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The Molecatcher

[ Roud 1052 ; Master title: The Molecatcher ; Ballad Index K206 ; VWML SBG/2/1/95 ; DT MOLECATC ; Mudcat 169280 ; trad.]

Sabine Baring-Gould, H. Fleetwood Sheppard: Songs of the West Bob Copper: Songs and Southern Breezes Alan Heisden: Vaughan Williams in Norfolk Volume 2 Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger: Travellers’ Songs From England and Scotland John Morrish: The Folk Handbook Roy Palmer: Everyman’s Book of English Country Songs Frank Purslow: The Constant Lovers James Reeves: The Everlasting Circle Steve Roud, Julia Bishop: The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs Stephen Sedley: The Seeds of Love

A.L. Lloyd recorded The Molecatcher in 1966 for his album The Best of A.L. Lloyd, accompanied by Alf Edwards on concertina. He noted:

This sly song of the biter bit amused the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams who noted some fine versions of it in Norfolk. Two folklorish parsons, Baring-Gould and Fleetwood Sheppard heard it on bleak Dartmoor and it struck them as “very gross”, so they wrote new words to it that have none of the wit and pungency of the original. Their version may be found in Songs of the West. Our version is from an unpublished set provided by Dr Vaughan Williams.

Bernard Wrigley sang The Molecatcher on his 1971 Topic album The Phenomenal B. Wrigley. A.L. Lloyd commented in the sleeve notes:

A song like an ox-tail, hairy but tasty. Much sung but never bookprinted, like many a good Rabelaisian piece. Bob Copper recorded a version from an old singer in the Southern Counties and kindly sent it to me. I brushed it up a bit, and it began a lively circulation through the folk clubs. Swindells of Manchester issued it on a broadside nearly a century and a half ago, in a slightly different version with a less stern moral.

Ewan MacColl sang The Molecatcher, with words very near to A.L. Lloyd’s, on his 1972 Argo album Solo Flight. The uncredited liner notes commented:

Though large towns such as Manchester or Wellington (Salop) are generally cited as the scene of the action of this amusing song, the theme is exclusively one of ‘country matters”

Louie Fuller of Lingfield, Surrey, sang The Molecatcher in a recording made by Mike Yates in between 1972 and 1975, on the Topic album of country singers from South England, Green Grow the Laurels. This track was also included on the 2015 Musical Traditions anthology of songs from the Yates collection, I Wish There Was No Prisons. Mike Yates commented in the original album’s notes:

Although The Molecatcher has seldom been printed by folksong collectors it is certainly commonplace with folksingers. In 1800 Robert Burns printed a collection of Scots bawdy The Merry Muses of Caledonia which contained a number of songs which he had collected in the countryside, including a song, The Modiewark [Roud 12580], which begins:

The modiewark has done me ill
And below my apron has biggit a hill.

For some reason I find the song to be especially popular today in Sussex.

Cyril Phillips sang The Sussex Molecatcher on 11 May 1974 at the Lewes Arms, Mount Place, Lewes, Sussex. This recording was released in the following year on the Transatlantic album of “songs and stories in a Sussex pub”, The Brave Ploughboy.

Amy Birch of Bampton, Devon, sang The Molecatcher in a recording made by Sam Richards, Tish Stubbs and Paul Wilson in between 1974 and 1976, on the Topic album Devon Tradition.

Peter Bellamy learnt The Molecatcher from Vaughan Williams’ Norfolk Collection via A.L. Lloyd, and sang it on his 1983 cassette Fair Annie; he was accompanied by Chris Birch on fiddle. This recording was also included on his Free Reed anthology Wake the Vaulted Echoes.

Gordon Hall of Pease Pottage, Sussex, sang The Molecatcher on his Veteran Tapes cassette of “songs from a Sussex singing family”, In Horsham Town. This recording was also included in 2008 on his and his mother Mabs Hall’s posthumous Veteran anthology, As I Went Down to Horsham. John Howson and Mike Yates noted:

Versions of The Molecatcher have turned up all over the place, not that you would necessarily know this, because collectors have been extremely reluctant to include the words in their printed collections. In 1904 the Reverend Baring-Gould felt obliged to rewrite the text before printing the song, and five years later, when Ralph Vaughan Williams published three tunes for the song in the Journal of the Folk Song Society, the words were omitted as being “unsuitable for this Journal”. Surprisingly, there appear to be no known broadside texts and it would seem to be a song that has circulated in the oral tradition for at least a couple of hundred years.

Viv Legg sang The Molecatcher on his 1994 Veteran Tapes cassette of songs of his Cornish family, I’ve Come to Sing a Song.

Issy & David Emeney sang the usual bawdy The Mole Catcher on their 2008 WildGoose CD The Waiting. They noted:

A song from the West Country that Baring-Gould obviously didn’t get his hands on and clean up!

But they sang Baring-Gould’s rewrite of The Mole Catcher, i.e. with completely different verses, a year earlier on their 2007 WildGoose CD Legends & Lovers. They noted:

This quirky, and probably bowdlerised version, is from Baring-Gould’s Songs of the West [VWML SBG/2/1/95] .

