Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)

Subject: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (?) by Nic Jones
From: GUEST,Barbara H
Date: 14 Dec 02 - 04:39 AM

Does anyone have the lyrics to the Nic Jones version of Ploughman Lads - at least I think that's the title. Anyway, I'd like to sing it but can't pick up all the words from my aged recording. (Or is that my aged ears!)

Many thanks
Barbara

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (?) by Nic Jones
From: Felipa
Date: 14 Dec 02 - 04:48 AM

don't have this recording Is it by any chance the song with the chorus The ploughboy lads are gay braw lads, they'll court you and deceive you, ...?
or maybe something happier?

Subject: Lyr Add: PLOUGHMAN LADS (from Nic Jones)
From: nutty
Date: 14 Dec 02 - 04:54 AM

Here you are Barbara ..... It's a grand song

PLOUGHMAN LADS

Down yonder glen there's a ploughman lad
And some summer day he'll be all my own
Singing Laddie-I, and sing Laddie-O
Ploughman lads are all the go.

I'll love his face, I'll love his skin,
I'll love the very cut he harrows in
Singing Laddie-I, and sing Laddie-O
Ploughman lads are all the go.

Down yonder glen, could've gotten a miller
But all his dust would have made us choke
Singing Laddie-I, and sing Laddie-O
Ploughman lads are all the go.

Down yonder glen, could've gotten a merchant,
All of his goods were not worth a groat
Singing Laddie-I, and sing Laddie-O
Ploughman lads are all the go.

Oh see him coming down from the town,
With all of his ribbons hanging down
Singing Laddie-I, and sing Laddie-O
Ploughman lads are all the go.

Sing Laddie-I, and sing Laddie-O
Ploughman lads are all the go.

-------------------
Traditional.
sung by Nic Jones on "In Search of Nic Jones"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (?) by Nic Jones
From: GUEST,Mac Tattie
Date: 14 Dec 02 - 08:21 AM

This is more commonly sung - .... Sing laddie oh an' sing laddie aye the ploughman laddies are a' the go. I know this don't rhyme, but.... cheers.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Sep 10 - 03:00 PM

Hi All:

I just wrote to Nic and Julia about this lyric because I was sure Nic was singing 'I'll love the very CART he harrows in'. Here's what Julia had to say:

'Hi Tim
It's the oral tradition at work again! Nic learned the song from the singing of Enoch Kent's version of the song Ploomen Laddies collected from Arthur Argo. In it, it is the word "cairt", and Nic sings cart, which he took to mean the Scottish version of cart.   I suppose it could be either, although a harrow is dragged over ploughed land (which will have deep cuts) in order to level out the soil after ploughing, which suggests it should be cart.   In olden days harrows were pulled by either by horses, so a ploughman could walk in a cut before it was levelled. I leave you to make your own choice!'

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: Tim Chesterton
Date: 05 Sep 10 - 03:05 PM

Sorry, that last message was from me - didn't sign in!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 05 Sep 10 - 04:46 PM

The original Scots version goes

"I love his teeth and I love his skin -
I love the verra cairt he hurls in:"

'hurls' is pronounced with two syllables, so it's nothing to do with harrowing.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: akenaton
Date: 05 Sep 10 - 05:19 PM

Correct John.....for the benefit o' furriners to be "hurled" in a cairt is to ride in one, or perhaps drive a horse and cart.

I love the song,which is from Aberdeenshire...There are many great versions, maybe the best known would be the Tannahill Weavers
The Plooboy Laddies

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: akenaton
Date: 05 Sep 10 - 05:53 PM

One for luck

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: Tim Chesterton
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 12:58 AM

Ah - so if a guy like me was trying to do a non-Scots-brogue version of it, 'I love the very cart he's riding in' would be legit?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: akenaton
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 03:21 AM

Tim, In all sincerity my friend, if ye cannae dae the "brogue", dinnae bother treein' tae sing the sang.

Ive heard so many singers....even Scots ones...who try to make the song "understandable" or who just dont have a grasp of the dialect.

They end up losing the beauty of the words
Listen.... "Ah love him weel,Ah love nane but him.
            Ah love the VERY cairt he hurls in.

Do you understand what that says about young love? The magic is in the words, listen to some of the old Scots ballad singers like Gordeanna McCulloch, Belle Stewart, Jim Reid.

Ye micht no' be a Scot...Bit ye'll gey soon soond lik' wan!!   :0)Ake

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: akenaton
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 03:32 AM

Listen to the OLD BLIND DOGS version on youtube and contrast it with the Tannies version......It sounds prissy and weak conveying nothing of young love and sexual awakening....It has become just another song!

Thats why we must learn respect for our musical traditions....as in life, through change we may lose precious things.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: akenaton
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 03:50 AM

Sorry to triple post Tim, but maybe you could try reading some of the works of Lewis Grassic Gibbon, like Sunset Song, or the short stories ....Smeddum, Greenden etc......They can be found in "The speak of the Mearns".....The dialect used by Gibbon is not fully authentic, but easy for a non native to pick up

"Last week, nationalist historian Paul Henderson Scott was bemoaning the passing of Scots. He was berating English as a 'killer' language. He quotes Lewis Grassic Gibbon saying that guid Scots could wring and hold the heart, while English words were: 'Sharp and clean and true - for a while ... until they slid so smooth from your throat, you knew they could never say anything worth the saying at all."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 08:34 AM

Sorry about this folks, but I think I'm having a senior moment. I was about to retort that the song was collected from Lucy Stewart of Fetterangus in Aberdeenshire, and that it belongs in the public domain, rather than being the property of Nic Jones.

