Request: Ossian Lyrics for 'Give me a lass...
Ldiener
with a lump of land' I would greatly appreciate having them. I've tried
to write the words down from the recording (heard on a Thistle & Shamrock
show many months ago called 'Humour', but I can't decipher many of the
words because of the dialect.
Thanks in advance.
Larry Diener (ldi...@nando.net) Apex, NC
brian chisholm
Johnny's gone in search of riches
For Australia he is bound
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ his canvas britches
All to sail the world around
Thanks. Brian C.
Rick Lee
JOHNNY TODD
[view or play tune]
JOHNNY TODD
Johnny Todd, he took a notion
For to cross the ocean wide
And he's left his own true love behind him
Walking by the Liverpool tide
For a week, she wept with sorrow
Tore her hair and wrung her hands
Till she met another handsome sailor
Walking by the Liverpool sands
Fair young maid are you a weeping
For your Johnny gone to sea
If you'll wed with me tomorrow
I will kind and constant be
I will buy you sheets and blankets
I'll buy you a wedding ring
You shall have a silver cradle
For to rock the baby in
Johnny Todd came home from sailing
Sailing on the ocean wide
And he's found his fair and false one
Was another sailor's bride
All young men who go a sailing
For to fight the foreign foe
Do not leave your own true love like johnny
Marry her before you go
@sailor @travel
filename[ JOHNTODD
play.exe JOHNTODD
SF
(DT of April 1995)
Dennis J. Gormley
->Ldiener <ldi...@nando.net> wrote looking for lyrics to an Ossian tune that she heard on The Thistle and Shamrock. I am on a similar quest. The song is Johnny Todd and I've deciphered most of the lines except in the 2nd verse. Please fill in the blanks.
->
->Johnny's gone in search of riches
->For Australia he is bound
->_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ his canvas britches
->All to sail the world around
->
->Thanks. Brian C.
->
->
"handsome in his". This song (with different melodies) has shown up in a
number of Irish and English folk song collections. In one version, the quay
was moved from Grenoch to Belfast. Quite an engineering feat!!
Dennis Gormley ####
GOR...@HSLC.ORG (-O-O-)
Ashland, NJ, USA ( ======)===@=====@===
####### // //
-------// //
___________ //
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Dennis J. Gormley
->From http://pubweb.parc.xerox.com/digitrad/list=100
->
->
-> JOHNNY TODD
->
-> [view or play tune]
->
->JOHNNY TODD
Of course, Ossian's version, as sung by Tony Cuffe, is as follows:
Johnny Todd, he's taken a notion
For to sail across the sea
and he's left his ain dear Jeanie
weeping by the Grenoch quay
Cho.
Weep nae mare, my ain dear Jeanie
Tak your bairn upon your knee
I'll return and we'll be married
Doon upon the Grenoch quay
Johnny's gone in search of riches (treasure?)
For Australia he is bound
Handsome in his canvas britches
for to sail the world around
Cho
Many the weary night she's waited
for the ship out on the bay
Friends may her she's forsaken
But she still can hear him say;
Cho
Then one morning bright & early
In the springtime of the year
She spied a ship out on the water (ocean?)
Bringing Johnny to his dear.
Cho
We've been Ossian addicts for a long time now. When my daughter was born, we
used to sing this to her; now, at 8 years old, she sings it with us when we
play.
Lawrence M Sanger
>We've been Ossian addicts for a long time now. When my daughter was born, we
>used to sing this to her; now, at 8 years old, she sings it with us when we
>play.
I agree, Ossian is one of the finest Scottish bands around, and it is
certainly a shame that they broke up. I wonder why they did? I think
the Tannies were noticeably improved by the addition of Ossian's
fiddler, John Martin. My favorite of Ossian's albums is "Seal Song,"
and I still think (after having heard everything by the Bothy Band,
The Tannahill Weavers, Altan, Silly Wizard, and lots else) that the
set that begins with "A Fisherman's Song for Attracting Seals" is
about the best set of Celtic tunes I have ever heard, to my ears.
I still have yet to purchase any of the members' solo albums. I hear
that William and George Jackson did an album together.
Larry Sanger
Amy Fonoroff
They were absolutely the best! I followed them around Scotland for 5
years before they ever got to the States. I promoted their concerts in
the Boston area, and the first time Billy Jackson sent me promo materials,
he wrote a note saying "So you finally got us!"
Amy Fonoroff
>
>I still have yet to purchase any of the members' solo albums. I hear
>that William and George Jackson did an album together.
Dammit, I hit "Post" instead of "Paste"! That's the second time I've
done that. Anyway, I meant to add - I don't THINK Billy and George ever
did a record together. Billy did one with Billy Ross (the singer who was
with them before Tony) called "The Misty Mountains" or something like
that (can't find it at the moment to check) and at the same time George
put a record out with Maggie MacInnes, "Cairistiona," which is totally
wonderful!
Roger Gawley
On Wed, 19 Jul 1995, Rick Lee wrote:
> From http://pubweb.parc.xerox.com/digitrad/list=100
>
>
> JOHNNY TODD
>
From Roger....@durham.ac.ukFri Jul 21 12:01:14 1995
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 12:00:27 +0100 (BST)
From: Roger Gawley <Roger....@durham.ac.uk>
To: Roger Gawley <Roger....@durham.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Request: Ossian Lyrics for 'Johnny Todd'
On Wed, 19 Jul 1995, Rick Lee wrote:
> From http://pubweb.parc.xerox.com/digitrad/list=100
>
>
> JOHNNY TODD
>
Nice to be reminded of this. The tune will be familiar in a slightly
jazzed-up form to all British TV audiences of a certain age as the theme
music to the crime series "Z Cars". Fritz Spiegel adopted and adapted it
(with some sort of acknowledgement) making his fame and fortune in the
process.
Just before posting this I remembered Stan Kelly. Johnny Todd is in the
Stan Kelly songbook "Liverpool Lullabies" in a version very similar to
the Digitrad one. He attributes it as "Traditional, collected by Frank
Kidson, arr. Stan Kelly.
His words are:
Johnny Todd, he took a notion
For to go across the sea
and he left his love behind him
Weeping by the Liverpool Sea.
For a week, she wept full sorely,
Tore her hair and wrung her hands
Till she met with another sailor
Walking on the Liverpool sands.
Why fair maid are you a-weeping
For your Johnny gone to sea?
If you'll wed with me tomorrow
I will kind and constant be.
I will buy you sheets and blankets,
I'll buy you a wedding ring,
You shall have a gilded cradle
For to rock your baby in.
Johnny Todd came back from sailing,
Sailing o'er the ocean wide,
But he found that his fair and false one
Was another sailor's bride
All young men who go a sailing
For to fight the foreign foe,
Don't you leave your love like Johnny,
Marry her before you go.
Stan says:
Collected as a children's play song in Liverpool, the words were filled
out by Frank Kidson, who collected it from a singer of deficient memory.
The verse about sheets and blankets crops up in one form or another in
many songs and the first verse is often sung:
Johnny Todd, he took a notion
For to cross the raging tide,
And he left his love behind him
Weeping on the Liverpool side.
(the Liverpool side of the river, that is, not the Birkenhead side).
Another version of the tune was learned from Ewan MacColl by Marlene
Dietrich, who sang it in cabaret for a while. Much later the song was
re-immortalised when Fritz Spiegl, sometime flautist with the Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra, and his wife, Bridget Fry, arranged the melody as
the signature tune for the television series "Z-Cars". The effect aimed
at was that of a fife-and-drum band playing at an Orangeday parade. The
section of the Liverpool Phil that recorded the tune found some
difficulty in playing the "off" notes.