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folk, roots, - John Barleycorn

from A Carousel for Fools by The Mather Robinson Band

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about

And finally - a traditional folk song with roots that go back at least half a millennium and probably a lot further. This particular version is probably closest to the one penned by none other than Robbie Burns. We’ve performed it off and on for decades and it’s been a long held ambition of ours to record it. So now we have. So there you are!

lyrics

There were three men came out of the west, their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn must die
They've ploughed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in
Threw clods upon his head
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn was dead

They've let him lie for a very long time, 'til the rains from heaven did fall
And little Sir John sprung up his head and so amazed them all
They've let him stand 'til Midsummer's Day 'til he looked both pale and wan
And little Sir John's grown a long long beard and so become a man

They've hired men with their scythes so sharp - to cut him at the knee
They've rolled him and tied him by the waist - serving him most barbarously
They've hired men with their sharp pitchforks who've pricked him to the heart
And the loader he has served him worse than that
For he's bound him to the cart

They've wheeled him around and around a field 'til they came unto a barn
And there they made a solemn oath on poor John Barleycorn
They've hired men with their crabtree sticks to cut him to the bone
And the miller he has served him worse than that
For he's ground him between two stones

And little Sir John with the nut brown bowl and his brandy in a glass
And little Sir John with the nut brown bowl proved the strongest man at last
The huntsman he can't hunt the fox not so loudly to blow his horn
And the tinker - he can't mend kettle nor pots without a little barleycorn

credits

from A Carousel for Fools, released June 21, 2015
Traditional

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about

The Mather Robinson Band Salford, UK

Dave Mather and Pete Robinson grew up together in the north of England in the nineteen sixties and have been writing and performing music individually and as a team ever since. From Opera to rock to pop and now back to their roots in folk music. Mather & Robinson entertain audiences in the north west of England but if you ask them - they will hummmm. ... more

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