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Subject: Lincolnshire Poacher From: mlogsdon@teleweb.net Date: 19 Oct 96 - 03:18 PM I am trying to determine the earliest known version of The Lincolnshire Poacher. I would like to find someone who can tell me what source they have found that has determined the age of this piece. I love it, but I won't let my Fife and Drum Corps play it, unless it comes from the 18th Century. Thanks for the help, in advance. Mark Logsdon |
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Subject: Reasking the question From: GUEST,Mark Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:48 PM Are there a number of versions to this song? |
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Subject: RE: Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST,Bruce O. Date: 21 Aug 00 - 08:09 PM That's usually not possible on songs from broadsides. It's #299 in Steve Roud's folk song and broadside indexes, and copies by Pitt and Catnach are of the 1st half of the 19th century. Northamptonshire seems to be found as the place more often then Lincolnshire. Search title/fist line/tune on the Bodley Ballads website (in Mucat's Links) for copies under several titles: Poachers, Bold Poachers, Shiny Night. |
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Subject: RE: Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST,Bruce O. Date: 21 Aug 00 - 08:55 PM Robert Bell's headnote, 1857, about a copy printed at York about 1776, is reprinted in a book at Click Search there for "The Lincolnshire Poacher" |
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Subject: RE: Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST,Bruce O. Date: 21 Aug 00 - 08:58 PM My blue clicky didn't work. Go to: www.geocities.com/~spanoudi/poems/ballads.html or click onto Bell's book on the SCA Minstrel website. |
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Subject: RE: Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST,Mark Date: 21 Aug 00 - 09:10 PM The Lincolnshire Poacher (from http://www.geocities.com/~spanoudi/poems/TitleIdx/titles-l.html) Apparently the original tune is that of a Lancashire air, well known as The Manchester Angel; but a florid modern tune has been substituted. Does anyone know what the "Florid modern tune" is? I am off to look for the Manchester Angel.
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Subject: RE: Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST,Bruce O. Date: 21 Aug 00 - 09:18 PM "The Manchester Angel/ Lincolnshire Poacher" is in William Chappell's PMOT, p. 734, so the other is probably "The Lincolnshire Poacher" on p. 732. T |
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Subject: RE: Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST,Mark Date: 22 Aug 00 - 03:12 AM Thanks Bruce. Much appreciated. Dont spose there's a web source for the above refs.
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Subject: RE: Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST,Bruce O. Date: 22 Aug 00 - 03:30 PM Wm. Chappell says the tune for "Manchester Angel" was used for "The Lincolnshire Poacher" in 'the North of England, and the site was changed from Lincolnshire to Lancashire.' The last one is the tune collected by W.P. Merick from a Mr. Hills at Shepperton in Nov., 1899.
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE LINCOLNSHIRE POACHER (Chappell, 1838) From: Jim Dixon Date: 07 Sep 16 - 05:13 PM From A Collection of National English Airs, …, Vol. 2 edited by W. Chappell (London: Chappell, 1838), page 62. I have boldfaced the words that are different from the version in the DT. No. LX. IN THE SEASON OF THE YEAR, sometimes called THE POACHER'S SONG, the date or origin of which it is difficult to trace; but so well known among the peasantry, that it has been sung by several hundred voices together at Windsor, at the harvest-homes of George the Fourth. THE LINCOLNSHIRE POACHER. WHEN I was bound apprentice in fair Lincolnshire, Full well I serv'd my master for more than seven year, 'Till I took up to Poaching, as you shall quickily hear, O 'tis my delight, on a shining night, in the season of the year. As me and my comarade were setting of a snare, 'Twas then we spied the gamekeeper, for him we did not care, For we can wrestle and fight, my boys, and jump o'er anywhere, O 'tis my delight, on a shining night, in the season of the year. As me and my comarade were setting four or five, And taking on him up again, we caught the hare alive, We took the hare alive, my boys, and thro' the woods did steer, O 'tis my delight, on a shining night, in the season of the year. We threw him over our shoulder, and then we trudged home, We took him to a neighbour's house, and sold him for a crown, We sold him for a crown, my boys, but I did not tell you where, O 'tis my delight, on a shining night, in the season of the year. Success to every gentleman that lives in Lincolnshire, Success to every Poacher that wants to sell a hare, Bad luck to every gamekeeper that will not sell his deer, O 'tis my delight, on a shining night, in the season of the year. * [The tune is given in volume 1 of the same work, page 32:]
