Lyr ADD: Farmer's Toast / Godspeed the Plough

Subject: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: Alio
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 08:24 AM

I've been asked by a non-Mudcatter if I could find the words to this song for him, which he thinks is called 'Farmers Toast'. In the chorus are the words

We have lawns, we have bowers, We have fruit, we have flowers, And the lark is my morning alarm

I was sure it would be in the database, but I've tried the title and lots of keywords and can't find anything.

Can anyone help?

Subject: Lyr Add: JOLLY FARMERS
From: IanC
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 08:50 AM

I'm surprised this isn't in the DT, and my Forum Search isn't working. Here it is^^^

Jolly Farmers

Come each jolly fellow that seeks to be mellow
Attend unto me and sit easy
For a pint when its quiet
Me lads let us try it
Dull thinking will drive a man crazy

I have lawns, I have bowers
I have fruit, I have flowers
And the lark is my morning alarmer
So be jolly boys now
Here's good luck to the plow
Long life and success to the farmer

Draw near to my table, my lads, when you're able
Let me hear not one word of complaining
For the tinkling of glasses all music surpasses
And I love to see bottles a-draining
For here I am king
I will dance, drink and sing
Let no man appear as a stranger
And show me the ass that refuses a glass
And I'll treat him to hay in a manger

Let the wealthy and great roll in splendor and state,
I envy them not, I declare it.
I eat my own ham, my own chicken and lamb
I shear my own fleece and I wear it.
By plowing and sowing
By reaping and mowing
King nature affords me a plenty
I've a cellar well stored
And a plentiful board
And a garden affords every dainty

From here.

Cheers!
Ian

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: IanC
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 08:57 AM

The Bodleian Collection has a number of broadsides onder the title "The farmer", mainly from the first half of the 19th Century as, for example, This one.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FARMER'S TOAST
From: GUEST,Brian
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 08:58 AM

There's lots of variations to the FARMER'S ARM or FARMER'S TOAST, but here's one set. A lovely song.

Come all jolly fellows,
That delight in being mellow,
Attend unto me and sit easy.
For a pint when it's quiet,
My lads let us try it,
For dull thinking can drive a man crazy.

I have lawns, I have bowers.
I have fruit, I have flowers,
And the lark is my morning alarmer;
So, my jolly boys, now,
Here's good luck to the plough (God speed the plough);
Long life and success to the farmer.

Come, lads, when you're able;
Draw near to my table.
Let me hear not one word of complaining.
For the jingling of glasses,
All music surpasses,
And I like to see bottles a-draining.

For here I am King;
I can laugh, drink and sing,
And let no man approach as a stranger;
But show me the ass
That refuses a glass
And I'll treat him to hay in a manger.

Let the wealthy and great
Roll in splendor and state.
I envy them not, I declare it;
For I eat my own ham,
My own chicken and lamb,
I shear my own fleece and I wear it.

By ploughing and sowing,
By reaping and mowing,
Dame Nature rewards me a-plenty.
I've a cellar well stored,
And a plentiful board,
And my garden affords every dainty.

Enjoy singing it.

Brian

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: Snuffy
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 09:25 AM

It's in the Database as GODSPEED THE PLOW. (I searched for Bowers).

And there's two threads - Lyrics sought: Farmer's Toast, and godspeed the plow, amazingly enough both started on 26 May '99.

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: MMario
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 09:25 AM

tune?

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: GUEST,MC Fat
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 09:28 AM

You really need to hear my mate Ken Johnson's version as sung at Tap and Spile Whitby

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: Snuffy
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 09:32 AM

Mario,

I posted the tune in the second thread I linked to godspeed the plow. Haven't you crossed it off the list yet?

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: Alio
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 09:32 AM

Thanks very much all of you on behalf of my friend - I can't believe how easy it all is once you post a message on the forum. Cheers!

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: Gervase
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 09:50 AM

...and then there's the last verse...

Were it not for my seeding
You'd have but poor feeding;
I reckon you'd all starve without me.
But whatever the season,
I have always good reason
To have my companions about me.

