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Four and Twenty Fiddlers

[ Roud 20211 ; Ballad Index ReCi045 ; VWML HAM/4/21/9 ; Bodleian Roud 20211 ; trad.]

Four and Twenty Fiddlers is a nonsense cumulative song printed in Thomas d'Urfey's Wit and Mirth, or, Pills to Purge Melancholy (London, 1719), and much later in Roy Palmer's book Room for Company (Cambridge University Press, 1971). Roy Palmer noted:

This song was sung “with Universal Applause, by Mr EDWIN, at the Theatre-Royal, Covent Garden”, probably about 1800. It pokes fun at some of the trades and professions it mentions but, as usual, the tailor comes off worst: “Nine tailors make a man,” says the proverb. The tailor's goose was a pressing iron, so called because of the elongated S shape of the neck.

[ That’s not a proverb, though, and has nothing to do originally with makers of suits. Dorothy L. Sayers refers in her Lord Peter Wimsey novel The Nine Tailors (Victor Gollancz, 1934) to the custom of ringing the bell in the Fen village church when there was a death:

Toll-toll-toll; and a pause; toll-toll-toll; and a pause; toll-toll-toll; the nine tailors, or teller-strokes, that mark the passing of a man.

… while the bell was rung three times to indicate that it was a child who had died, and six times for a woman, ‘telling’ the villagers by the number. So ‘tellers’ has become ‘tailors’ over time, as people have forgotten the custom. ]

H.E.D. Hammond collected Four and Twenty Fiddlers in June 1906 from John Hallett of Mosterton, Dorset. This version was printed in James Reeves' book The Everlasting Circle who laconically noted:

A ribald cumulative song of whose origin I know nothing—nor can I discover any other text.

The Dovetail Trio sang Four and Twenty Fiddlers as a live bonus track on their 2019 CD Bold Champions. Matt Quinn noted:

A bonus for you! Recorded live in front of a captive audience at Grimsby Folk Club in October 2018. Learnt from the album A Delicate Retrospect by The Songwainers. Enjoy!

This video shows the Dovetail Trio a few years earlier at Barnsley Acoustic Roots Day on 30 March 2014:

Lyrics

John Hallett sings Four and Twenty Fiddlers	The Dovetail Trio sing Four and Twenty Fiddlers
𝄆 Four and twenty fiddlers all of a row 𝄇 Fiddle fiddle faddle, semi semi quaver down below It is my lady's holiday, so let the lass be merry	𝄆 Four and twenty fiddlers all of a row 𝄇 Fiddle fiddle faddle, semi demi quavers down below 𝄆 It is my lady's holiday, so let the lass be merry 𝄇
𝄆 Four and twenty tinkers all of a row 𝄇 Hoo rub-a dub! hey rub-a dub! Fiddle fiddle faddle …	𝄆 Four and twenty tinkers all of a row 𝄇 Ooo rub-a-dub hey rub-a-dub Fiddle fiddle faddle, semi demi quavers down below 𝄆 It is my lady's holiday, so let the lass be merry 𝄇
	𝄆 Four and twenty huntsmen all of a row 𝄇 Tantorero, Tantorero Ooo rub-a-dub …
𝄆 Four and twenty cobblers all of a row 𝄇 Cobbler, cobbler stab awl Hoo rub-a dub! …	𝄆 Four and twenty cobblers all of a row 𝄇 Cobbler, cobbler stab awl Tantorero, Tantorero …
𝄆 Four and twenty tailors all of a row 𝄇 One caught a louse, t'other let him loose, T'other cried, “Knock him down with a goose!” Cobbler, cobbler …	𝄆 Four and twenty tailors all of a row 𝄇 One caught a louse, t'other let him loose, T'other cried, “Cut him down with a goose!” Cobbler, cobbler …
𝄆 Four and twenty pensioners all of a row 𝄇 Push dirk cut a-cross One caught a louse …	𝄆 Four and twenty fencing masters all of a row 𝄇 Push dirk cut across One caught a louse …
𝄆 Four and twenty priesties all of a row 𝄇 Two ruffles to every shirt Push dirk …	𝄆 Four and twenty priests all of a row 𝄇 Two ruffles to every shirt Push dirk …
𝄆 Four and twenty barbers all of a row 𝄇 Devilish hard times, shave twice for one one penny Two ruffles to every shirt …	𝄆 Four and twenty barbers all of a row 𝄇 Dev'lish hard times, two shaves, one penny Two ruffles to every shirt …
𝄆 Four and twenty apostles all of a row 𝄇 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot the twelve tribes of Israel Devilish hard times …	𝄆 Four and twenty apostles all of a row 𝄇 Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat the twelve tribes of Israel Dev'lish hard times, two shaves, one penny Two ruffles to every shirt Push dirk cut across One caught a louse, t'other let him loose, T'other cried, “Cut him down with a goose!” Cobbler, cobbler stab awl Tantorero, Tantorero Ooo rub-a-dub hey rub-a-dub Fiddle fiddle faddle, semi demi quavers down below 𝄆 It is my lady's holiday, so let the lass be merry 𝄇

Acknowledgements and Links

Thanks to Garry Gillard for pointing out the tellers/tailors dichtomy.

See also the Mudcat Café thread Lyr Req: Semi demi quaver.