However, I've just searched my own extremely comprehensive database and can't trace a record of her singing it. Also, while Steve Roud's Folksong Index lists eight printed sources, it does not list a single sound recording of Mrs Stewart or anyone else singing The Plooman Laddies.

So, did Lucy Stewart sing it? If so, was her performance ever published? Or should I just go and lie down for 1/2 an hour?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 08:51 AM

Ok folks. Panic over. No sooner had I hit the Go button than I remembered Tobar an Dualchais (Kist of Riches) that wonderful on-line resource recently set up by the School of Scottish Studies. ( http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk )

It includes a truly awesome recording of Lucy Stewart singing The Plooman Laddies, along with the following comment.

Title - Plooman Laddies
Contributors - Miss Lucy Stewart
Reporters - Prof. Kenneth Goldstein

Summary - In this song, a woman hopes to marry the ploughman she loves. She could have married a miller, but the mill dust would have made her ill. Likewise, she might have married the merchant, but his wares are not worth much. The singer's hope is realised, and she marries the ploughman.

Track Duration (h:m:s) - 00:02:05
Date Recorded - 1959.12.17
Language - Scots
Genre - Song
Collection - School of Scottish Studies

Track ID - 59336
Original Tape ID - SA1960.139
Original Track ID - SA1960.139.A1

Recording Location:
County - Aberdeenshire
Parish - Old Deer
Village - Fetterangus

Item Notes - 6 couplets with refrain of 2 lines. Cf. Roud Folk Song Index no. 3447.
See:
'The Scottish Folksinger' (N. Buchan & P. Hall, 1973) p. 129


Permanent Link - http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/59336/1

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: akenaton
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 01:56 PM

Just a few points about the song

"The plooboy laddies are a' the go."

"A' the go" means in fashion....The ploughmen were the jack the lads of the farm touns, they dressed fashionably,regarded themselves as better than a farm labourer or cowman and were regarded by the lassies as a good catch.

"Ah see him comin' frae ahent yon toun,
wi' aw his ribbons hingin' roond an' roon."

As well as keeping themselves smart in appearance, the ploughmen also kept their horses in good trim, decking them out in ribbons and polishing the brasses and leather of the harness till they shone like gold....especially if they were off to compete in a ploughing match.
I remember as a child in the early fifties attending such competitions, sadly they died out with modern farming methods, as did the horse and plooboy.


And when ah see ma plooboy's smile,
its in his airms ah wad bide a while
Sing laddie aye, an' sing laddie o,
the plooboy laddies are a' the go.

Isn't it a lovely song?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: toadfrog
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 02:11 PM

A magnificent version of that song was recorded by Elizabeth Stewart on "Binorie" University of Aberdeen EICD002-1. I recommend the disk to all!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 06:27 PM

I have vague memories of Lucy's version being available on a Folkways LP entitled "Lucy Stewart of Fetterangus".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 07 Sep 10 - 09:54 AM

I've just checked the Smithsonian Folkways site and the only stuff they have by LS is Lucy Stewart: Traditional Singer from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Vol. 1 - Child Ballads
Lucy Stewart FW03519. Since their on-line catalogue is supposed to contain everything that Folkways ever issued, this is surprising.

Does anyone know was there ever a volume 2 issued, and did it have the Plooman Laddies on it?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: Tim Chesterton
Date: 09 Sep 10 - 01:07 AM

Personally I think a Sassenach like me trying to sing this with a Scots accent and Scots words just sounds phoney.

And I think Nic did a pretty decent job of it in 'Essex' English.

(ducking and running...)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: GUEST,Ralphie
Date: 09 Sep 10 - 02:34 AM

As an addendum to this interestin discussion.
At a concert to celebrate Nic Jones at Sidmouth festival a couple of weeks ago, (Nic was present), One of the encores was a version of PL sung mainly by Nancy Kerr, the assembled company on stage, 1000 people in the audience, and Nic's high harmony soaring over the lot of them.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 09 Sep 10 - 04:43 AM

I remember hearing a recording of this song, sung by a Scots traditional singer, years ago.

On 'Songs of Courtship', Vol. 1 of the 'Folk Songs of Britain' set of LPs which Topic released in the 60s (which had been released earlier by the American label, Caedmon), is a song called 'My Darling Ploughboy' sung by Jimmy McBeath of Elgin, Moray. I'm wondering if this is the recording I'm thinking of? Unfortunately, I can't check because (a) I appear to have lost the notes to that particular LP and (b) I no longer own a turntable to play it on!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 10 Sep 10 - 02:42 PM

Shimrod. No. Jimmy McBeath's song was something else entirely. No 843 in Roud, where Lucy Stewart's is 3448.

I haven't got time to dig the entire text out, but a sample verse of JM's song goes as far as I remember.

Down in my father's garden where first my love met me,
He is the laddie and the man, the lad that I loo well,
And when he sings the valleys rings and he makes my heart full joy.
Go where you will and I love him still. He's my darling plooman boy.

McBeath's version is also in Kennedy, Folksongs of Britain and Ireland, BTW, and there are other versions in Ord and Greig-Duncan and in the Maud Karpeles edited publication of the Sharp collection.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 04:46 AM

Thanks Fred! It was a bit of a long shot, I admit. Must get myself a turntable and play those records again.

Now, whose version did I commit to memory all those years ago?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ploughman Lads (from Nic Jones)
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 05:40 AM

When you do, why not copy the records to digital media? It's dead easy and it means you can play them anywhere without having to rely on a turntable.