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: Rumncoke Date: 07 Sep 16 - 07:22 PM My mother used to sing this. The version I wrote down is very similar to the one in the Digitrad, with a few differences In verse 2 line two, The gamekeeper was watching us, for him we did not care Verse three line three We put her into a bag my boys and through the wood did steer Verse four line two We called into a neighbour's house and sold her for a crown Verse five begins Now I do favour poaching I think its very fair. One thing I noticed - the hare is called 'he' in the two versions, but hares are called 'she', or puss - at least by country folk. |
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST Date: 10 May 18 - 01:46 PM i was born in 1961 but I remember my Dad spotting poachers' old bangers in the woods by night & although he didn't support, nothing would have induced him to intervene - a means of subsistence for the rural poor well after the 19th century, in my experience |
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST,Nick Dow Date: 07 Sep 19 - 02:42 PM I came across this thread from Mainly Norfolk. I collected a tune for this song from Bill House of Beaminster in 1984 it's the Manchester Angel Tune. Bill insisted it was the Poacher song he had heard. A version of the Manchester Angel was collected in 1906 about 300 yards from Bill's front door, from old Sam Gregory the shepherd if my memory serves me. It found it's way into the Penguin book. I wouldn't mind some Dorset based words if any exist, Bill only had the tune. Just a thought. |
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: Mick Pearce (MCP) Date: 07 Sep 19 - 07:14 PM Nick, if you mean Dorset based words for the Lincolnshire Poacher, the Roud index lists only 2 fragmentary texts collected by Hammond Lincolnshire Poacher collected in Dorset. I had a look at them - it looks like just one verse each: D239 Piddletown and D210 - Lackington Mick |
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST,Nick Dow Date: 07 Sep 19 - 07:25 PM Yes Robert Barratt and George Dowden, a master carter and sea captain respectively. They used to sing together in the Blue Vinny Pub Puddletown. Robert Barratt had throat cancer when he sang to the Hammonds. I have dug up an extra verse to the regular verses. I used to be a fowler as my father did before The Gentry they enclosed the land so now I break the law. So now I break the law my boys for I think poaching's fair It's my delight &co Not sure it's traditional, and does not appear in any street literature. Nice verse though. |
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: Big Al Whittle Date: 08 Sep 19 - 02:15 PM I'm a Boston lad. I remember the Lincolnshire Regiment (now no more) were called The Poachers and they had the right to parade through the town with bayonets fixed. this they would do, with their band playing this song. perhaps if you asked the ministry of defence how long and from what date they were called the poachers, it would tell you if the song stretched back to the 18th century. just an idea. some of these old regiments have people who trace their history. |
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: mayomick Date: 08 Sep 19 - 02:17 PM Isn't it the roughly the same tune as the one for A-Hunting We will Go ? |
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST,Nick Dow Date: 08 Sep 19 - 02:48 PM The usual tune yes, but not the Dorset tune. I reckon the 'Angel' tune is in the Miller of Dee family of tunes, and possibly stemmed from the 'Gregory Walker' tune. Top of the pops in the seventeenth Century. |
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: Steve Gardham Date: 08 Sep 19 - 04:02 PM Very few regimental marches go back any further than the mid 19th century. Some were even Music Hall songs. One reason why many tunes are difficult to trace back accurately is many ballads were sung by the broadside sellers and they would have a set repertoire of say 20 tunes and whichever fitted best to the ballad they were selling they would use. However if a ballad was sung regularly in a stage musical and became very popular its tune would be nationally well-known and when it was collected in oral tradition later it would have a very stable tune. Think Dark-eyed Sailor, Green Bushes, Lord Lovell etc. |