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: MMario
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 10:05 AM

Sorry Snuffy! we cross-posted so I didn't realize it was 'Godspeed the Plough'!

yes - that is crossed off!

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: Dead Horse
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 02:45 PM

Alternative last verse:- Let the wealthy and great roll in splendor and state, I envy them not, I revoke it. I eat my own ham, my own chicken and lamb And I grow my own grass and I smoke it!!!

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req. Farmer's Toast
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 04:53 PM

It's also known as the Sussex Toast.

Though why I don't know....

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Farmer's Toast / Godspeed the Plough
From: Old Grizzly
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 06:15 PM

Hi Gervase

that last verse reminds me of the sign for following motorists that a mate has stuck on the back of a his combine harvester...


Please be Patient - Some poor bastard has to harvest your cornflakes !


He also has one on a farm shed door that reads

Think!
Are the contents of this building likely to be worth dying for ?

Regards

A very pancreatic Old Grizzly :o((

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Farmer's Toast / Godspeed the Plough
From: Tradsinger
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 04:51 AM

Bear in mind that the tune that most people know is not traditional but written by Eric Winter. A traditional tune can be found in Marrowbones.

Tradsinger

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Farmer's Toast / Godspeed the Plough
From: r.padgett
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 10:23 AM

Eric Winter says ~ “the original is poeticised song about the farmers’ life ~ i have chosen half verses here and there and put them together to make a shorter and more singable version ~ i wrote the tune as that given in Irish Street Ballads (Colm O Lachlainn, Three Candles Press, Dublin 1939)didn’t seem to have enough spirit ~ First half of verse three is found on old Englsh drinking cups ~ use second half of verse one as a chorus
Traditional words adapted by and arranged by and tune by Eric Winter (c) Sing Publications 1964
Above from Songs squibs and a couple of poems by Eric Winter (THEY NEVER CLAPPED ME LIKE THAT) December 1992 published book

Ray

Subject: Lyr Add: THE YEOMAN’S SONG
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 03:48 PM

I searched for “Long life and success to the farmer” and I found this. Not the same song, but it suggests the original song was older than this. Also, it looks like it would fit to the same tune.

From The Western Agriculturist, No. II, London, August, 1844.


THE YEOMAN’S SONG.
“Long life and success to the Farmer.”
(ORIGINAL, FOR THIS MAGAZINE.)

Come hither old neighbour, we've done with our labor,
  The harvest is home as ye all see;
We've plenty in store, and our dangers are o'er,
  And tempests no longer appal me.
We’ve ploughed and we’ve sown, and hard toil we have known,
  With the lark we have risen each morning;
The sickle we've plied, and the sheaf we have tied,
  The sloth of the sluggard each scorning.

Whate'er may befal, we are brave Britons all—
  Stout hearted is every bold yeoman;
Though our fathers are dead, we here stand in their stead—
  The sons of the old British bowman.
Were his country in need, none more ready to bleed,
  And under her banners to rally;
On each field of renown ever true to the crown,
  And true to his own native valley.

Come, neighbour, your hand, and wherever the land
  Of Britain extends to the ocean,
We'll stand by the throne which our fathers have known—
  The bond of their loyal devotion.
And should ever a foe wish the yeoman to know
  He'll find him still fearless in danger;
Sound as oak to the heart, without cunning or art,
  And a friend to the poor and the stranger.

Let others delight in their skies ever bright,
  And talk of their olive and myrtle;
But Britain for me, with its true liberty,
  Fair daughters, and acres so fertile.
In a tankard of ale we old neighbours will hail,
  And, spite of each idle alarmer,
Full loudly and long we'll re-echo the song—
  “Long life and success to the farmer.”

Subject: Lyr Add: LONG LIFE AND SUCCESS TO THE FARMER
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 04:13 PM

From The Book of Popular Songs, Philadelphia, 1860.


LONG LIFE AND SUCCESS TO THE FARMER.
Tune–Tea in the Arbor, or “Over the Water to Charlie.”

