Lyr Add: Black Velvet Band - 4 versions

29 Oct 97 - 06:42 PM (#15511)
Subject: Lyr Add: BLACK VELVET BAND (4 versions)
From: Benjamin

Having just taken part in the Whiskey in The Jar thread and now having a range of different verses that I can use to trick people, what other versions of BVB do people know?

I have four variations. And yes they are all below, but they're not that long. Maybe we could make a songbook with only a couple of songs and lots of versions. (North Country is another good one.)

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BLACK VELVET BAND

In a neat little town they call Belfast
Apprenticed in trade I was bound
And many an hour of sweet happiness
I spent in that neat little town
Till bad misfortune befell me
And caused me to stray from the land
Far away from my friends and relations
To follow the black velvet band

CHO: Her eyes they shone like the diamond
You'd think she was queen of the land
And her hair hung over her shoulder
Tied up in a black velvet band

Well, I was out strolling one evening
Not meaning to go very far
When I met with a pretty young damsel
She was selling her trade in a bar
When i watched, she took from a customer
And slipped it right into my hand
Then the Watch came and put me in prison
Bad luck to the black velvet band

Next morning before judge and jury
For our trial I had to appear
The judge, he said, "Young fellow
The case against you is quite clear
And seven years is your sentence
You're going to Van Dieman's Land
Far away from your friends and relations
To follow the black velvet band"

So come all you jolly young fellows
I'd have you take warning by me
And whenever you're out on the liquor
Beware of the pretty colleen
They'll fill your with whiskey and porter
Until you're not able to stand
And the very next thing that you know
You're landed in Van Dieman's Land

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BLACK VELVET BAND

In a neat little town they call Belfast
An apprentice boy I was bound
And many's the happy hour
I have spent in that neat little town
But bad misfortune o'ertook me
And caused me to stray from the land
Far away from my friends and relations,
Betrayed by the black velvet band

Oh, her eyes they shone like the diamonds
And I thought her the pride of the land
And her hair hung over her shoulders
Tied up with a black velvet band.

Oh, one evening late as I rambled
Not meaning to go very far,
When I met with a gay young deceiver
She was plyin' her trade in a bar.
Oh, one evening a flashman, a watchman
She happened to meet on the sly
I could tell that her mind it was altered
By the roll of her roving dark eye
Oh, that watch she took from his pocket
She slipped it right into my hand
Then she gave me in charge to the policeman
Bad luck to the black velvet band

Now before the Lord Mayor I was taken
My guilt they proved quite plain
And he said if I was not mistaken
I should have to cross the salt main
Now its sixteen long years have they gave me
To plough upon Van Dieman's land
Far away from my friends and relations
A curse on the black velvet band

So come all ye jolly young fellows,
I'll have ye take warning from me
Whenever you're out on the liquor,
Beware of them pretty colleens.
They'll treat you to whiskey and porter,
Till you are not able to stand;
And the very next thing that you know, my lads,
You'll end up in Van Dieman's land.

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BLACK VELVET BAND

In the neat little town they call Belfast
Apprenticed to trade I was bound,
And many's the hours sweet happiness
I spent in that dear little town
'Till a sad misfortune came over me
That caused me to stray from the land,
Far away from my friends and relations
Betrayed by the Black Velvet band

Her eyes they shone like diamonds
I thought her the Queen of the land
And her hair hung over her shoulder
tied up in a black velvet band

As We were strolling down Broadway,
A gentleman she did spy,
And I knew she meant the doing of him
by the look in her roguish black eye.
A watch she slipped from his pocket
And placed it right into my hand
And the very next thing that I knew
I was headed for Van Dieman's Land

Before the judge and jury
Next morning I did appear,
And the Judge said my jolly fine fellow
The case it is proved quite clear.
For seven long years penal servitude
Will cause you to stray from the land
Far away from your friends and relations
Betrayed by the Black Velvet Band

Now all you jolly young fellows,
A warning take from me,
Beware the pretty young cailins,
They'll lead you to misery
They'll give you poitin and porter
'Till you are unable to stand
And the very next thing that you know
You'll be headed for Van Dieman's Land

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BLACK VELVET BAND

As I went walking down Broadway;
Not intending to stay very long
I met with a frolicksome damsel,
As she came, tripping along.
A watch she pulled out of her pocket,
And slipped it right into my hand
On the very first day that I met her,
Bad luck to the black velvet band.

Before judge and jury next morning,
Both of us did appear
A gentleman claimed his jewellery,
And the case against us was clear.
Seven long years transportation,
Right down to "Van Dieman's Land"
Far away from my friends and companions,
Betrayed by the black velvet band

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29 Oct 97 - 07:01 PM (#15513)
Subject: RE: Black Velvet Band
From: Susan of DT

The database includes three versions of the Black Velvet Band and three versions of the Blue Velvet Band. Search for [velvet band]

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25 Sep 19 - 10:40 AM (#4010452)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Black Velvet Band - 4 versions
From: Lighter

Edmund Blunden, "The Bonadventure" (London: Richard Cobden-Sanderson, 1922), p. 111 [ref. to 1921]:

“Every now and then, in his consultations, he [Mead, the third mate] would break forth into singing, but seldom more than a fragment at a time; now it was "Farewell and adieu to you, bright Spanish Ladies" — a grand old tune — now "Six men dancing on the dead man's chest." But most, he gave in honour of his native Australia a ballad of a monitory sort with a wild yet sweet refrain. It began

I was born in the city of Sydney,
And I was an apprentice bound,
And many's the good old time I've had
In that dear old Southern town.

The apprentice fell in with a dark lady — indeed "she came tripping right into his way." It was an unfortunate encounter. He became her "darling flash boy." He could readily put the case against her when, as receiver of stolen goods, he had served some years in jail; and then, like the author of George Barnwell, he addressed apprentices on the subject :

So all young men take a warning and
Beware of that black velvet tie.

But yet, and here was the charm of the ballad, and the token of his entanglement by Neaera's hair, ever and anon came the burden

For her eyes they shone like the diamonds,
I thought her a Queen of the land,
And the hair that hung over her shoulders was
Tied up with a black velvet band.

When Mead later on gave me a copy of this song, which I shall not forget, duly set out in "cantos," he was good enough to ornament it with a little picture of the black bow as tailpiece.”

[Blunden is well known as a poet and memoirist of World War I.]

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