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The Crockery Ware / A Young Man Lived in Belfast Town

[ Roud 1490 / Song Subject MAS599 ; Master title: The Crockery Ware ; Ballad Index Pea257 ; VWML GG/1/5/237 , GG/1/10/626 ; Bodleian Roud 1490 ; Wiltshire 436 ; Mudcat 46426 ; trad.]

William Henry Long: A Dictionary of the Isle of Wight Dialect Roy Palmer: Everyman’s Book of English Country Songs Frank Purslow: Marrow Bones

O.J. Abbott from Hull, Quebec, sang A Young Man Lived in Belfast Town in a field recording made by Edith Fowke that was included in 1961 on his Folkways album Irish and British Songs From the Ottawa Valley. Edith Fowke noted:

This lively tale of the difficulties encountered by the young man trying to find his sweetheart in the night is a song that Mr. Abbott learned from Jack McCann. It falls into the large class of tales of night adventures which have always been common in oral tradition but less frequently find their way into print.

Notts Alliance sang the comic The Crockery Ware in 1972 on their Traditional Sound album The Cheerful ’Orn.

Margaret Christl sang The Crockery Ware on her 1976 Folk-Legacy album The Barley Grain for Me. She noted:

Source: Mr. Everett Bennett, St. Paul’s, Newfoundland, Collected by. Kenneth Peacock.

The story-line of a young girl outwitting a man whose intentions appear to be somewhat shady is not uncommon. This song seems to have travelled well (there are several Canadian variants). A good tune, and a chorus, to boot!

Nic Jones sang Crockery Ware in 1977 on his album The Noah’s Ark Trap. Sadly, it is out of print for a long time now.

Maggie Murphy (née Chambers) sang Crockery Ware in McGrath’s pub, Brookeborough, on 6 August 1980. This recording was included in 2014 on the Musical Traditions anthology of traditional songs from around Lough Erne’s shore collected by Keith Summers, I Pray You Pay Attention. Another recording made in 1995/6 made by John Howson was released on her 1996 Veteran CD of traditional folk songs and ballads from Tempo, Co Fermanagh, Linkin’ O’er the Lea.

Len Graham sang The Crockery Ware in 1984 on his Claddagh album with Fintan McManus, Ye Lovers All. He noted:

Eddie Butcher of Magilligan, County Derry, who died in 1980, sang a fragment of this song but the version here is from the late Oliver John Abbott of Ontario, Canada. O.J. Abbott emigrated from England to Canada in 1884. He worked on the farms and in the lumber camps of Ontario where he learned many songs. Much of his repertoire consisted of Irish songs, many of them coming from Mrs. O’Malley, the wife of one of his employers. O.J. Abbott died in 1962 aged 90.

I borrowed a couple of verses from Frank Purslow’s Marrow Bones to complete this story of an over-eager lover on a night visit. Alas, the ‘crockery ware’ or chamber pot is the cause of his downfall.

Nick Dow sang The Crockery Ware in 1986 on his album A Mark Upon the Earth. He noted:

This version of The Crockery Ware comes from Newfoundland and was collected by Kenneth Peacock from Mr. Everett Bennett of St. Pauls. Prof. Kenny Goldstein of the University of Pensylvania spent some time with me imparting some of his vast store of knowledge on the subject of the folklore of Newfoundland. Basing my judgment on Kenny’s kind instruction, I would expect this version to have been exported from the West country (probably Dorset). Caparable versions can be found in the Gardiner Manuscripts [See, VWML GG/1/5/237, GG/1/10/626] .

Old Blind Dogs sang Crockery Ware in 1991 on their first and eponymous album, the cassette Old Blind Dogs.

Brian Peters and Gordon Tyrrall sang The Crockery Ware in 2000 on their CD The Moving Moon. They commented in their liner notes:

The Crockery Ware was popular in both England and Ireland during the 19^th century, and survived in the repertoire of Maggie Murphy from Tempo, Co. Fermanagh, from whose recent CD we learned it.

John Kirkpatrick sang The Crockery Ware in 2001 on Brass Monkey’s fourth album Going and Staying. The liner notes commented:

The Crockery Ware is a typical English joke-song that had been around for a good many generations before Fred Cottenham of Kent sang it for the collector Mike Yates in the late 1970s. You can hear it on The Horkey Load Vol. 1, on Veteran Tapes.

Den Giddens sang Crockery Ware live an the White Lion folk club in Wherwell, Hampshire, in 2001. A recording of this concert was released in 2003 on his WildGoose CD A Little Bit Off the Top. He noted:

This came from a lovely old chap called Fred Cotterham, again at Elsie’s. Fred was a real old countryman and, I am happy to say, a good friend. He used to come round to our house, drink a lot of beer and sing a lot of songs.

Jackie Oates sang Crockery Ware in 2008 on her second album, The Violet Hour. According to her liner notes it is “the Dorset version of the song, loosely similar to the one found in the Hammond Manuscripts”.

Andy Turner sang The Crockery Ware as the 19 August 2012 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week. He commented in his blog:

I learned this song from Roy Palmer’s Everyman’s Book of English Country Songs. It was recorded in 1976 by Mike Yates, from Fred Cottenham, at Chiddingstone in Kent. Mike mistakenly gave the singer’s name as ‘Fred Cottingham’, and this was repeated both in Roy’s book, and when the recording was included on the Veteran Tapes cassette The Horkey Load Vol. 1. However Fred’s surname was definitely Cottenham: you can read about his life, and his singing father ‘Needle’ Cottenham, in an article by George Frampton for Musical Traditions—Fred Cottenham: The ‘Crockery Ware’ Man.

