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05 Jan 05 - 04:46 AM (#1371812) Subject: Lyr Req: Auld horse From: GUEST Anyone got the lyrics for this please. Martin Carthy sings it. They go something like, 'Auld horse, auld horse what brought you here Carted stone this many a yerar Killed with stone and sore abuse They salt you down for the sailors use' |
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05 Jan 05 - 04:58 AM (#1371818) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Auld horse From: The Borchester Echo Poor Old Horse |
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05 Jan 05 - 05:08 AM (#1371823) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Auld horse From: The Borchester Echo And here is Martin Carthy's exact version, posted by Sorcha. |
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05 Jan 05 - 03:43 PM (#1372309) Subject: Lyr Add: THE SAILOR'S GRACE From: Dead Horse POOR OLD HORSE, as in Countess Richard's first reply, is taken (and much mauled) from the sea shanty of that name. This shanty was originally only sung after one month at sea, in a ceremony to mark the end of "paying off the debt" where sailors had pledged their first month's pay to some boarding master. The lyric you are seeking comes from a totally different ceremony, that of broaching the first barrel of salt beef, after the fresh provisions had run out. It is more correctly known as THE SAILOR'S GRACE. Stan Hugill gives: Salt horse, salt horse, we'd have you know That to the galley you must go. The cook without a sign of grief Will boil you down and call you beef, And we poor sailors standing near Must eat you though you look so queer. Salt horse, salt horse, what brought you here? Salt horse, salt horse, both near and far, You're food for every hard worked tar. In strongest brine you have been sunk, Until you're hard and coarse as junk. To eat such poor and wretched fare Would whiten any nigger's hair. Salt horse, salt horse, what brought you here? Salt horse, salt horse, what brought you here? After carrying stones for many a year From Bantry Bay to Ballywhack, Where you fell down and broke your back, And after years of such abuse, They salt you down for sailors' use. Salt horse, salt horse, what brought you here? These lyrics could vary from nationality to nationality, or even from ship to ship. But the story is told much the same. There! You got it from the horse's mouth...
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05 Jan 05 - 06:20 PM (#1372489) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Auld horse From: Malcolm Douglas Carthy has, however, combined part of that with a couple of verses from Poor Old Horse, a song which belongs to the Mumming tradition (more or less). It makes a nice song, but rather confusing for the uninitiated. |