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Lyr Add: The Old Rose and Crown (Ian Robb)

26 Aug 24 - 05:06 PM (#4207532)
Subject: Lyr Add: The Old Rose and Crown
From: Joe Offer

THE OLD ROSE AND CROWN
(Ian Robb)

Good friends, gather ’round and I’ll tell you a tale;
It’s a story well-known to all lovers of ale;
For the old English pub, once a man’s second home,
Has been decked out, by brewers, in plastic and chrome.

Oh, what has become of the old Rose and Crown,
The Ship, the King’s Arms, and the World Upside-Down?
For oak, brass and leather and a pint of the best
Fade away like the sun as it sinks in the west.

The old oaken bar where the pumps filled your glass
Gives way to Formica and tanks full of gas;
And the landlord behind, once a man of good cheer,
Will just mumble the price as he hands you your beer.

And where are the friends who would meet for a jar
And a good game of darts in the old public bar?
For the dartboard is gone; in its place is a thing
Where you pull on a handle and lose all your tin.

But the worst of it all’s what they’ve done to the beer,
For their shandies and lager will make you feel queer.
For an arm and a leg they will fill up your glass
With a half-and-half mixture of ullage and gas.

So, come all you good fellows that likes to sup ale;
Let’s hope for a happier end to my tale,
For there’s nothing can fill a man’s heart with more cheer
Than to sit in a pub with a pint of good beer.

by Ian Robb, 1985.
Source: https://crescentcitybrewtalk.com/the-old-rose-and-crown/

Ian Robb recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KsM5nQv--4

Stan Rogers performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX8i50GLeMQ

26 Aug 24 - 05:14 PM (#4207534)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Old Rose and Crown
From: Joe Offer

from Jim Lucas:

Here's my slight modification of the last verse:
    "But come all you good people who like to sup ale;
    There's now hope for a happier end to this tale;
    For now we can fill our stout hearts with good cheer
    As we sit in a brew pub with a pint of real beer.

27 Aug 24 - 02:03 PM (#4207566)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Old Rose and Crown
From: GUEST,Hootenanny

Joe,

I don't know if you have been to a UK pub (I believe Ian Robb was British) but I feel you are being a little optimistic in your verse. The number of real pubs in the UK is decreasing at an alarming rate. Bar staff are not well paid and seem to have little knowledge of how to keep real ale. Brew pubs are sometimes more expensive and some of their product in my recent experience tempts me to quote Al Jolson when he tried British beer and advised that it should be "poured back into the horse".
Unfortunately one of the pubs where this occurs happens to be one of very few pubs that has live music sessions so when I attend I have to revert to bottled beer.

27 Aug 24 - 02:25 PM (#4207567)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Old Rose and Crown
From: Joe Offer

Hi, Hootenanny - note that the new verse was written by Jim Lucas, an American expat in Denmark. I made a tour of England in 2002, and Mudcatters took me to many pubs - all with singing and no formica and such. I haven't been to England since then, but I've been to Scotland and Northern Ireland several times - last visit was 2019. I think there's truth in Ian Robb's song, but I've been to many good singing pubs in Scotland.
I went to a singaround in Dublin on a Sunday afternoon, and there was a confo (Confirmation) party in another part of the pub playing disco music. We couldn't hear ourselves sing, so we all left and found another pub.
Another time, Martin Ryan took me to a pub sing near the Guinness brewery. Frank Harte was one of the singers there. It was great to hear those old guys sing, but it was very hard to hear over the noise of the younger crowd gathered at the bar.
-Joe-

27 Aug 24 - 02:28 PM (#4207568)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Old Rose and Crown
From: Dave the Gnome

Still plenty of good 'uns about I'm glad to say. 3 in walking distance of me and loads a short bus ride away :-)

27 Aug 24 - 06:20 PM (#4207575)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Old Rose and Crown (Ian Robb)
From: GerryM

"I believe Ian Robb was British" According to Wikipedia, Ian Robb is still with us, was born in England, and is currently based in Canada (Ottawa, Ontario, to be more specific).

28 Aug 24 - 10:58 AM (#4207594)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Old Rose and Crown (Ian Robb)
From: MaJoC the Filk

I'll use that Al Jolson quote (thanks, Hootenanny). In the first century BC (Before CAMRA), when I were a youngster, I tried many times to like beer, but came to the reluctant conclusion that it wasn't a taste I was willing to pay to acquire.

28 Aug 24 - 02:28 PM (#4207609)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Old Rose and Crown (Ian Robb)
From: Robert B. Waltz

GerryM wrote:

Ian Robb is still with us, was born in England, and is currently based in Canada (Ottawa, Ontario, to be more specific).

And recorded a wonderful album with Margaret Christl for Folk-Legacy (I liked it so much that I bought a spare LP in case the first wore out, back before it was possible to digitize it), as well as with the Friends of Fiddler's Green, Hang the Piper, and others. He recorded the song on Folk-Legacy ("Rose and Crown"). You can find most of his newer recordings at https://sites.google.com/view/fallenanglemusic/cds?pli=1.

I might add that he has been in Canada for something like half a century. I saw the Friends of Fiddler's Green at the Winnipeg Folk Festival more than forty years ago.