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Subject: ADD Parody: The Lincolnshire Vampire From: Joe Offer Date: 05 Nov 21 - 11:50 PM From Elizabeth Block of Toronto: THE LINCOLNSHIRE VAMPIRE When I was just a farmer’s boy of twelve or thirteen years A film about Count Dracula it gave me weird ideas Me dad drank beer, the cat drank milk, the cows just chewed the cud But ‘twas my delight in the dead of night to suck a maiden’s blood Yes, ‘twas my delight in the dead of night to suck a maiden’s blood’ I met a real beauty at the local discotheque While dancing cheek to cheek I thought I’d bite her in the neck I loosed the collar of her dress, and brushed aside her curls Ah ‘twas my delight but I burped all night ‘cos I swallowed half her pearls Yes ‘twas my delight but I burped all night ‘cos I swallowed half her pearls I went to the blood doning place to give a pint or three The doctor said we must find out if you’re group A or B I said that might be difficult but I want to be a donor For ‘twas my delight again last night – you must ask the previous owner Yes ‘twas my delight again last night – you must ask the previous owner For nearly sixty years I’ve eaten sweeties and meringues And tooth decay’s affected me and I’m loosing all me fang(ues) Though I can’t bite at all these days I still likes me gore Ah ‘tis my delight on a Friday night but I sucks it through a straw Yes ‘tis my delight on a Friday night but I sucks it through a straw Elizabeth got this song from Peter Hawkins, who attached this note:
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Subject: Version: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: Joe Offer Date: 06 Nov 21 - 12:28 AM Nice recording of "Lincolnshire Poacher" by the Spinners: THE LINCOLNSHIRE POACHER (from the Spinners). Oh, when I was bound apprentice in famous Lincolnshire, 'Twas well I serv'd my master for nigh on seven years, 'Till I took up to Poaching, as you shall quickly hear, O 'tis my delight, on a shining night, in the season of the year. (twice) As me and my companions was a-setting of a snare, 'Twas then we spied the gamekeeper, for him we didn't care, For we can wrestle and fight, my boys, and jump o'er anywhere, O 'tis my delight, on a shining night, in the season of the year. As me and my commpanions was setting four or five, And taking on him up again, we caught a hare alive, We took a hare alive, my boys, and thro' the woods did steer, O 'tis my delight, on a shining night, in the season of the year. I threw him over my shoulder, boys, and then we trudg-ed home, We took him to a neighbour's house, and sold him for a crown, We sold him for a crown, my boys, but I didn't tell you where, O 'tis my delight, on a shining night, in the season of the year. Success to every gentleman that lives in Lincolnshire, Success to every Poacher that wants to sell a hare, Bad luck to every gamekeeper that will not sell his deer, O 'tis my delight, on a shining night, in the season of the year. |
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: GUEST Date: 06 Nov 21 - 02:05 AM English Country Songbook by Roy Palmer, 1979 10 Turnit Hoeing; The song is a relatively late production, but it was certainly in existence by 1881, when the tune was adopted as the official march of the 1st Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment (although perhaps out of conservatism the former march 'The Lincolnshire Poacher' did not in fact give way to the upstart until 1932). 49 The Lincolnshire Poacher; George IV [b.1762, d.1830] enjoyed the tune which is still well known, thanks to the National Song Book, but the melody much earlier associated with the song was The Manchester Angel. Although other counties - Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and even Somersetshire - are sometimes introduced, it seems that Lincolnshire was originally intended, at least from the evidence of the earliest printed version, which appeared in 1776. The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum THE WILTSHIRE REGIMENT (Duke of Edinburgh's) 1st Battalion For many years the 1st Battalion used a version of ‘the Lincolnshire poacher’ as its Regimental March. The original tune is an old Lincolnshire folk song. It is the Regimental March of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment, who not unnaturally were most jealous of its use by other regiments. At some point a ‘directive’ was issued that regiments unconnected with Lincolnshire should not use the march. However the Wiltshires had used the march for so long, albeit in a slightly different version, that a blind eye (or preferably a deaf ear) was turned toward its continued use. Poachers are not exactly unknown in Wiltshire, and the march was played by the regimental band and referred to as ‘The Wiltshire Poacher’. In 1932, the 1st Battalion came up against a problem, for they were stationed with the Royal Lincolnshires in Shanghai. It was obvious that both regiments could not use the same march past, so the only course open was for The Wiltshire Regiment to gracefully relinquish, with many regrets, ‘The Lincolnshire Poacher’ and to be satisfied with our officially allotted ‘The Wiltshire’. |
