Middleton Hiring Fair

Chorus:  Blow the wind off Kinder, the devil do I care

I married him at fifteen when I was six months gone
The village said I was well-wed to t’ miller’s eldest son
But the first time as he hit me I swore would be the last
Today he’s raised his hand again and so I’ve left the little bastard
Chorus

I’ve left his bacon burning black, I’ve left his kettle on
I’ve left him and I won’t be back or tell him where I’ve gone
The village stood to watch me out, well let the buggers stare
I’m off to put meself about at Middleton Hiring Fair
Chorus

Me name it is Joe Ryan I’m a blacksmith to me trade
And if I can’t make it out of iron, me lads, it can’t be made
But I’ve never found the master as’d ever treat me square
Mebbe I’ll find one to me mind at Middleton Hiring Fair
Chorus

I called me boss a tosspot full of foundry-bottom slime
Which weren’t that diplomatic, but it felt nice at the time
He chased me out the workshop with  lump hammer and chisel
Which I think I’m right in saying counts as constructive dismissal
Chorus

Oh, I milk fast and gentle and I can churn all day
I’ll scrub your parlour spotless and I’ll sleep on decent hay
I’ll cook your men their dinners while I sup on curds and whey
And all I want’s me pinafore and eighteen pence a day
Chorus

Down at Middleton Hiring Fair the lads are in from  everywhere
The lasses all are looking rare with pretty ribbons in their hair
There’s swingboats and a dancing bear, ale and music everywhere
Another hour and I’ll be there at Middleton Hiring Fair
Chorus

By the power vested in us as the makers of this song
We shall introduce this couple who are bound to get along
Well-met thou brazen chancer, well-met my lady fair
We’ll sing and dance and take our chance at Middleton Hiring Fair
Chorus

The Hurdy Gurdy Man

By the graveyard gate a gaudy caravan
Bent upon the step a hurdy gurdy man
Sad and strange the tunes that twist beneath his hand
Melancholy music none can understand
Dark and driven dirges from another land

No-one stops to listen, none will meet his eye
No-one, save a beggar woman passing by
Hears some distant echo of her first romance
Stops and smiles and sways in her untroubled trance
Drops her ragged bundle and begins to dance

Rising from the doorway of his caravan
Grinding still and still the hurdy gurdy man
Leads the woman dancing, dancing here and yon
By the graveyard gate they dance and dancing on
Dance into the shadows and are gone, are gone

Save me from the darkness as the day grows dim
Save me from the night that I must dance with him

The Curse

So he calls by to say we can still be friends
One cliche, and a whole dream ends
Little dream of just him and me
Little wife, little house, maybe kids
Maybe

So I try not to swoon like some drama queen
I won’t cry to the moon for what might have been
I just pray, as I watch him go,
That he dies, and soon, and slow

Better yet, may his new love turn out to be
Twice as useless in kitchen and bed as me
May she smell, may she snore as well
May she tell his best gag and forget the tagline

May her laugh have the lash of a million gales
May her back sprout a rash of reptilian scales
May he know she will be his woe
‘Til he dies and fries below

Seal Song

I live by the sea like my father before me
And I know her ways and her waves and her tides
And I know they’re mine
I live by the sea and I know her power when winds grow stormy
But I know a bay where we can play when the sun do shine
I live by the sea and she carries me with her
She carries me home where the breakers roll on a grey shoreline
I live by the sea and she feeds my kind with the fish that I gather
And  I know a bay where we can play when the sun do shine
Chorus:  But there’s a sea change coming, I feel it in the wind

I live by the sea but the sea is dying
And the days are drawing in for me and mine
Along the shore you can hear the sound of the young ones crying
For a bay where they can play when the sun do shine
Chorus

I live by the sea and I must go to her
She’s growing dim to these poor eyes, I know the sign
Horizon light shows bright for better weather
And I know a bay where we can play when the sun do shine
Chorus

Oh, show me that bright horizon light for better weather
And I know a bay where we can play when the sun do shine

Sing In The Day

Oh the lark in the air and the dove in the stable
The fox ghosting home and the calf in the hay
The lovers abed and the babe in the cradle
They’re all of them waiting to welcome the day
The man of the land and the factory hand
And the traveller ready to be on his way
The boy with his rod and their peaceable God
They are all of them ready to sing. . .
Chorus:  Sing in the Day!
              Old Sol has arisen

The jovial sun paints the dome of the sky
From his palette of sapphire and golden and grey
And the world turns again: this old boulder keeps rolling
And carries us on to the welcoming day
And the man of the land turns his face to the sunrise
And waits on whatever the morning will bring
So with hope in our hearts - and a weather-eye open -
We’ll sing. . .
Chorus

For we brought nothing in and we take nothing out of here
Live for the day and be glad that you did
For one of these mornings you’ll wake to find out
You’re a very long time looking up at the lid
Therefore let us arise with the lark in the morning
And joy and be merry and love while we may
For it’s laughter and song roll this old world along
So we’ll dance in the morning and sing. . .
Chorus

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