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Origins: Back and Sides Go Bare
DigiTrad:
BACK AND SIDE GO BARE
LET YOUR BACK AND SIDES GO BARE
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Origins: Back and Sides Go Bare DigiTrad: BACK AND SIDE GO BARE LET YOUR BACK AND SIDES GO BARE |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Back and Sides Go Bare From: John MacKenzie Date: 16 Nov 22 - 03:39 PM My britches they are no but holes but my heart is free of care As long as I've my belly full my backside can go bare And a-beggin' I will go And a-beggin' I will go |
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Subject: ADD Version: Back and Sides Go Bare From: GUEST,Jon Bennett of Moonrakers Date: 16 Nov 22 - 12:16 PM The version we sing may be a hybrid, though it has the merit of being in more modern English that most will understand. We tend to sing this outside during the Winter Wassail since begging songs and ale are par for the course. BACK AND SIDES GO BARE I would sooner be a beggar than a king I’ll tell you the reason why: A king cannot swagger or walk like a beggar Or be half so happy as I. Let your back and sides go bare, me boys Your hands and your feet grow cold. But give to your belly, boys, (*!) beer enough Whether it be new or old. Whether it be new or old I’ve sixpence sitting in me pocket, And I begged very hard for that There isn’t anybody who can offer me work While I hold out my begging hat. Now there’s a nobleman’s hall We can beg for bread and beer. We’ll pretend to be lame, or pretend to be blind Or much too deaf too hear. We can lie like hogs in a sty Frost and snow on the ground We’ll eat a crust that’s rolled in the dust And be thankful for what we found. I added the title. I hope it's right. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Back and sides go bare From: Jim Dixon Date: 12 Dec 10 - 10:31 PM Musical notation for one voice and piano for BACK AND SIDES GO BARE (but here titled I CANNOT EATE BUT LYTYLL MEATE) can be seen in The McGill University Song Book, Volume 1 by Students' Council, (Montreal: McGill University, 1921), page 150. It has the notation "Arr. by W. H. M." |
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Subject: Lyr Add: BACK AND SIDE GO BARE From: Jim Dixon Date: 12 Dec 10 - 10:29 PM This version is of interest because it has the original spelling, as well as more verses than the last version. From The Poetical Works of John Skelton, Volume 1 edited by Alexander Dyce (London: Thomas Rodd, 1843), page vii: I [Alexander Dyce] take the present opportunity of giving from a MS. in my possession a much fuller copy than has hitherto appeared of the celebrated song which opens the second act of Gammer Gurtons Nedle, and which Warton calls "the first chanson à boire or drinking-ballad, of any merit, in our language." Hist. of E. P. iii. 206. ed. 4to. The comedy was first printed in 1575: the manuscript copy of the song, as follows, is certainly of an earlier date: [CHORUS] backe & syde goo bare goo bare bothe hande & fote goo colde but belly god sende the good ale inowghe whether hyt be newe or olde. [1] but yf that I maye have trwly goode ale my belly full I shall looke lyke one by swete sainte Johnn were shoron agaynste the woole thowthe I goo bare take yow no care I am nothynge colde I stuffe my skynne so full within of joly goode ale & olde. [2] I cannot eate but lytyll meate my stomacke ys not goode but sure I thyncke that I cowde dryncke with hym that werythe an hoode dryncke ys my lyfe althowgthe my wyfe some tyme do chyde & scolde yete spare I not to plye the potte of joly goode ale & olde. [3] I love noo roste but a browne toste or a crabbe in the fyer a lytyll breade shall do me steade mooche breade I neuer desyer Nor froste nor snowe Nor wynde I trow Canne hurte me yf hyt wolde I am so wrapped within & lapped with joly goode ale & olde. [4] I care ryte nowghte I take no thowte for clothes to kepe me warme have I goode dryncke I surely thyncke nothynge canne do me harme for trwly than I feare noman be he neuer so bolde when I am armed & throwly warmed with joly good ale & olde. [5] but nowe & than I curse & banne they make ther ale so small god geve them care & evill to faare they strye the malte & all sooche pevisshe pewe I tell yowe trwe not for a c[r]ovne of golde ther commethe one syppe within my lyppe whether hyt be newe or olde. [6] good ale & stronge makethe me amonge full joconde & full lyte that ofte I slepe & take no kepe frome mornynge vntyll nyte then starte I vppe & fle to the cuppe the ryte waye on I holde my thurste to staunche I fyll my paynche with joly goode ale & olde. [7] and kytte my wyfe that as her lyfe lovethe well good ale to seke fall ofte drynkythe she that ye maye se the tears ronne downe her cheke then dothe she troule to me the bolle as a goode malte worme sholde & saye swete harte I have take my parte of joly goode ale & olde. [8] They that do dryncke tyll they nodde & wyncke even as good fellowes shulde do they shall notte mysse to have the blysse that good ale hathe browghte them to & all poore soules that skowre blacke bolles & them hathe lustely trowlde god save the lyves Of them & ther wyves wether they be yonge or olde. