> The Watersons > Songs > A Stitch in Time
A Stitch in Time
[Mike Waterson]
Martin Carthy sang bis brother-in-law Mike Waterson's song A Stitch in Time live at the Udazkenean Festival, Donostia, Spain, 1986, on the Watersons' anthology of 2004, Mighty River of Song. Another live recording from New York City in 1987 was included in 2001 on his own Free Reed anthology, The Carthy Chronicles. He recorded this song officially in 1988 for his album Right of Passage, where he commented in the sleeve notes:
The sailor's flash of temper at the end [of Eggs in Her Basket] would seem to make him a cousin in spirit to the character finally on the receiving end in A Stitch in Time, a true story put into song by Mike Waterson about four years ago. It happened about 1962 in the Hessle Road area of Hull and the tune is that of a brutal Royal Navy song called On Board of a Man-of-War.
I don't know of any recording by Mike Waterson himself.
Grace Notes sang A Stitch in Time in 1993 on their Fellside CD Down Falls the Day.
Kate Green sang A Stitch in Time in 1994 on her cassette An Unkindness of Ravens.
Chumbawamba sang a very much shortened version of A Stitch in Time in 1995 on their live CD Showbusiness! and in 2007 on Get on With It—Live.
Fi Fraser and Jo Freya sang A Stitch in Time in 1998 on their No Masters duo CD The Fraser Sisters.
Christy Moore sang A Stitch in Time in 2001 on his CD This Is the Day and five years later on Live in Dublin 2006. He commented in the first album's sleeve notes:
Mike Waterson from North Yorkshire taught me The Lakes of Ponchartrain in 1967 and now it is part of our National repertoire. Here is another song from Mike which he wrote to describe strange events in a neighbouring parish. I learnt it from the singing of Martin Carthy.
Maddy Prior & The Girls sang A Stitch in Time in 2002 on their CD Bib and Tuck.
Lucy Ward sang A Stitch in Time as a BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2009 finalist and recorded it in 2011 for her CD Adelphi Has to Fly. This video shows a more recent performance from the Gate to Southwell Folk Festival in June 2013:
Wheeler Street sang A Stitch in Time on 29 March 2010 at The Corn Exchange, Maidstone. This concert was published a year later on their CD Live.
Lyrics
Martin Carthy sings A Stitch in Time | Chumbawamba's abridged version |
---|---|
Oh there was a woman and she lived on her own, For her husband he was a hunk of a man, | |
For he would come home drunk each night; One night she gathered her tears all round her shame; |
Her husband came home drunk each night |
But as he lay and snored in bed |
As he lay and snored in bed |
And she started to stitch with a girlish thrill, Oh the top sheet, the bottom sheet too, |
She started to stitch with a girlish thrill, |
And when her husband awoke with a pain in his head For in her hand she held the frying pan; |
Husband awoke with a pain in his head, |
And then she thrashed him black, she thrashed him blue, And she says, “If you ever come home drunk any more |
She thrashed him black, she thrashed him blue, |
Oh isn't it true what small can do |
Isn't it true what small can do |
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the Mudcat Café. A couple of small changes were made by Garry Gillard.