The ‘crockery ware’ referred to in this song, incidentally, is the chamber pot, aka the gazunder.

Lyrics

O.J. Abbott sings A Young Man Lived in Belfast Town

𝄆 A young man lived in Belfast town,
Courted a girl when she was young. 𝄇
He asked her for a favour bright
If he might sleep with her all night.

Chorus (after each verse):
Right whack fol-the doo-a di-do-day,
Right whack fol-the doo-a di-do-day.

𝄆 This fair maid she gave consent
And straight up to her room she went. 𝄇
And in that room there was a chair,
And under the chair was crockery ware.

𝄆 This young man got up in the night
Looking for his heart’s delight. 𝄇
His foot did slip, I do declare,
And he tumbled into the crockery ware.

𝄆 The old woman she got up in the night,
Ran upstairs with the candle light. 𝄇
She says, “Young man, what do you there
A-breaking all my crockery ware?”

𝄆 The police were sent for at break of day
To see what this young man should pay. 𝄇
He paid nine pounds for the crockery ware
And nine pounds ten for the damned old chair.

Margaret Christl sings The Crockery Ware

In Bristol did a merchant dwell,
He courted a girl, and he loved her well.
And all he craved, in his delight,
It was to lay with her one night.

Chorus:
To me rye whack fol the diddle I gee oh,
To me rye whack fol the diddle I gee oh.

As this young maid on her bed she lay,
A-thinking on the tricks on him she’d play;
And in his way she put a chair,
And on the chair placed crockery ware.

As this young man come in the dark,
A-thinking to find his own sweetheart,
He hit his toe against a chair,
Upsetting all of the crockery ware.

The old woman ran downstairs in a fright,
And there she called for a light.
She said, “You villain, what brought you here,
A-breaking all of the crockery ware?”

He said, “Old woman, don’t look so cross.
I missed my way, and I fear I’m lost.
I missed my way, I do declare;
I broke my shin on your crockery ware.”

As this young maid on her bed she lay,
A-laughing at the tricks on him she’d played,
She said, “Young man, don’t look so queer,
And pay my mother for the crockery ware!”

The police were sent for right away
And, sure enough, I had to pay
A dollar for a broken chair,
And one pound ten for her crockery ware.

So, come all you rakes and rambling sports
That goes a-courting in the dark,
Don’t hit your toe against a chair,
Or else you’ll suffer for your crockery ware.

Nic Jones sings Crockery Ware

In our town there lived a man
And he courted a girl both fine and young
He asked her for one favour bright
That he might sleep with her that night

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
Right-whack-fordle-diddy-i-do-day

Now this young girl she did contrive
To fix a joke on him that night
Behind the door she placed a chair
And on it she put the crockery ware

Now this young man he got up in the night
And was thinking to find his heart’s delight
He cracked his shins all against the chair
And he tumbled into the crockery ware

Now the old woman rose in a terrible fright
And she came upstairs with the candle light
She says “Young man how came you here?
Capsizing of my crockery ware”

This Betsy lay in the very next room
And she’s laughing at the game going on
She said “Young man, I do declare
You must pay my mother for the crockery ware”

The police were sent for without delay
To see what this young man should pay
He’s paid three shillings for the crockery ware
And five pound ten for the damned old chair

Len Graham sings The Crockery Ware

𝄆 A young man lived in Belfast town
And he courted a girl when he was young. 𝄇
He asked her for a favour bright,
That he might sleep with her all night.

Chorus (after each verse):
Right whack fol la doddle I doe day
Right whack fol la doddle I doe day

𝄆 This fair maid she gave consent
And straight up to her room she went. 𝄇
And in the room there was a chair
And under the chair was the crockery ware.

𝄆 The young man he got up in the night
Looking for his heart’s delight. 𝄇
His foot did slip, I do declare,
And he tumbled into the crockery ware.

𝄆 The aul’ woman she got up in the night
And she ran upstairs with the candle light. 𝄇
She says, “Young man, what do you there
A-breaking all my crockery ware?”

𝄆 They called for the police at the break of day
To see what this young man would pay. 𝄇
They paid nine pounds for the crockery ware
And nine pounds ten for the damned old chair.

𝄆 Come all ye wild and rambling sparks
That love to wander in the dark. 𝄇
Don’t bang your shins against the chair,
Or upset the old woman’s crockery ware!

John Kirkpatrick sings The Crockery Ware

Well a laddy in Lincolnshire did dwell
Courted of a fine young girl
He asked her a favour one fine night
If he could sleep with her till light

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
Right fol the ridey ro
Right fol the ridey ro

Well straightaway she gave consent
Straightaway upstairs they went
She placed him in a great big chair
And there underneath was the crockery ware

Well Johnny went groping in the dark
Thinking he was up to a lark
He blundered up against that bloody great chair
And arse over head went the crockery ware

Well the old girl woke up in a fright
Shouting out for the candle light
“Oh who goes there? I do declare
A-breaking of my crockery ware”

Well the damsel in her bed was laid
A-laughing at this game she’d played
“Oh it’s all right, John, I do declare
If you pay my mother for the crockery ware”

So early in the morning the bill was paid
And on the table it was laid
It was ten bob for that bloody old chair
And two pound ten for the crockery ware

So all you lads who’s up to a lark
Never go a-courting in the dark
For if you do I do declare
You’ll pay bloody dear for the crockery ware

Acknowledgements

Transcription from John Kirkpatrick’s singing by Garry Gillard.