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: BACK AND SIDE GO BARE (Gammer Gurton's... From: Jim Dixon Date: 10 Dec 10 - 06:21 PM From Gammer Gurton's Needle (Forgotten Books), page 14: [The original was produced as a play around 1553 and first printed in 1575. This edition from 1906 seems to have had its spelling modernized.] CHORUS: Back and side go bare, Both foot and hand go cold; But, belly, God send thee good ale enough, Whether it be new or old. 1. I cannot eat but little meat. My stomach is not good; But sure I think that I can drink With him that wear a hood. Though I go bare, take ye no care; I am nothing a-cold; I stuff my skin so full within Of jolly good ale and old. 2. I love no roast but a nut-brown toast And a crab laid in the fire. A little bread shall do me stead; Much bread I not desire. No frost or snow, no wind, I trow, Can hurt me if I would; I am so wrapt, and thoroughly lapt Of jolly good ale and old. 3. And Tib, my wife, that as her life Loveth well good ale to seek, Full oft drinks she till ye may see The tears run down her cheek; Then doth she trowl to me the bowl, Even as a malt-worm should; And saith, sweet heart, I took my part Of this jolly good ale and old. 4. Now let them drink till they nod and wink, Even as good fellows should do; They shall not miss to have the bliss Good ale doth bring men to; And all poor souls that have scoured bowls, Or have them lustily troll'd, God save the lives of them and their wives, Whether they be young or old. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: BACK AND SIDES GO BARE From: Jim Dixon Date: 10 Dec 10 - 05:23 PM From Wit Restor'd (London: R. Pollard, N. Brooks, and T. Dring, 1658), page 277. Note: Wit Restor'd seems to be one of three reprinted works bound together in one volume. The title page for Wit Restor'd is on page 102 of this volume. The volume as a whole seems to be called Facetiae and the 3 parts of it are called Musarum Delicae, Wit Restor'd, and Wit's Recreations. The publication date on the title page for Facetiae is 1817. AN OLD SONG. Back and sides go bare, go bare, And feet and hands go cold, But let my belly have ale enough Whether it be new or old, Whether it be new or old, Boyes, whether it be new or old : But let my belly have ale enough, Whether it be new or old. A beggar's a thing as good as a king, If you aske me the reason why For a king cannot swagger And drink like a beggar No king so happy as I: Some call me knave and rascall slave, But I know, how to collogue Come upon um, and upon 'um; Will your worships and honour um, Then I am an honest rogue, then I Come upon um, and upon 'um will your worships: If a fart flye away where he makes his stay, Can any man think or suppose? For a fart cannot tell, when its out where to dwell, Unlesse it be in your nose, Unlesse it be in your nose boyes, Unlesse it be in your nose. For a fart cannot tell, when its out where to dwell, Unlesse it be in your nose. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Back and sides go bare From: Brian Peters Date: 10 Dec 10 - 06:00 AM Roy Harris did a great version of the Sharp 'Beggars Song' on the 'Champions of Folly' LP. A. L. Lloyd's sleeve notes state that additional verses were added from a version collected in Devon by Baring-Gould. And Harry Boardman used to sing 'Jolly Good Ale and Old'. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Back and sides go bare From: The Doctor Date: 10 Dec 10 - 05:31 AM There is a fine version of this song, under the title 'The Beggar', on Dave Burland's first LP 'The Dalesman's Litany'. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Back and sides From: Joe Offer Date: 10 Dec 10 - 01:20 AM This is the song for December 10 in the Properganda Alternative Christmas Calendar. I see 12 entries in the Roud Index, and here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:
