> Shirley Collins > Songs > Old Johnny Buckle

Old Johnny Bigger/Booker/Buckle

[ Roud 19111 ; DT JNBOOKER ; Mudcat 3013 ; trad.]

Mrs. Hewett (the sister of Enos White) sang Old Johnny Buckle at her home in Mapledurwell, near Basingstoke, Hampshire on 26 July 1955 to Bob Copper. This recording was included in 2012 on the Topic anthology of songs by Southern English traditional singers recorded by Peter Kennedy and Bob Copper, You Never Heard So Sweet (The Voice of the People Volume 21).

Jack Elliott sang Old Johnny Booker, recorded by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, on their 1961 “musical portrait of a Durham mining family” on Folkways, The Elliotts of Birtley. Another recording of Jack Elliott made in the club room of The Barley Mow, Birtley, Co. Durham in early or mid-1960s was included in 1998 on the Topic anthology of dance tune and ditties, Troubles They Are But Few (The Voice of the People Volume 14).

Percy Bridges sang Old Johnny Bigger at his home in Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire in 1964 to Mike Yates. This recording was included in 2015 on the Musical Traditions anthology of songs and recitations from the Mike Yates collections, I Wish There Was No Prisons. Rod Stradling’s notes are more or less the same as those below to Freda Palmer’s MT album.

Bob Davenport and the Rakes sang Old Johnny Booker in 1965 on their eponymous Columbia album Bob Davenport and the Rakes.

Freda Palmer from Leafield sang Old Johnny Bigger to Alison McMorland in autumn 1975. This recording was included in 2018 on her posthumous Musical Traditions anthology Leafield Lass. Rod Stradling noted:

This song, definitely non-PC in today’s climate, may, or may not, have started life as the Minstrel song Johnny Boker, or, De Broken Yoke in de Coaling Ground, which was printed on a music sheet in Boston in 1840 and performed by JW Sweeny. Over the years it became known under a number of different titles, such as Old Johnny Booker or Old Johnny Bucker, and sometimes carried a chorus similar to that found in Freda’s song. Interestingly, Old Johnny Bigger is a song that the Bampton Morris Dancers continue to sing—but without the N-word.

Other recordings: Percy Bridges (MTCD372); Bill Smith (MTCD351); Jack Elliott (TSCD664); Mrs Hewett (TSCD671). Lee Hammons, a West Virginia musician, plays the tune to Old Johnny Booker on Rounder CD 21504/05, while Walter Smith sings the words on his 1929 recording, Old Johnny Bucker Wouldn’t Do, which has been reissued on Document DOCD-8062.

Bill Smith of Bridgnorth, Shropshire, sang Old Mrs Biggar in a recording made by his son Andrew Smith in 1980. It was included in 2011 on his Musical Traditions anthology of songs and stories of a Shropshire man, A Country Life. Rod Stradling noted in the album’s booklet:

Learned from Tom Sherris. Bampton Morris Men sing the song, calling it Old Johnny Bigger—from which the italicised lines come. Roud has 6 instances, 3 of which are sound recordings—you can hear Jack Elliott, of Birtley, sing it on TSCD664.

Shirley Collins sang Old Johnny Buckle on her 2016 album Lodestar on which she noted:

Sung by Mrs Hewett, a ploughman’s wife of Mapledurwell, Hants, recorded by Bob Copper in July 1955. It’s an upside-down song, a daft little nonsense song of contradictions. A far nobler variant of this type of song is Nottamun Town.

Lyrics

Jack Elliott sings Old Johnny Booker

Old Johnnie Booker he lived by himself,
As long as he had perfect health,
He took unto himself a wife
To look after him for the rest of his life.

Chorus:
Singing, I do believe, I will believe,
Old Johnnie Booker was a gay old Booker
And a gay old Booker was he.

Now old Ma Booker, she had a bad leg,
The doctor ordered her to bed,
He called Johnnie in and he says to him:
“You’ve got to rub your wife’s left leg with gin.”

