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The Roving Journeyman / The Rambling Irishman

[ Roud 360 ; Master title: The Roving Journeyman ; G/D 7:1397 ; Ballad Index MA062 ; VWML SBG/3/2/66 ; GlosTrad Roud 360 ; Wiltshire 453 ; Folkinfo 132 ; DT RMBLIRSH , ROVJOURN ; Mudcat 145998 ; trad.]

Sabine Baring-Gould, Henry Fleetwood Sheppard: Songs of the West Karl Dallas: One Hundred Songs of Toil Gale Huntington: Sam Henry’s Songs of the People James Reeves: The Idiom of the People Sam Richards & Tish Stubbs: The English Folksinger

John McGettigan sang Rambling Irishman in a 1936 recording made in Philadelphia. It was included in 1979 on the Topic album of classic recordings of Irish traditional music in America, John McGettigan and His Irish Minstrels.

Paddy Doran sang The Roving Journeyman in a recording made by Peter Kennedy in Dan O’Neil’s Loanen, Belfast, in 1952. It was published on the anthology Jack of All Trades (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 3; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1968) and was included with the title The Little Beggarman in 1994 on the Saydisc anthology Songs of the Travelling People.

Mary Doran sang The Rambling Irishman to Peter Kennedy and Sean O Boyle on 24 July 1952. This BBC recording 18552 was included in 2014 on the Topic anthology of traditional songs, airs and dance music in Ulster, The Flax in Bloom (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 27).

Cyril Tawney sang The Roving Journeyman in 1962 on his HMV EP of songs from the West Country, Baby Lie Easy. All tracks of this EP were included in 2007 on his posthumous anthology The Song Goes On. Peter Kennedy noted on the original album:

Collected [by] Baring-Gould. Noted September 1888 from James Parsons, hedger, of Lew Down, Devon [VWML SBG/3/2/66] . Parsons was the most prolific of all the country singers who gave songs to the late Rev. S. Baring-Gould, composer of Onward Christian Soldiers, who published “Songs of the West from the mouths of the people” in 1895. Parsons learnt the song from his father, who was known in the local locals as “The Singing Machine”. Like the engines of his day he was hard to start and harder to stop.

Tom Willett sang The Roving Journeyman, “a song extolling the virtues of the travelling life” in 1962 at the age of 84 as title track of the Willett Family’s album The Roving Journeymen. His son Chris sang it on the same album too. Tom’s version was also included as The Roaming Journeyman in 1998 on the Topic anthology There Is a Man Upon the Farm (The Voice of the People Volume 20). Another version of Tom Willett’s recorded by Peter Kennedy at Paddock Wood, Kent, on 4 September 1963 was included in 2012 on the Topic anthology I’m a Romany Rai (The Voice of the People Volume 22). The original album’s booklet commented:

A fuller version under the same title from the Sharp manuscript collection appears in The Idiom of the People. Baring-Gould’s Songs of the West contains a presumably edited version, and refers to a broadside text.

Mr Willett’s version is obviously somewhat degraded since line 1, verse 3 refers to no previous context, and is obscure. The bottle and glass motif is common, and appears in Irish versions. The song is firmly Irish in origin and usually the text refers to the locality of Carlow. However, the Mixolydian tune used by the Willetts is not the one generally employed for the song in Ireland. The popular Irish singer Delia Murphy recorded a good version for this song on HMV IM747.

We have included Chris Willett’s version of the song so that his style may be directly compared with that of his father. The text here is much abbreviated.

George Belton sang I Am a Roving Navvy Man on 1967 on his EFDSS album All Jolly Fellows…. Tony Wales noted:

A song dealing with the life of a travelling worker (other versions speak of a Roving Journeyman, a Roving Beggarman, and in the U.S.A.: a Roving Gambler. Sharp collected versions which speak of a Mason and Bricklayer. Baring-Gould had a version with the words “grafting knife in hand”. The reputation of these travelling men may have been somewhat exaggerated, but was no doubt based on some truth.

The song in its many versions appeared in several collections: Baring-Gould: Songs of the West; Reeves: The Idiom of the People; etc.). Sharp noted seven versions (unpublished manuscripts).
Other recordings include Paddy Doran (Caedmon), Tom Willett (Topic), Delia Murphy (Regal Zonophone).

John Kirkpatrick learned The Roving Journeyman from Tom Willett’s recording. He sang it in 1972 on his Trailer album Jump at the Sun and in 1998 on Brass Monkey’s third album, Sound and Rumour.

Tommy Dempsey sang The Little Beggarman accompanied by John Smith in 1976 on their Trailer album Green Grow the Laurel.

Harry Brazil sang a variant of this song called The Rambling Irishman in a recording made by Mike Yates in 1973-78. This was published in 1979 on the Topic anthology Travellers: Songs, Stories and Tunes From English Gypsies. And Danny Brazil sang The Rambling Irishman in his caravan at Staverton, Gloucester, to Gwilym Davies on 5 May 1978. This recording was included in 2007 on Musical Traditions’ Brazil Family anthology, Down by the Old Riverside.

Bob Davenport sang I’m a Rambling Man in 1997 on his Fellside album with The Rakes, The Red Haired Lad.

Alistair Russell sang The Rambling Irishman on his 2002 album A19. He noted:

Another Irish emigration song with a simple and powerful story to tell. This was one of my favourite gig songs with Sandy Still, my first musical partner from over 30 years ago.

