa 1985-86). I assume the "etc." menas that the ends of each line are repeated from verse to verse.

Tune to follow (eventually!)

The bibliography suggests a couple of other songs (which I might post later on if nobody else has done so):
"Hiring Fair (I Once Was a Daysman)" recording of Eddie Butcher on Free Reed Records
"The Hiring Fair at Hamiltons Bawn" published in Robin Morton Folk Songs Sung in Ulster. Cork: Mercier Press (is in DT)

and includes
Hugh Shields, Shamrock, Rose and Thistle: Folk Singing in North Derry. Belfast: Blackstaff, 1981

Jonathan Bell,"The Hiring Fairs" in Ulster Folkllife

Patrick Campbell, "Growing Up in Donegal" in Béalóideas, 1977

Subject: Lyr Add: BOY BILLY
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 04 Apr 03 - 08:19 AM

I know a version of the previous song, probably more recent called Boy Billy. It's usually sung by a woman, with a man giving the answers.

Where be you going to my Boy, Billy Boy ?
Where be you going to Billy my Boy ?
Where be you going, for evermore here below,
Down in the meadow so gay, so gay.

Spoken: I be looking for Hire Missus.

Then fee to me oh my Boy, Billy Boy,
Then fee to me oh Billy my Boy,
Then fee to me, for evermore here below,
Down in the meadow so gay, so gay.

What will you pay me Missus ?

Three pound and ten........etc

Spoken: Where will I sleep, Missus ?

You can sleep with my groom.......

But what if he poke me Missus ?

Then sleep with my maid.........

For Shame, Missus !

Then sleep with me.........

Where be Master then, Missus ?

Oh Master be dead........

How long's he been dead then, Missus ?

Seven long (pause for effect) Days (or Hours if you want)........

What did he die of then, Missus ?

Oh he got wore out...... or I poisoned his pastie.........

I think I'll try elsewhere, Missus.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Jenny Islander
Date: 04 Apr 03 - 06:08 PM

Don't know any hiring fair songs per se, but there are some American tunes about hard work for lousy pay in a job one can't get out of.

There's "Diamond Joe," the one about the cowboy in the middle of nowhere whose boss is a scumbag he always seems to end up owing money to (in some versions the employees gang up and kill him so they can go home).

Two from Alaska are "Cannery Call" and "Workin' on the Slime Line." Pay's good at the cannery IF you work until you drop, then get up next morning and do the same, day in day out until the fish quit flooding in.

And I vaguely remember one called "The Next Market Day," about a girl who gets hired, all right, and goes home with gold in her pocket and an invitation to the next market day for the same. And all she had to do was sit down next to the nice man.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: ard mhacha
Date: 05 Apr 03 - 04:13 PM

"The next market day" is from the north of Ireland. Ard Mhacha.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Felipa
Date: 06 Apr 03 - 06:23 PM

you can find lyrics in Mudcat archives for the song I know as Next Market Day - A Maid Going to Comber

I wouldn't describe it the way Jenny does (though maybe she has a different set of lyrics) and the girl was going to the markets to buy "some hanks of fine yarn" and maybe to sell produce as well, but not to be hired for labour
///

what do you make of the number of songs relating the hiring fairs to courting rather than to hard work?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: GUEST,Boab
Date: 07 Apr 03 - 03:42 AM

Has Brian McNeil's "Trystin' Fair at Falkirk" had a mention--or does it not qualify as a 'hiring" song?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hiring fair songs
From: Wolfgang
Date: 07 Apr 03 - 08:04 AM

Has Brian McNeil's "Trystin' Fair at Falkirk" had a mention (Boab)

Yes, it had, by GUEST, Boab on 12 Sep 01 - 02:13 AM

Wolfgang

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DAYSMAN
From: Felipa
Date: 07 Apr 03 - 04:40 PM

as sung by Eddie Butcher of Magilligan, Co Derry, Ireland on "Shamrock, Rose and Thistle", Leader Records, 1971 - from a recording of Eddie Butcher made by Hugh Shields in 1961. Eddie Butcher died in 1980.

THE DAYSMAN

I once was a daysman, I wrought cause anent
And a day in the week was kept for the rent,
We had a row o'er the hours, my blood being on fire,
So I picked up me bundle and I started to hire.

My mother with fleeching she near made me curse,
She says. "You'll go further and maybe fare worse;
I had a fiver saved up, it was hid in the byre,
So I broke up the bank and set off for to hire.

I stood at the fair from morning till eve:
Not a bid for my body did I e'er receive,
Says I to mysel' "It's a glass you require,
And stretch away home, for you're not going to hire."

I just had resolved when two lassies came by
And the one was well featured on me cast her eye;
Says she to the other, "Jean, here's our desire,
This man with the bundle; he's wanting to hire."

I knew by the joke and the way they were dressed
They were two servant* lasses, no more nor no less,
Though their impudent cheek I was forced to admire
The well featured one that had asked me to hire.