Old Johnnie Booker thought it was a sin,
To rub his wife’s left leg with the gin,
He poured the gin right down his throttle,
Rubbed his wife’s left leg with the bottle.

The Lord made the bees, the bees made the honey,
The Lord made man and man made money,
The Lord made Hitler and Hitler made sin,
The Lord’ll have to make a hole to put the bugger in.

Percy Bridges sings Old Johnny Bigger

Now old Johnny Bigger he went out one day
His horse fell down and his cart run away
Old Johnny Bigger, well he shouted “Stop”
As he walked from the bottom of the hill to the top

Chorus:
Singing, I do believe, I do believe
Old Johnny Bigger was a gay old nigger
And a gay old nigger was he

Now old Bigger’s wife she went out one day
She caught her left leg in nine foot of clay
A lot of little frogs came hopping about
They had to go and get a spade to dig the old gal out

Now the doctor came and he had a good look
And he wrote it all down in his little big book
He says, “Well, Bigger, you must begin
To rub the old Gal’s leg well with gin“

Now old Johnny bigger well he thought it was a sin
To rub the old gal’s leg well with the gin
So he put the gin down his long throttle
And he rubbed the old gal’s leg well with the bottle

Now God made man and man made money
God made the bees and the bees made honey
God made the Devil and the Devil made sin
And he made the hole to put old Bigger in

Freda Palmer sings Old Johnny Biggar

Now Johnny Bigger’s wife she went out one day
She stuck her left foot in nine foot of clay
All the little frogs came hopping about
So she got a spade to dig herself out.

Chorus:
Singing I do believe, I do believe
Old Johnny Bigger was a gay old nigger
And a gay old nigger was he.

Now the doctor came, he had a good look
He wrote it all down in his big little book
He told old Bigger to begin
To rub his old girl’s leg well with gin.

Now old Johnny Bigger he though it was a sin
To rub his old girl’s leg with gin
So he tipped the gin down his long throttle
And he rubbed her leg well with the bottle.

Now God made man and man made money
God made the bees and the bees made honey
God made Devil and the Devil made sin
And the Devil made a hole to put old Bigger in.

Spoken: That’s the words I learnt when we going round the pubs then.

Bill Smith sings Old Mrs Biggar

There‘s old Mrs Biggar went to bathe one day
She got her left leg stuck in the clay
She would have been there, there is no doubt
But she run for the shovel and she dug herself out.

Now old Mr Biggar he thought it a sin
To rub his wife‘s leg well with gin
So he got this gin all down his throttle
And he rubbed his wife‘s leg well with the bottle.

Spoken: That‘s owd Tom Sherris used to sing that.
Singing I do believe
I do believe
Old Johnny Bigger was a gay old Bigger
And a gay old bugger was he.

God made man, man made money
God made the bees
And the bees made the honey.
God made the Devil and the Devil made sin
So we‘ll have to dig a hole,
For to put the bugger in.
Singing I do believe …

Spoken: That‘s a good little song that was but, oh dear … know no more.

Shirley Collins sings Old Johnny Buckle

Now old Johnny Buckle went out riding one day,
His horse got broke and his cart run away.
If old Johnny Buckle hadn’t come to a stop
He’d have fell from the bottom of the hill to the top.

Now old Mrs Buckle went out fishing one day,
She caught her left leg in the clay.
The toads and frogs all wobbled about,
She ran to get a shovel do dig herself out.

So old Mr Buckle went to Doctor Hook
And he dotted it down in a little black book.
Says, “Mr Buckle you must begin
To rub your wife’s left leg with gin.”

Now old Johnny Buckle thought it a great sin
To rub gis wife’s left leg with gin.
He poured the gin down his old groggle
And rubbed his wife’s leg with the bottle.

God made man, man made money,
God made the bees and the bees made honey.
God made Satan and Satan made sin,
Along came Satan and took Johnny in.

I do believe, I do believe,
Old Johnny Buckle was a gay old buckle
And old Mrs Buckle too.