James Raynard sang The Roaming Journeyman in 2011 on the Woodbine & Ivy Band’s eponymous CD The Woodbine & Ivy Band.

Andy Turner learned The Roving Journeyman from the singing of Tom Willett and Chris Willett too and recorded it as the 28 January 2012 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week. He also learned The Rambling Irishman from the Boys of the Lough and sang it as the 21 September 2014 entry of A Folk Song a Week.

David Stacey sang The Roving Journeyman as the title track of his 2015 Musical Traditions anthology Good Luck to the Journeyman. Rod Stradling noted:

David: I learned this song from the Topic LP by the Willett Family.

Roud has 118 instances of this song, of which 30 are sound recordings. Many of the named singers have Gypsy or Traveller surnames. The song was thought to be Irish in origin and the text often refers to the locality of Carlow, though only seven of Roud’s singers are from Ireland.

Lyrics

Mary Doran sang The Rambling Irishman

I am a rambling Irishman; I travel the country o’er
In search of an occupation like I never done before.
I turned across the ocean and I thought it a very good plan
To take a trip to Americay and unto your happy land.

When I landed in Philadelphia all the girls all jumped with joy.
Says one unto the other, “Here comes an Irish boy.”
They wanted me to join with them, and took me by the hand;
They took one merrily round the room: “Long life to the Irishman!”

They took me to a big hotel; was there to spend the night.
The landlord’s wife and daughter ’twas me took great delight.
She never took her eyes off me – ’twas on the floor I stand –
And she shouted to her mother, “I’m in love with the Irishman.”

It’s “Daughter, dear daughter, what’s this you are going to do:
To fall in love with an Irishman, the laddie you never knew,
With his knapsack on his shoulder, his shillelagh in his hand?”
Saying, “Mother dear, I’d roam the world with a rambling Irishman.”

It’s now that we are married and we’re settled down for life,
It’s happy as the turtle dove myself and my wee wife.
I’ll work for her, I’ll toil for her, I’ll do the best I can,
But she never say she rue the day she married the Irishman.

Tom Willett sings The Roving Journeyman

I am a roaming journeyman, I roam from town to town,
And when I get a job of work I’m willing to sit down.
With my bundle on my shoulder, with my stick all in my hand,
And it’s round the country I will go, like a roaming journeyman.

Now when I get to Brighton Town, the girls they jump for joy,
Saying one unto the other, “There comes the roaming boy.”
One hands to me the bottle, and the other holds the glass,
And the toast goes round the table, “Here’s good luck to the journeyman.”

I cannot think the reason why my love she looks so sly,
I never had any false heart to any young female kind.
I never had a false heart to any young female kind,
But I always went a-roaming for to leave my girl behind.

John Kirkpatrick sings The Roving Journeyman

I am a roving journeyman and I roam from town to town,
And when I’ve done a job of work I’m willing to sit down.
With my kit all on my shoulder and my grafting tool in hand,
And it’s round the country I will go a roving journeyman.

And when I came to London town the maidens jumped for joy;
Said one unto the other; “O here comes a roving boy.”
They treat me to the bottle and they treat me to the can,
And it’s let the toast go round, boys, to the roving journeyman.

Well I had not been in London town the days were scarcely three
Before my master’s daughter she fell in love with me.
She asked me for to dine with her and she took me by the hand,
And she proudly told her mammy that she loved a journeyman.

“O get away you foolish maid such folly speak no more;
How can you love a roving man you’ve never seen before?”
“O mother sweet I do entreat, I love him all I can,
And it’s round the country I will go with my roving journeyman.”

Danny Brazil sings The Rambling Irishman

Sure I am a bit of an Irishman, and I’ve travelled the country round;
To seek for work in foreign parts, I’ve took it to be a plan.
With me bundle on me shoulder, me shillelagh blackthorn in me hand,
Sure I bless the day as I sailed away as a rambling Irishman.

When I landed in Castlecomerol the girls did jump for joy;
There was one unto the other, “Here comes an Irish boy.”
One treated me with a bottle and the other one with a can,
And the toast went round the table, “Here’s good luck to an Irishman.”

Sure I hadn’t been in Philadelphie, it was scarce likely days, no more;
All for the landlady’s daughter, she fell in love with me.
She asked me if I’d dine with her; she kissed and squoze my hand
And she whispered to her mummy, “Sure, I’m in love with the Irishman.”

“O it’s daughter, dearest daughter, you must be mad I’m sure,
To fall in love with an Irishman you never known before.”
“It’s hold your tongue, dear mother”, she said, “I will do the best I can,
And I mean to ramble the world around with me rambling Irishman.”

David Stacey sings The Roving Journeyman

I am a roving journeyman and I roam from town to town.
O and when I gets a job of work I’m ready to set down.
With me bundle all on me shoulder and me stick all in me hand,
And round the country I shall go like a roving journeyman.

Now when I arrived in Brighton Town all the girls they jumped for joy
Said one unto the other, “Here comes the roving boy.”
Now one handed me the bottle, the other held the glass
And the toast goes round the table, “Here’s good luck to a journeyman.”

Now I hadn’t been in Brighton Town but days scarce two or three
Before me master’s daughter she fell in love with me.
She asked me for to dine with her and she took me by the hand
And boldly she told her parents that she loved the journeyman.

“O get away you foolish maid, such folly speak no more,
For he’s only a roving journeyman that you’ve never seen before.”
“But Mother sweet, in do entreat I’ll love him all I can,
And round the country I shall go like a roving journeyman.”