Harp and a Monkey sang Molecatcher on the 2012 Folk Police anthology Weirdlore and in the following year on their album All Life Is Here. They noted:

We were asked in 2012 to contribute a song to a compilation CD called Weirdlore aimed at highlighting promising practitioners of alternative folk. We took on this traditional song about a cuckolded molecatcher, that had first caught our ear courtesy of Bernard Wrigley, and decided to rework and rewrite it. It was all a bit of a rush and while happy with our offering we knew we could have done better given more time; so here is the definitive Harp and a Monkey version after the luxury of more than a year of road-testing on generally sympathetic live audiences. By the way, the song was a favourite of the composer and folk archivist Ralph Vaughan Williams, which is just fine by us.

Steve Roud included The Molecatcher in 2012 in The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Brian Peters sang it a year later on the accompanying Fellside CD The Liberty to Choose.

Georgia Lewis sang The Sussex Molecatcher in 2015 on her eponymous first EP, Georgia Lewis.

Rachael McShane sang The Molecatcher in 2018 on her Topic album with The Cartographers, When All Is Still. She noted:

I found this cheeky song lurking in a dark corner of the Internet and decided to give it a new melody and a chorus. We decided that our friend Ian [Stephenson]’s studio where we recorded this album deserved a tune, so Julian [Sutton] wrote Simpson Street Waltz. No moles were harmed in the making of this song.

Nick Hart sang The Molecatcher in 2019 on his CD Nick Hart Sings Nine English Folk Songs. He noted:

I learnt this from a Peter Bellamy recording and I believe his version is from a Norfolk source. This song contains a particularly fine example of ‘implied rhyme’, a technique once very popular in comic songwriting. George Formby’s songs often included implied rhymes, as did those of many calypsonians, however the most baroque example must surely be the song Come on Chaps, sung by ‘Sod’s Opera’.

Lyrics

A.L. Lloyd sings The Molecatcher

Near Manchester city at the sign of ‘The Plough’
There lived a molecatcher, I can tell you how.

Chorus (after each verse):
Singing lor te lie day, well well,
Lor te lie little lie,
Lor te lie day

He goes a-molecatching from morning till night
And a young fellow came for to play with his wife.

Now the molecatcher jealous of this very same thing,
He hid in the wash house to watch him come in.

Now when this young fellow come over the stile
That caused the molecatcher so foxy to smile.

He knocked at the door and this he did say,
“Oh where is your husband, good woman, I pray?”

“He’s gone a-moletrapping, you need have no fear,”
But little she thought the molecatcher was near.

She went off upstairs and he followed her sign
And the ole molecatcher crept close up behind.

Now when that young fellow’s in the midst of his frolics
The molecatcher trapped him quite fast by the jackets.

The trap it bit tight and he laughed at the sight,
Saying, “Here’s the best mole that I’ve caught in me life.”

“I’ll make you pay well for ploughing my land
And the money it will cost you no less than ten pound.”

“Very well,” says the young fellow, “The money I don’t mind,
That only works out about tuppence a time.”

So come all young fellows and mind what you’re at,
Don’t you ever get caught in the molecatcher’s trap.

Louie Fuller sings The Molecatcher

Now, somewhere in Sussex not far from ‘The Plough’,
There live an old molecatcher, I couldn’t tell you how.
A-molecatching he’d go from morning till night
Till he caught the young farmer come and played with his wife.

Now upstairs they went, so fur’vely design,
The old molecatcher followed them closely behind.
Just as they got in the middle of the sport
The old molecatcher caught hold of the young farmer’s coat.

He says, “Eh, what have you got at?
I’ve got you caught hard in my old moletrap.”
I looked at the farmer and grinned at his wife,
“He’s the fined old mole I ever caught in my life.”

“Now,” so say the farmer for ploughing his ground,
“When I do plough it will cost him ten pounds.
When I do tell him she’ll say it’s not fine,
But I’m sure she won’t come to about tuppence a time!”

Right fol the ri laddy, right fol the ri day,
Now all you young farmers that come down our way,
If you’re not napping you’re sure to be fine,
But I’m sure she won’t come to about tuppence a time!”

Peter Bellamy sings The Molecatcher

Near Manchester city at the sign of ‘The Plough’
There lived a molecatcher, I can tell you how.

Chorus (after each verse):
Singing lor te lie day, well well,
Lor te lie little lie,
Lor te lie day

Now he go a-molecatching from morning till night
But come a young fellow for to play with his wife.

But the old chap being jealous of this very same thing,
He hide in the wash house to watch him come in.

And when this young fellow crept over the stile
It caused that molecatcher so foxy to smile.

And he knocked on the door and this he did say,
“Oh where is your husband, good woman, I pray?”

“Well, he’s gone a-molecatching, so you need have no fear,”
But little she thought that her husband was near.

She goes up the stair and she give him the sign
Not thinking that her husband crept up close behind.

But while this young chap was in the midst of his frolics
The molecatcher trapped him right fast by the shoulder.

“So’s I’ll make you pay well for ploughing of my ground
And the money that will cost you no less than ten pound.”