Jolly Good Ale and Old (Back and Sides Go Bare)DESCRIPTION: With chorus, "Back and sides go bare, go bare, Both hand and feet go cold...." The singer laments his sad state: "I cannot eat but little meat, My stomach is not good." He discusses his lack of clothing. But he, and his wife, revive for ale.AUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1575 (Gammer Gurton's Needle) KEYWORDS: drink clothes hardtimes MiddleEnglish FOUND IN: Britain REFERENCES (14 citations): Sidgwick/Chambers-EarlyEnglishLyrics CXXXIII, pp, 229-231, "(no title)" (1 text) Shay-BarroomBallads/PiousFriendsDrunkenCompanions, pp. 43-44, "Back and Side Go Bare, Go Bare!" (1 text) HarvardClassics-EnglishPoetryChaucerToGray, pp. 190-192, "Jolly Good Ale and Old" (1 text) Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, pp. 72-73, "I Cannot Eat But Little Meat" (1 text, 1 tune) Chappell/Wooldridge-OldEnglishPopularMusic, p. 94, "(I cannot eat but lyttyl meat)" (1 tune, partial text, connected to "John Dory" [Child 284]) Brown/Robbins-IndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse, #554.5 DigitalIndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse #907 DT BACK&SID* MANUSCRIPT: London, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Art Library Dyce 25.F.40 (MS Dyce 45),folios 23-25 ADDITIONAL: (author unknown), edited by Charles Whitworth, _Gammer Gurton's Needle_, New Mermaids, 1984 (as part of _Three Sixteenth-Century Comedies_); second edition (separately published), W. W. Norton, 1997, pp. 17-18, "(no title)" (1 text) John Gassner, editor, _Medieval and Tudor Drama_, 1963, 1987 (references are to the undated Applause Books paperback), has Gammer Gurton's Needle on pp. 346-402; this song, which opens Act II, is on pp. 356-357. Norman Ault, _Elizabethan Lyrics From the Original Texts_, pp. 41-42, "Of Jolly Good Ale and Old" (1 text) Reginald Nettel, _Seven Centuries of Popular Song_, Phoenix House, 1956, pp. 49-50, "(no title)" (1 text) MANUSCRIPT: Source: London, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Art Library MS. Dyce 25.F.40 (Dyce 45), folio 23 Roud #V7039 CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "Let the Back and Sides Go Bare" (chorus) NOTES [889 words]: The books which print this often give very confusing notes about its origins. The earlier Ballad Index notes followed this in error. The basic fact is this: The earliest surviving printing is in Gammer Gurton's Needle, which was printed by Thomas Colwell in 1575. There is a facsimile on p. 1 of GammerGurtonsNeedle/Whitworth. The play is attributed only to "Mr. S., Master of Arts." In Gammer Gurton's Needle, at least as we have it, the song appears at the very beginning of Act II, with the prefatory note, "First a Song." (GammerGurtonsNeedle/Whitworth, pp. 17-18). No singer is indicated; it's just dropped into the middle of the text. There are four stanzas and chorus, and the singer's wife is named "Tib" in the third verse -- significant, because Tib is a character in the play, being the maid to Gammer Gurton. Which would seem straightforward enough -- except that, in 1562/1563, Thomas Colwell was licensed to print a piece, "Dyccon of Bedlam" (GammerGurtonsNeedle/Whitworth:, pp. xi-xii). The main character in Gammer Gurton's Needle is "Diccon, the Bedlam." Thus it is almost certain that this 1562 entry is for an earlier version of Gammer Gurton's Needle. Whether it was never printed, or all copies have been lost, we do not know; all we can say is that no copy of an earlier edition survives. (Colwell doesn't seem to have been a very noteworthy printer; none of my histories of printing mention him. It is not a good piece of typesetting, and uses mostly very primitive typefaces; I would easily have believed it to be fifty or more years older than it was) The play Gammer Gurton's Needle has been attributed to William Stevenson, and hence he is sometimes listed as the author of the song. The STC, for instance (#23263, p. 541), attributes the play to him. But this is only a chain of inference. To repeat, the play is attributed only to "Mr. S." The title page also says that the drama was played "not longe ago in Christes College." So scholars went searching for a "Mr. S." who was at Christ's College, Cambridge at the appropriate time. Henry Bradley found that a "Sir Stevenson" was a producer of plays at the college in 1559/1560. He was a Bachelor of Arts in 1550-1553, and a Master of Arts in 1559/1560 (he was likely away from the college during Mary Tudor's reign, 1553-1558). He left the college in 1561 to take a prebend at Durham Cathedral, and died in 1575 (GammerGurtonsNeedle/Whitworth, pp. xii-xiii). Thus Stevenson is by far the best candidate for the person responsible for presenting the play (so, e.g., Garnett/Gosse, volume II, p. 163, though they also mention attributions to John Bridges, bishop of Oxford from 1603 (died 1618) and to John