Ten pounds I was offered for to milk night and morn,
From all sorts of drink to be teetotal sworn,
On me nights with the neighbours to no call and pass
And then keep me han' off the young servant lass.

I was to be fed on the best of strong tea,
A duck egg to my breakfast, and that every day;
But in no case the servant no courting might stand
Says I, "On the mistress I'll first try my hand."

I threw my arm roun' her, she struggled and fought;
She seen that I had her, she knew she was caught.
So I split up the fiver and a drink I did share,
And I courted her home the night of the fair.

But still I'm a daysman and I work cause anent
And the day in the week's aye kep' for the rent,
But I have no fiver now to hide in the byre
For the bank is the wee lass that asked me to hire.

----

*Shields spells this word as 'sarvent'to approximate Butcher's pronounciation, & 'our' as 'oor'

fleeching means coaxing - "begging you to stay at hame," said Eddie Butcher

Shields notes: "Here from the nineteenth century is something we might call an Ulster bothy ballad. 'If you're working cause anent' said E[ddie],'you're feeding yourself and you're gettin the money but no meat ... you'd be paid so much a week.'. Hiring fairs were held twice yearly in May and November. Those held near the town of Magilligan were known by the picturesque names of the 'Rabble' (Coleraine) and the 'Gallop' (Limavady). They were good places to hear ballad singers. ...
... The only other version I have seen of it was a text printed in the Northern Constitution on 17 Nov. 1923.
The air is major, but with pentatonic traits."

Sheet music for the tune can be found in Hugh Shields, Shamrock, Rose and Thistle. Belfast: Blackstaff, 1981.

further notes from the book:
"... The first time E sang me this song he left out v. 5 with its explanation that the 'lassies' were two servants; without this verse the story is altered, with it a kind of rural irony adds relish to the good 'offer' made in v. 6-7. During Oct-Nov 1932, correspondence in the Northern Constitution revealed widespread discontent among farm workers hired for the season; boys were said to have emigrated to Canada because they were being offered £6-8 for six months (5 Nov.)"

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SALT
From: Auxiris
Date: 08 Apr 03 - 03:16 AM

I see this is a recently revived thread and also that someone mentioned a song called "The Salt" earlier on. Here are the lyrics

Cheers, Aux

THE SALT
Kevin Conneff/Mrs. Chrissie Cunningham, Ardee, County Louth

Come all you young lads and young lassies, who hanker to work on the farm,
Now, be careful when choosing a master, it might serve for to keep youse from harm.

When I was a strapping young fellow, aged about seventeen
I hired myself to a farmer at the horse fair in Ballinascreen.

Now, his farm was way up the mountains and it all only heather and bog,
And me job, well, I got to look after his donkey, his goat and his dog

Now me, the farmer and his mother, we lived in a tumble-down shack,
His mother was well over ninety with the bones sticking out from her back.

It was only a tumble-down ruin, held up with ould yellow clay
The roof it was past all repairin', for the goat had the thatch et away.

His poor mother, she'd sleep by the fire, for the rain it came down on our bed--
And when I'd get up every morning, she'd be sittin' there noddin' her head.

The master was an awful ould skinflint, his heart was as hard as a stone--
He'd work me from daylight to darkness; in a month I was just skin and bone.

And he fed me on nothin' but piners? (Misunderstood word, sorry), he said they would make me a man;
Well, they damn near made me a dead one, eaten half raw off the pan!

Now, he had three ould hens and a rooster, one day they all died in the coop,
So he took them, he boiled them and salted them--we lived for a month on the soup!

Bad luck now, it never comes single, for the next day the nanny goat died:
So he skinned it, he boiled it and salted it--and made a bodhrán from the hide.

It was then poor ould Neddy, the donkey, he broke his hind leg and suffered great pain,
So he shot him, he skinned him and boiled him and called for the salt once again!

I thought, now, his mind was affected and myself I was going insane,
For when poor Fido died of distemper he called for the salt once again!

When I thought what happened, poor ould Fido, I couldn't sleep thinking that night;
And when I got up the next morning, I got a most horrible fright.

His poor mother was dead by the fire, when I ran for the door he cried "Halt!
Where are ye going so early? Come back here and help me to salt!"

Well, I went through the door like a rocket, says I, I'll get out in the fog,
I tripped in the yard with excitement and out he come runnin' with salt!

I took to me heels like a cowboy and over the hills like a hare,
I never stopped runnin' for a fortnight and I've never gone back to a fair!

Excess line breaks removed. --JoeClone, 12-Apr-03.

Subject: Tune Add: THE SALT
From: MMario
Date: 08 Apr 03 - 12:43 PM

There is another version of The Salt in the DT.

This is what I have as the tune:

X:2
T:The Salt
C:
I:abc2nwc
L:1/8
K:C
z6(d c)|A D (F/2 E/2) D G c (A G)|(E C-) C2E (F|
G) c A D3/2 (F E) D3/2|(E G) A d f2e d|c A2z(c d) c A|
C3/2 F/2 E3/2 D3/2|D3