“Very well,” says this fellow, “for the cash I don’t mind,
That only works out about tuppence a time.”

So come all you young fellows and mind what you’re at,
And don’t you ever get caught in the molecatcher’s trap.

Gordon Hall sings The Molecatcher

Now the week after Easter the weather some-what thin,
I met an old ommicker ugly as sin.
He sat down on his barrow, told me and old yarn
To which you young buggers should listen and learn.

Chorus (after each verse):
Right tool er lye, ool er lye, ool er lye aye,
Right tool er lye, ool er lye, ool er lye aye,
Right tool er lye, ool er lye, ool er lye aye,
Right tool er lye, ool er lye, ool er lye aye.

This jovial ommicker’s name was George Plum,
I sat down beside him, bye Christ he did hum.
He told me an old yarn which I now will relate
About a young ploughboy so cruel was his fate.

It seems that in Sussex at the sign of the plough
There lived a mole catcher, I knowed him quite well.
He’d been a mole catching be night and be day
And the ploughboy would come with his wife for to play.

Old mole catcher was jealous of the very same thing,
So he hid in the midden to watch him come in.
And when the young fellow jumped over the stile,
Well it caused the molecatcher so crafty to smile.

Old boy knocked at the door and thus he did say,
“Where is your husband, good woman, I pray?”
“He be a-molecatching, you need have no fear.”
But little she knew the molecatcher was near.

She went on upstairs, gave the old boy the sign,
At that molecatcher came close up behind.
When the sharp fast young fella was at the height of his rollicks,
The molecatcher trapped him quite fast by the …

As the trap it squeezed tighter old mole catcher did smile,
He says, “It’s best the mole I’ve caught in a while.
I shall make you pay dearly for tilling me ground,
Now your antics will cost you the best part of ten pounds”

Says the young fella, “The money I don’t mind
’Cos it only works out about tuppence a time.”
So all you young fellas, just mind what you’re at
And never get caught in the molecatcher’s trap.

Old mole catcher went down to the ‘Plough’ for a drink
And he said to his cronies, “Lads, what do you think?
I paid that young bugger for ploughing me ground,
Now we’ll all have a drink off his old ten pound.”

Old mole catcher got drunk and stood up for to sing,
Some young bugger throwed a tomato at him.
When tomatoes ain’t ripe, well you won’t break the skin,
But this bugger did, it was still in the tin.

Old mole catcher dragged himself offen the floor
And the young bugger he took a bolt for the door.
But as through that door well he made for a pass,
He got six lace holes of mole catchers boot up his …

Now all you young fellows that follows the plough,
Take heed of the warning I’m giving you know.
Never make free with the mole catcher’s wife
Or you’ll have sore … tonsils for the rest of your life.

Issy & David Emeney sing Baring-Gould’s The Mole Catcher

A mole-catcher am I, and that is my trade,
I potters about wi’ my spunt and my spade,

Chorus (after each verse):
On a moon-shiny night, O! ’tis my delight,
A-catching of moles.

The traps that I set for the mole in his run,
There’s never a night, sirs, but I catches one.

Along of the lanes as by night-time I go,
There’s things that I see, as the folks they don’t know.

There’s frolic and lark in the field and the park,
For others than moles will be out in the dark.

The maid that by day is too modest to speak
Is a-gadding abroad, by the night all the week.

The ’prentice who should be a-lying in bed
Is a-rambling over the meadows instead.

I light on the poacher with sniggle and snare,
But that I’ll not peach he is surely aware.

There’s many a sight; and there’s many a sound
Wot maketh me laugh as I’m making my round.

The doctor and lawyer as drunk as a dog
Would be wallowing into a ditch or a bog.

But nothing I sez for I’m mum as a bell,
You certainly know that no tales will I tell.

Last Chorus:
On a moon-shiny night, O! ’tis my delight,
A-catching of moles,
Not human soles

Rachael McShane sings The Molecatcher

In old Tawney Common there’s a pub and a cow,
And there lives a molecatcher and I’ll tell you how.
Well, he goes a-molecatching from morning till night,
While the jolly young farmer goes playing with his wife.

Chorus (after each verse):
Singing, o-ho-ho all day and all night,
Singing, o-ho-ho till the moon it shown bright.

Oh the molecatcher jealous of the very same thing,
So he hid in the alehouse and watched him come in,
And when that young farmer jumped over the stile,
Well, it caused the molecatcher to laugh and to smile.

He knocked at the door and thus he did say,
“Oh where is your husband? Good woman, I pray.”
“Well, he’s gone a-molecatching so you need not fear.”
But little did she think the molecatcher was near.

She went upstairs and he followed the sign,
But the molecatcher followed them closely behind.
And when they got into the middle of their sport
Well, he molecatcher grabbed him quite fast by his coat.

He clapped his hands and he laughed at the sight,
Saying, “Here’s the best mole that I’ve caught in my life.
And I’ll make you pay well for ploughing my ground,
And the money it shall be no less than ten pound.”

“Very well,” said the farmer, “the money I don’t mind,
For it only works out about tuppence a time.”
So come all you young farmers and mind where you’re at,
Don’t you ever get caught in a molecatcher’s trap.