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01 May 08 - 10:28 AM (#2330590) Subject: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Mr Happy From DT: SCHOOLDAYS END (Ewan MacColl) A7 D Schooldays over, come on then John, G D Time you was puttin you pit boots on D G A Bm F#m Bm On with your sark and moleskin trousers, time you was on your way D G A Time you was learnin the pitman's job, and earning a pitman's pay Come on then Jim, it's time to go, time you was working down below Time to be handling a pick and shovel, you start at the pit today Time you was learning the collier's job, and earning a collier's pay Come on then Dai, it's almost light, time you was off to the anthracite The morning mist in on the valley, it's time you was on your way Time you was learning the miner's job, and earning a miner's pay ********* What does it mean 'sark?' |
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01 May 08 - 10:45 AM (#2330605) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Peace "Sark (?), n. [AS. serce, syrce, ashirt; akin to Icel. serkr, Sw. särk.] A shirt. [Scot.]" |
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01 May 08 - 10:49 AM (#2330608) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Peace Sorry to be so abrupt. I wonder if it is in reference to shirt? "On with your sark and moleskin trousers," Sark is one item to wear and moleskin trousers another. I'm guessing here. |
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01 May 08 - 10:59 AM (#2330621) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Mr Happy My old record of Luke Kelly singing it, I always heard it as 'sack' Thanks for info- makes more sense |
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01 May 08 - 11:25 AM (#2330651) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Folkiedave Sark as in "Cutty Sark" = short shirt. |
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01 May 08 - 11:27 AM (#2330654) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: DonMeixner Sark as in shirt according to a live concert I heard with Macoll and Seeger on PBS 30 years ago. They sang this and several of the other Mining songs. Don |
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01 May 08 - 11:59 AM (#2330676) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Les in Chorlton Sark = Shirt in the glossary to the Ewan MacColl Peggy Seeger SongbookOak Publications1963. |
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01 May 08 - 12:25 PM (#2330701) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: goatfell I sing first line as Tom because I have brothers called John and Jim and my name is Tom, so I've made it more personal. |
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01 May 08 - 12:26 PM (#2330702) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: goatfell Come on then Dai, it's almost light, time you was off to the anthracite The morning mist in on the valley, it's time you was on your way Time you was learning the miner's job, and earning a miner's pay I sing first line as Tom instead of Dai because I have brothers called John and Jim and my name is Tom, so I've made it more personal. |
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01 May 08 - 05:06 PM (#2330940) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Jim Dixon I've heard "Cutty Sark" translated as "short skirt." "Short skirt" sounds sexier, and more feminine, than "short shirt", and therefore a better name for a ship, but maybe that's just my bias! Maybe sark is ambiguous and could mean either shirt or skirt—maybe it's a kind of shift or smock. Come to think of it, I wonder if all these words—shirt, skirt, shift, sark, and smock—come from the same ancient root. I suppose the design of clothing, and the words we use to describe it, are as variable as music is, and could be considered a branch of folklore unto itself. |
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01 May 08 - 05:49 PM (#2330976) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: GUEST,Don Meixner Is this the correct title then? I have always thought it to be "School Days Over" Don |
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01 May 08 - 05:59 PM (#2330982) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: John Routledge Pretty sure School Days End is the correct title. Also first verse relates to NE England where shirt was pronounced short so I sing " On with your short and moleskin trousers" The Folk process is alive and well |
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01 May 08 - 06:00 PM (#2330986) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: John Routledge Sorry "Schooldays End." |
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01 May 08 - 06:16 PM (#2330997) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Gurney The verses imply Scottish, English and Welsh coalmining lads. I hadn't realised that until I turned a tape to CD last week, and listened carefully. Another McColl nuance. He really was a superb songwriter. |
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01 May 08 - 07:59 PM (#2331060) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Joybell It was written under the title of "Schooldays End" but singers, here in Aus. anyway, call it "School Days Over" from the first line. As a descendant of Cornish miners I've always thought that the threesome went - Cornish, English, Welsh. John/Jack being the Cornish one. I hadn't thought about the Scottish. Wouldn't a Scottish boy be Jock or Sandy? Cheers, Joy |
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01 May 08 - 08:10 PM (#2331072) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Joybell A quick look at the word "sark" for shirt -- suggests that it was used in Cornwall. Lots of place-names there still use it. So that sark does not necessarily suggest Scotland. I'm for Cornish, English and Welsh -- they were the areas known for their mines. Cheers, Joy |
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02 May 08 - 09:27 AM (#2331248) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Snuffy Not Cornish, Joy: it's about coal mining. I've always taken the verses to refer to Durham, Lancashire and South Wales respectively "Pitmen" are from the North East of England, where they speak "pitmatic" (and the word sark is not unknown: Dolly Coxon pawned hers). When I cam to Walker wark,"Collier" seems to have been the preferred designation of Lancashire miners (especially in song). Doubtless, MacColl could have written other verses to include Scotland, Yorskhire, etc., but felt that three were enough. |
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03 May 08 - 12:40 AM (#2331783) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Schooldays End: McColl From: Joybell You're right Snuffy. Of course it is about coal now that I look properly. Cheers, Joy |