Still, Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1593 (died 1608); on p. 153 they quote two stanzas and declare the attribution to Still "not likely"). But certain cautions are indicated even for the attribution to Stevenson. First, we have to assume that Gammer Gurton's Needle is indeed the same as Dyccon of Bedlam and that the statement that the play was recently presented goes back to the vanished printing of the latter play, because Stevenson couldn't have presented anything at Christ's College any time close to 1575! This is a reasonable but not certain assumption. Second, it assumes that Stevenson was author as well as presenter of the play, for which we have no evidence at all -- the STC shows no works by Stevenson except this. The bottom line is, Stevenson is the only reasonable candidate we have, but we cannot prove that he was the author. And even if he wrote Gammer Gurton's Needle, that's not proof that he wrote this song. That's particularly true because there are variant forms. The four verse version of Gammer Gurton's Needle is also that of Ault and Nettel. But the version in the Sidgwick/Chambers-EarlyEnglishLyrics and HarvardClassics-EnglishPoetryChaucerToGray has eight stanzas and gives the wife's name as Kit. It appears this is the version from the Dyce manuscript, which Alexander Dyce published in his 1843 volume The Poetical Works of John Skelton (died 1529). It does not appear that the poem itself is by Skelton. Its inclusion in the Dyce manuscript is rather odd, since most of the other material in the manuscript is religious. No one seems to have a date for the manuscript, but the fact that the Digital Index of Middle English Verse includes the song implies that they think it earlier than 1500. All of this is sufficiently speculative that I've stuck with 1575 as the "Earliest Date." At least the song is relatively relevant to Gammer Gurton's Needle; the plot of the play revolves the loss of the needle, which is needed to sew up the clothes of Gammer Gurton's servant Hodge; if the needle is not found, Hodge will soon find that his back and sides will be bare! Thomas, p. 9, says there are "numerous references to an early inclusion of certain" nursery rhymes in Gammer Gurton's Needle, nursery rhymes that she herself admits are not in the printed text. But she does not document the source that claims the rhymes were in Gammer Gurton's Needle. The "back and sides go bare" chorus seems to have been quite popular; in this index, see also "Let the Back and Sides Go Bare." Granger's Index to Poetry, if I read it right, cites six different poems with this first line. - RBW Bibliography File: DTbcksid Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2022 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. Here's the first Digital Tradition version: BACK AND SIDE GO BARE (DT Lyrics) Early English Lyrics (Chambers & Sedgewick; October House) cho. Back and side go bare, go bare Both hand and foot go cold, But belly, God send thee good ale enough, Whether it be new or old! But if that I may have truly Good Ale my belly full, I shall look like one, by sweet Saint John, Were shorn against the wool. Though I go bare, take ye no care I am nothing cold; I stuff my skin so full within Of jolly good ale and old. I cannot eat but little meat, My stomach is not good; But sure I think that I could drink With him that weareth an hood. Drink is my life; Although my wife Some time do chide and scold. Yet spare I not to ply the pot Of jolly etc. I love no roast but a brown toast, Or a crab in the fire. A little bread will do me stead, Much bread I never desire. Nor frost, nor snow nor wind, I trow Can hurt me if it wold, When I am wrapped within and lapped With jolly etc. I care right nought, I take no thought For clothes to keep me warm; Have I good drink, I surely think Nothing can do me harm. For truly than I fear no man, Be he never so bold, When I am armed and thoroughly warmed With jolly etc. But now and then I curse and ban They make their ale so small. God give them care and evil to fare They stry the malt and all. (stry=destroy) Such peevish pew, I tell you true Not for a crown of gold There cometh one sip within my lip Whether it be new or old. Good ale and strong maketh me among Full jocund and full light, That oft I sleep and take no keep From morning until night. Then start I up and flee to the cup The right way on I hold; My thirst to staunch, I fill my paunch With jolly etc. And Kit, my wife, that as her life Loveth well good ale to seek, Full oft drinketh she, that ye may see The tears run down her cheek. Than doth she troll to me the bowl As a good malt-worm should And say:"Sweetheart, I have take my part Of jolly etc." They that do drink till they nod and wink Even as good fellows should do, They shall not miss to have the bliss That good ale hath brought them to. And all poor souls that scour black bowls And them hath lustily trolled God save the lives of them and their wives Whether they be young or old! filename[ BACK&SID TUNE FILE: JOHNDORY CLICK TO PLAY (see note on ÿJOHNDORY) @drink RG
