| Author | Topic: Add: God Speed The Plough | |
| Pip Freeman | Posted - 03 Jan 04 - 02:42 pm | |
God speed the plough. Dear Joseph, dear Joseph, why serious today? O what have you been thinking, come tell to me I pray. Have love just begun to play the bo-peep Or have you been watching your innocent sheep? The young and the old are all driven to the fold They value not the summer heat nor yet the winter cold. Now don't let love tease you or thoughts make you sad, But drive away all sorrow and be cheerful and glad And be cheerful and glad. In old ancient days there was no cursed money, The children of Israel eat milk and good honey, No queen could be seen from the highest degree They milk their brown cows and their sheep they often see. Them lambs give them clothing the cows they give them milk And that's how the farmer played all those good deeds. Them lambs give them clothing the cows they give them milk And that's how the farmer played all those good deeds Played well all those good deeds. But as for old Adam how he work with the spade And how he planted vineyards and neatly he made. But as for the farmer with his love exposed With beef and good bacon they could keep a good house With a firkin in each corner from his own barley mow He'd welcome in a friend and may God speed the plough With a firkin in each corner from his own barley mow He'd welcome in a friend and may God speed the pliugh And may God speed the plough. Source: Still Growing-English Traditional Songs from the Cecil Sharp collection. ISBN 0-85418-187-3 Notes: Cecil Sharp collected this song from a William Cornelius of South Petherton, Somerset. Sharp visited William once on 10 April 1907. Manuscript references FT 1345-1347 FW 1244-1246 Added to database here. | ||
| Jim Irvine | Posted - 13 Jan 04 - 10:34 pm | |
Heard a programme on Radio 4 the other day (Sunday) about 2 American evangelists who visited Britain in 1873. (Dwight L Moody and Ira D Sankey). Sankey in particular concentrated on hymn singing and wrote many tunes and hymns. I seem to recall that it was his hymn tune which was put to this song. The hymn book they produced in 1874 is still in print today. | ||
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 13 Jan 04 - 11:18 pm | |
I've asked Pip who does know a few Sankey and Moody hymns and she has not been able to place it. She does have "Sacred Songs & Solos - revised and enlarged" which was "compiled under the direction of Ira D Sankey". It may turn up in there but it contains 1200 hymns. Any recollection of a few words? Refreshing the thread did remind us of another "God Speed The Plough" which we have printed on an old mug: Let the wealthy and great Roll in splendour and state I envy them not I declare it I eat my own lamb My own chickens and ham I shear my own fleece and I wear it I have lawns I have bowers I have fruits I have flowers The lark is my morning alarmer So jolly boys now Here's God speed the plough Long life and success to the farmer. Edited By Jon Freeman - 14-Jan-2004 00:29:33 AM | ||
| Mr Happy | Posted - 14 Jan 04 - 02:54 pm | |
And yet another version: THE RUSTY COLD FARMER (The Kipper Family) I'm a rusty, cold farmer in a cottage well thatched, My rusty, cold cupboard is full. In my rusty, cold garden there's chickens and ducks And a pig and a sheep and a bull. I brew home brewed bread and I brew home brewed cheese I brew home brewed beer and I drink it My rusty cold knowledge is second to none I don't say a lot but I think it. At four in the morning I rise from my bed For that is the lot of the farmer If you saw my missus then you'd understand I call her my morning alarmer. On Monday and Tuesday I take life quite slow, On Wednesday and Thursday I slack. On Friday and Saturday I don't do a sight And by Sunday I'm flat on my back. In Spring that's too wet to go on the land In Summer that's always too dry. In Autumn that's cold and the crops get the mould And that's how we keep the prices high. There's April, there's May, there's June and July, There's August, September, October and then November, December, January, February And March. Then we all start again. | ||
| Guest Account |
Posted - 11 Apr 04 - 03:50 pm | |
From: lr9@york.ac.uk Has the text of "God Speed the Plough" ever been published before? Does it come from a manuscript in the Cecil Sharp collection, and if so, where is that collection located? Or has it been published elsewhere by Sharp himself? | ||
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 12 Apr 04 - 10:03 am | |
I don't know whether it has ever been published before. The song does come from Cecil Sharps manuscripts which I believe are in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library at Cecil Sharp House. According to "Still Growing", the compilers/editors have not been able to locate another version of this song which is listed as Roud 12762. Jon | ||