My Johnny was a shoemaker
And dearly he loved me
My Johnny was a shoemaker
But now he's gone to sea
With pitch and tar to soil his hands
And to sail across the sea, stormy sea
And sail across the stormy sea
His jacket was a deep sky blue
And curly was his hair
His jacket was a deep sky blue
It was I do declare
For to reef the topsails up against the mast
And to sail across the sea, stormy sea
And sail across the stormy sea
Some day he'll be a captain bold
With a brave and gallant crew
Some day he'll be a captain bold
With a sword and spyglass too
And when he has his gallant captain's sword
He'll come home and marry me, marry me
He'll come home and marry me
I've travelled round this country
From shore to shining shore
It really makes me wonder
The things I heard and saw
I saw the weary farmer
Ploughing sod and loam
I heard the auction hammer
Just a-knocking down their home
But the banks are made of marble
With a guard at every door
And the vaults are stuffed with silver
That the farmer sweated for
I saw the seamen standing
Idly by the shore
I heard the bosses saying
Got no work for you no more
I've seen the weary miners
Scrubbing coal dust from their backs
And I heard their children crying
Got no coal to heat the shack
My brothers and my sisters
Are at work throughout this land
I pray we'll get together
And together make a stand
Pete Seeger
There was a wild colonial boy
Jack Duggan was his name
He was born and raised in Ireland
In place called Castelmaine
He was his father's only son
His mother's pride and joy
And dearly did his parents love
Their wild colonial boy
At the early age of sixteen years
He left his native home
And to Australia's sunny shore
He was inclined to roam
He robbed the rich, he helped the poor
And shot James McAvoy
A terror to Australia was
The wild colonial boy
One morning on the prairie
As Jack he rode along
Listening to the mocking bird
Singing a cheerful song,
Out stepped a band of troopers
Kelly, Davis and Fitzroy
They all set out to capture him
The wild colonial boy
Surrender now Jack Duggan
For you see we're three to one
Surrender in the Queen's high name
For you're a plundering son
Jack drew three pistols from his belt
And proudly held them high
I'll fight but not surrender
Said the wild colonial boy.
He fired a shot at Kelly
Which brought him to the ground
He fired point blank at Davis too
Who fell dead at the sound
But a bullet pierced his brave young heart
From the pistol of Fitzroy
And that is how they captured him
The wild colonial boy
Come follow, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow me.
Whither shall I follow, follow, follow,
Whither shall I follow, follow thee?
To the Greenwood, to the Greenwood,
To the Greenwood, Greenwood tree. (x2)
Early in the morning
Down upon the station
See the little engines all in a row
Along comes a man
And he pulls a little handle
Woo,woo!
Choo, choo!
And off we go
Hey ho, chicken on a raft Hi ho, chicken on a raft
Hey ho, chicken on a raft
Hi ho, chicken on a raft
The skipper's in the ward room drinking gin
Hey ho, chicken on a raft
I don't mind knocking but I ain't going in
Hey ho, chicken on a raft
The Jimmy's laughing like a drain
Hey ho, chicken on a raft
Been looking in me comic cuts again
Hey ho, chicken on a raft
Oh, chicken on a raft on a Monday morning
Oh what a terrible sight to see
Dabtow's for'ard and the dustman's aft
Sitting here picking at a chicken on a raft
Hey ho, chicken on a raft
Hi ho, chicken on a raft
Hey ho, chicken on a raft
Hi ho, chicken on a raft
Well they gave me the middle and the forenoon too (Hey ho...)
And now I'm pulling in a whaler's crew (Hey ho...)
There's a seagull laughing overhead (Hey ho...)
Hope to be floating in a feather bed (Hey ho...)
Oh, chicken on a raft on a Monday morning...
Well an amazon girl lives in Dumfries (Hey ho...)
She only has her kids in twos and threes (Hey ho...)
Her sister lives in Maryhill (Hey ho...)
She says she won't but I think she will (Hey ho...)
Oh, chicken on a raft on a Monday morning...
We kissed goodbye on the midnight bus (Hey ho...)
But she didn't cry, she didn't fuss (Hey ho...)
Am I the one that she loves best? (Hey ho...)
Or am I just a cuckoo in another man's nest? (Hey ho...)
Oh, chicken on a raft on a Monday morning...
I had another girl in Donnerbie (Hey ho...)
And did she make a fool of me (Hey ho...)
Her heart was like a purser's shower (Hey ho...)
From hot to cold in a quarter of an hour (Hey ho...)
Oh, chicken on a raft on a Monday morning
Oh what a terrible sight to see
Dabtow's for'ard and the dustman's aft
Sitting here picking at a chicken on a raft
Hey ho, chicken on a raft
Hi ho, chicken on a raft
Hey ho, chicken on a raft
Hi ho, chicken on a raft
Well how do you do, Private William McBride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your grave side
And rest for a while in the warm summer sun?
I've been walking all day and I'm nearly done
And I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the glorious fallen in nineteen-sixteen
Well I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugles sound the Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers o' the Forest?
And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?
And though you died back in nineteen-sixteen
To that faithful heart are you forever nineteen?
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Forever enclosed behind some glass pane
In an old photograph torn and tattered and stained
and fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?
Did they beat the drum slowly...
But the sun shining now on these green fields of France
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have all vanished under the plough
No gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard it's still no man's land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned
Did they beat the drum slowly...