Come each jovial fellow, that loves to be mellow,
  Attend unto me and sit easy,
We'll rest from our labors, like friends and good neighbors,
  All toiling will make a man crazy;
Here each is a king, let us laugh, joke, and sing,
  Let no one appear as a stranger,
But show me the ass, that hates a cup or a lass,
  And I'll order him hay in a manger.

Chorus—But show me the ass, &c.

By reaping, by sowing, by ploughing and mowing,
  Dame nature supplies me with plenty,
I’ve cellar well stored and a plentiful board,
  And my cupboard affords every dainty;
I've all things in season—partake them with reason,
  I’m here as a Justice of quorum;
At my cabin's far end, I've a bed for a friend,
  A warm fireside and some jorum.

Chorus—At my cabin's far end, &c.

Let the proud and the great, feast in splendor and state
  I envy them not, I declare it,
I eat my own lamb, my own eggs, fowl, and ham,
  I shear my own fleece and I wear it;
I’ve woods, and I’ve bowers, I've fields, and I’ve flowers,
  The lark is my daily alarmer.
Then my jolly friends now, here is God speed the plough,
  Long life and success to the Farmer.

Chorus—Then my jolly friends now, &c.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FARMER
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 05:10 PM

From Grigg's Southern and Western Songster, edited by John Grigg (Philadelphia: J. Grigg, 1829), page 33:


THE FARMER.

Come, each jovial fellow who loves to be mellow,
  Attend unto me and sit easy;
One jorum and quiet, we quickly will try it,
  Dull thinking will make a man crazy;
For here I am king, we’ll drink, laugh and sing,
  Let no one appear as a stranger;
But show me the ass, that refuses his glass,
  And I'll order him hay in the manger.

By ploughing and sowing, by reaping and mowing,
  Kind nature supplies me with plenty;
I’ve a cellar well stor'd, and a plentiful board,
  And my cupboard affords every dainty;
I have all things in season, both woodcock and pheasant,
  Besides, I'm a squire of decorum;
At my cabin's far end, I’ve a bed for a friend,
  A clean fire-side and a jorum.

Were it not for seeding, you'd have but poor feeding,
  You'd surely be starving without me;
I'm always content, when I've paid all my rent,
  And I'm happy when friends are about me;
Draw close to my table, I'm thriving and able,
  Let's not have a word of complaining;
For the jingling of glasses all music surpasses—
  I love to see bottles a draining.

Let the mighty and great, loll in splendour and state;
  I envy them not, I declare it;
I eat my won lamb, my chicken and ham,
  I shear my own fleece, and I wear it:
I’ve lands and I’ve bowers, I've fields and I've flowers,
  The lark is my daily alarmer;
So ye jolly boys now who delight in the plough,
  Let's drink long life and success to the farmer.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Farmer's Toast / Godspeed the Plough
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 06:27 AM

I've just seen the chorus of the Farmer's Toast printed on a jug in the Malvern Museum. It would look very well on our sideboard.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Farmer's Toast / Godspeed the Plough
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 04:42 PM

Roud 1603, Master Title 'The Farmer's Toast' is found in 18thc garlands such as 'Cupid's Magazine' as 'The Social fellow'. It's pretty close to the Griggs printed version. Though comparing the 2 versions it would point to an even earlier version, possibly mid century. It's multiple reprinting and fairly varied variants would attest to its great popularity, although it didn't occur in many oral collections by 1900. In fact the only verified oral version is the one mentioned above in the Hammond-Gardiner Manuscripts (in Marrow Bones) as sung by Frank Gamblin.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Farmer's Toast / Godspeed the Plough
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 12:03 AM

The late Danny Spooner used to sing this very well. He called it The Farmer's Anthem. He recorded it with Duncan Brown on the 2016 album, Labour and Toil.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Farmer's Toast / Godspeed the Plough
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 12:30 PM

There's a similar jug (to rhe one henryp mentioned) in rhe Beatrix Potter house in the Lake District.