Lyr Req: Jolly Beggar

Subject: RE: Lyr req for a couple of Irish tunes
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 08 Jan 02 - 11:48 PM

Quite so; he printed some Scottish sets with textual variants and some related broadside material.  Although the song was popular in Scotland, the earliest known example, The Politick Begger-Man (latter 17th Century), was English.  The version Planxty recorded (and which Kristine quoted in part) was taken from Stephen Sedley's book, The Seeds of Love (1967); the words are from English versions, being a collation of a chapbook text of c.1730, a set noted by Sabine Baring Gould in Devon (1889), and a broadside printed by Kendrew of York around 1830.  The tune used is Scottish.

Planxty cut part of the text, and made the remaining couplets into double-length verses.  Oddly, the DT file that claims to be taken from Sedley's book is actually a transcription from the Planxty record, and the midi with it also seems to be based on their singing rather than on the notation Sedley gave, and which they changed a bit in the course of learning it.

It's natural for people to assume that songs they have heard from Planxty or Christy Moore are Irish, but in fact they recorded quite a bit of Scottish, English and American material as well, though they didn't always say so.  Versions of Child #279 have been found in recent Irish tradition, but they are very different from this one, appearing in the main to derive from Scottish versions of The Gaberlunyie Man, which was printed in Scotland as early as 1724.

Further texts and a number of previous discussions can be found without too much difficulty by judicious use of the onsite search engines provided here, in particular the "Digitrad and Forum Search" on the main Forum page.

Subject: RE: Lyr req for a couple of Irish tunes
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 08 Jan 02 - 10:40 PM

It's Child #279.

Subject: RE: Lyr req for a couple of Irish tunes
From: Brían
Date: 08 Jan 02 - 10:05 PM

I think Childs regarded it too bawdy to be included in his collection. Many songs went back and forth over the channel. I have only heard this sung by Andy Irvine on a Planxy recording.

Brían

Subject: RE: Lyr req for a couple of Irish tunes
From: GUEST,jim I
Date: 08 Jan 02 - 08:44 PM

As far as I am aware this is more Scottish than Irish. I'm bored right now and feel like splitting a few hairs

Subject: RE: Lyr req for a couple of Irish tunes
From: GUEST,Kristine
Date: 08 Jan 02 - 01:22 PM

Oh, those are the words. Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou!

Subject: RE: Lyr req for a couple of Irish tunes
From: MMario
Date: 07 Jan 02 - 09:31 PM

THE JOLLY BEGGAR it's in the Digital tradition with several variants

main one is here

Subject: Lyr req for an Irish tune
From: GUEST,Kristine
Date: 07 Jan 02 - 09:14 PM

I'm looking for the title and the rest of the lyrics for the following tune:

Tune 1:
I saw a jolly beggarman come trippin o'er the plain
He came a to a farmer's door a lodging for to gain
The farmer's daughter she came down and mewed him cheek and chin
She says he is a handsome man I pray you take him in

CHORUS:
We'll go no more a rovin, a rovin in the night
We'll go no more a rovin lads, the moon shines so bright
We'll go no more a rovin