And I can't help but wonder now, Willie McBride
Do all those who lie know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
The suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain
For Willie McBride it all happened again
And again and again and again and again
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugles sound the Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers o' the Forest?
Eric Bogle
Guitar chords for No Man’s Land
G C Am
Well how do you do, Private William McBride
D G D
Do you mind if I sit here down by your grave-side
G C Am
And rest for a while in the warm summer sun?
D C G
I've been walking all day and I'm nearly done
G Am
And I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
D G D
When you joined the glorious fallen in nineteen-six-teen
G Am
Well I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
D C G
Or Willie McBride was it slow and ob-scene?
D C G
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly?
D C G
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down?
Am D
Did the bugles sound the last post in chorus?
G C D G
Did the pipes play the Flowers o' the Forest?
We all fly like eagles
Flying so high
Circling around the universe
On wings of pure light
Ooh itchi chi-oh
Oh-i-oh
There was a queer thing that flowed in with the tide
It was forty feet long, boys, and forty feet wide
And we called it the Herring that came in with the tide
Take him away and don't delay
One your leg, two your leg, throw your leg over me, Johnny, said she
And what do you think we made out of his head
Why the finest old oven, boys, as ever baked bread
With me herring's head, oven bake bread
Take him away and don't delay
One your leg, two your leg, throw your leg over me, Johnny, said she
What do you think we made out of his eyes
A beautiful pair of blue butterflies
With me herring's head, oven bake bread
Heads and eyes and blue butterflies
Take him away and don't delay
One your leg, two your leg, throw your leg over me, Johnny, said she
What do you think we made out of his back
A grand big sailor and we called him Jack
With me herring's head, oven bake bread
Heads and eyes and blue butterflies
Heads and eyes and back, called him Jack
Take him away and don't delay
One your leg, two your leg, throw your leg over me, Johnny, said she
What do you think we made out of his belly
A lovely looking girl and we christened her Nelly
With me herring's head, oven bake bread
Heads and eyes and blue butterflies
Heads and eyes and back, called him Jack
Heads and eyes and back and belly, christened her Nelly
Take him away and don't delay
One your leg, two your leg, throw your leg over me, Johnny, said she
What do you think we made out of his fins
A grand big packet of needles and pins
With me herring's head, oven bake bread
Heads and eyes and blue butterflies
Heads and eyes and back, called him Jack
Heads and eyes and back and belly, christened her Nelly
Heads and eyes and back and belly and fins, needles and pins
Take him away and don't delay
One your leg, two your leg, throw your leg over me, Johnny, said she
What do you think we made out of his tail
The grandest old ship, boys, as ever set sail
With me herring's head, oven bake bread
Heads and eyes and blue butterflies
Heads and eyes and back, called him Jack
Heads and eyes and back and belly, christened her Nelly
Heads and eyes and back and belly and fins, needles and pins
Heads and eyes and back and belly and fins and tail, ship set sail
Take him away and don't delay
One your leg, two your leg, throw your leg over me, Johnny, said she
THE HERRING (GEORDIE VERSION)
What'll I do with my herring's head?
Oh what'll you do with your herring's head?
I make it into loaves of bread
Herring's head - loaves of bread
And all manner of things
Of all the fish that swim in the sea
The herring is the fish for me
Away the day, away the day
My Hinnie oh
What'll I do with my herring's eyes?
Oh what'll you do with your herring's eyes?
I make them into puddings and pies
Herring's eyes - puddings and pies
Herring's head - loaves of bread
And all manner of things
Of all the fish that swim in the sea
The herring is the fish for me
Away the day Away the day
My Hinnie oh
Herring's gills - window sills
Herring's back - fishing smack
Herring's fins - needles and pins
Herring's scales - ship with sails
Herring's guts - pair of boots
Herring's tail - barrel of ale
What'll I do with my herring's tail?
Oh what'll you do with your herring's tail?
I make it into a barrel of ale
Herring's tail - barrel of ale
Herring's guts - pair of boots
Herring's scales - ship with sails
Herring's fins - needles and pins
Herring's back - fishing smack
Herring's gills - window sills
Herring's eyes - puddings and pies
Herring's head loaves of bread
And all manner of things
Of all the fish that swim in the sea
The herring is the fish for me
Away the day Away the day
My Hinnie oh
Oh what do you think of such a thing?
Haven't I done well with my bonny herring?
In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine
Dwelt a miner, '49-er,
And his daughter Clementine
O my darling (x3) Clementine
You are lost & gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
Light she was and like a fairy
And her shoes were number nine
Herring boxes without topses,
Sandals were for Clementine
Drove she ducklings to the water
Every morning just at nine
Stubbed her toe against a splinter,
Fell into the foaming brine
Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles soft and fine
But alas! I was no swimmer,
So I lost my Clementine
In a churchyard near the canyon
Where the myrtle doth entwine
There grow roses and other posies,
Fertilized by Clementine
Then the miner, '49-er,
Soon began to peak and pine
Thought be 'oughter join his daughter,
Now he's with his Clementine
In my dreams she still doth haunt me,
Robed in garments soaked with brine
Tho' in life I used to hug her,
Now she's dead I draw the line
Now ye Boy Scouts, heed the warning
To this tragic tale of mine
Artificial respiration
Would have saved my Clementine
How I missed her (x2)
How I missed my Clementine
Till I kissed her little sister
And forgot my Clementine
A ’49-er was a miner in the gold rush of 1849