And the second: LET YOUR BACK AND SIDES GO BARE (DT Lyrics) I would sooner be a beggar as a king I'll tell you the reason why: A king cannot swagger or walk like a beggar Or be half so happy as I. cho: Let your back and sides go bare, me boys Hands and feet grow cold. But give to your belly, boys, ale enough Whether it be new or old. I've sixpence in me pocket and I worked hard for that Landlord, here it is. There isn't any Turk going to make me work While the beggin' is as good as it is. Sometimes we call at a nobleman's hall Beg for bread and beer. Sometimes we are lame, sometimes we are blind Sometimes too deaf too hear. Sometimes we lie like hogs in a sty, Frost and snow on the ground. Sometimes eat a crust that's rolled in the dust And be thankful if that can be found. Recorded by David Jones- Cruisin' Round Yarmouth Popularized, as far as I know, by RAF pilots in WWII-RG See also BACK&SID @drink @beggar filename[ BCK&SID2 TUNE FILE: BCK&SID2 CLICK TO PLAY RG
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Back and sides From: Anglo Date: 11 Dec 01 - 08:11 PM "I cannot eat but little meat" is sung by Robin Dransfield on the "Tale of Ale" CD. Since "Pills" was mentioned in this thread, I'll add the information that there's a recent reprint done by Higginson Books of Salem, MA. Not cheap, but it is at least available. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Back and sides From: Herga Kitty Date: 11 Dec 01 - 07:17 PM John J There was a thread going on this last month - Pills to Purge Melancholy, Bedlam Boys, Mad Tom of Bedlam etc. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Back and sides From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 11 Dec 01 - 02:53 PM There are two sets of Back and Sides Go Bare in the DT; one from literary sources, the other from oral tradition.
LET YOUR BACK AND SIDES GO BARE With tune; Dick Greenhaus comments, "Popularized, as far as I know, by RAF pilots in WWII". The text is virtually the same as that noted by Cecil Sharp from Robert Parish of Exford, Somerset, in 1907, which he called The Beggar. It's not impossible that that may have been the original source of the set in the DT, though if it was, the tune has been changed a fair bit.
BACK AND SIDE GO BARE A book is cited as source, but no other information is given. There is a reference, however, to JOHN DORY, which is the tune used; that file refers to Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time (1859), which places Back and Sides (as I cannot eat but little meat) in the play Gammer Gurton's Needle (1575), though Chappell considered it older. He quotes only four of eight verses; the DT file has all eight, but apparantly in the wrong order. Chappell wrote:
"I CANNOT EAT BUT LITTLE MEAT. This song was sung "in a right pithy, pleasant, and merry comedy," called Gammer Gurton's Needle, which was printed in 1575, but the Rev. Alex Dyce has given a copy of double length from a manuscript in his possession, and "certainly of an earlier date than the play." It may be seen in his account of Skelton and his writings, vol. i., p.7... Warton calls it "the first drinking song of any merit in our language."
The tune is printed in Stafford Smith's Musica Antiqua, and in Ritson's English Songs. Ritson says: "Set, four parts in one, by Mr. Walker, before the year 1600." And Smith, not knowing, I suppose, who Mr. Walker was, seems to have guessed Weelkes; but it is the old tune of John Dory in common time."
Claude M. Simpson (The British Broadside Ballad and Its Music, 1966) adds: "The famous drinking song in William Stevenson's Gammer Gurton's Needle, I can not eate but lytle meate, has been set as a four-part round to a common-time version of John Dory, but on what authority remains a mystery." |
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Subject: Back and sides From: John J Date: 11 Dec 01 - 12:42 PM There is a version of 'Back and Sides' listed in the DT,but it isn't the one I've heard. Does anyone know of any other versions? Also there are two versions of 'A-begging I will go' listed, but again these aren't the ones I've heard. Does anyone know of any other versions? Thanks loads, John |
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