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Subject: RE: Origin: The Lincolnshire Poacher From: Lighter Date: 06 Nov 21 - 05:49 PM The song was so well known in the United States by 1842 that a serious parody appeared concerning the American Revolution. William M'Carty, ed. "Songs, odes, and other poems, on national subjects: compiled from various sources" (Phila.: William MCarty, 1842), pp. 236-237: THE YANKEE VOLUNTEER. Tune— “The Poachers.” THE days of seventy-six, my boys, We ever must revere: Our fathers took their muskets then, To fight for freedom dear. Upon the plains of Lexington, They made the foe look queer. O, 'tis great delight to march and fight As a Yankee volunteer. The next, on famous Bunker hill, Our standard they did rear; 'Twas there our gallant Warren fell— I tell it with a tear. But, for their victory that day, The foe did pay full dear: O, 'tis great delight to march and fight As a Yankee volunteer. Through snow and ice at Trenton, boys, They cross'd the Delaware; Led by the immortal Washington, No danger they did fear. 'Twas there they took the Hessians, boys, Then back to town did steer. O, 'tis a great delight to march and fight As a Yankee Volunteer. At Saratoga next, my boys, Burgoyne they beat severe: And at the siege of Yorktown, They gain'd their cause so dear. Cornwallis there gave up his sword, Whilst freedom’s sons did cheer. O, 'tis great delight to march and fight As a Yankee Volunteer. Throughout our latest struggles, boys, We still victorious were; And Jackson's deeds, at New Orleans, In bright array appear. His virtues and his bravery Each freeman must revere. O, 'tis great delight to march and fight As a Yankee Volunteer. And should a foeman e'er again Upon our coast appear, There's hearts around me, brave and true, Who’d quickly volunteer. To drive invaders from the soil, Columbia's sons hold dear: O, they'd each delight to march and fight As a Yankee Volunteer. Through snow and ice at Trenton, boys, They cross'd the Delaware; Led by the immortal Washington, No danger they did fear. 'Twas there they took the Hessians, boys, Then back to town did steer. O, 'tis a great delight to march and fight As a Yankee Volunteer. At Saratoga next, my boys, Burgoyne they beat severe: And at the siege of Yorktown, They gain'd their cause so dear. Cornwallis there gave up his sword, Whilst freedom’s sons did cheer. O, 'tis great delight to march and fight As a Yankee Volunteer. Throughout our latest struggles, boys, We still victorious were; And Jackson's deeds, at New Orleans, In bright array appear. His virtues and his bravery Each freeman must revere. O, 'tis great delight to march and fight As a Yankee Volunteer. And should a foeman e'er again Upon our coast appear, There's hearts around me, brave and true, Who’d quickly volunteer. To drive invaders from the soil, Columbia's sons hold dear: 0, they'd each delight to march and fight As a Yankee Volunteer. It's tempting to date the song to the period before 1812, but there's no proof. But the following is easy to date: "The Camp Fire Songster" (N.Y.: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1864), pp. 23-24: THE NEW YORK VOLUNTEER. 'Twas in the days of '76, When Freemen, young and old, All fought for Independence then, Each hero brave and bold ! 'Twas then the noble Stars and Stripes In triumph did appear, And defended by brave patriots, The Yankee Volunteers. Chorus. — 'Tis my delight to march and fight Like a New York Volunteer. Now, there's our City Regiments, Just see what they have done : The first to offer to the State To go to Washington To protect the Federal Capital And the Flag they love so dear ! And they've done their duty nobly, Like New York Volunteers. 'Tis my delight, &c. The Rebels out in Maryland, They madly raved, and swore They'd let none of our Union troops Pass through Baltimore; But the Massachusetts Regiment No Traitors did they fear; But fought their way to Washington, Like Yankee Volunteers. 'Tis my delight, &c. Now, there's the noble Sixty-Ninth, Just see what they have done: They dug ten miles of trenches, Way down at Washington. Now, they are reorganizing Under Thomas Francis Meagher, And they'll avenge brave Corcoran, Like New York Volunteers. 'Tis my delight, &c, Then, there's the noble Firemen, Ever ready, one and all, To quench the burning elements, And obey their Country's call; They never shrink from duty, But you'll always find them near. To avenge brave Col. Ellsworth Like New York Volunteers. 'Tis my delight, &c. "Brave Corcoran" was Brig. Gen. Michael Corcoran, who died Dec. 22, 1863 - thrown by his horse. Col. Elmer Ellsworth, a personal frined of Lincoln's, was killed May 24, 1861. He was the firs Union officer to be killed in the Civil War. |
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