Haley Paley

Lyrics

1
Haley paley snow on the ground,
The wind blows bitter and cold.
A poor young sailor lad dressed up in rags,
Came to a lady's door.

2
The lady sat up in a window so high,
She cast her eye upon him,
"Go 'way, go 'way, you tarry sailor,
So dirty, so ragged and thin."

3
"But, madam, I'm hungry and, madam, I'm cold,"
The sailor lad cried from the door,
"If you've got a penny to give me," he cried,
"I never shall want any more."

4
The lady still sat in her window so high,
Still casting her eye upon him,
"Go 'way, go 'way, you tarry sailor,
So dirty, so ragged and thin."

5
"My father, my father was drowned in the sea,
My mother she cried and she cried,
Did you ever see a smile on her face,
Of a broken heart she died."

6
She threw a penny all down in the snow,
She threw down a penny or two.
"Oh, I am your William that's come from the sea,
Your William and you never knew."

7
"Come in, come in, you good hearted lad,
And never you'll want any more,
And as long as I live, I'll charity give,
To a poor young sailor boy."

This is a traditional song

Provenance

Dave Hillery tells us this was still being sung as late as the 1940s in the streets of Ripon at Christmas time. Children would sing it from door to door in hope of financial reward, just as they did with carols. He adds: “Early on New Year’s Day the people in the big houses invited children over the threshold and Haley Paley was followed by the Lucky Birding Chant:

Lucky bu’d, lucky bu’d chuck, chuck, chuck
Master and Missis it’s time to get up
If you don’t get up you’ll have no luck
Lucky bu’d, lucky bu’d chuck, chuck, chuck.

The words and tune were remembered by his mother; Mrs. Lilian Hillery of Ripon.

I learnt the song from Dave in York during the 60s, when, after the folk club he ran in The Golden Fleece on Pavement, we would to go back to his house for coffee. Later I rediscovered it on a 70s LP by Harry Boardman and Dave Hillery called Transpennine (Topic 12TS215). During the intervening period some differences must have either crept into his performance, or mine, or both. I was surprised when I heard it but I shouldn’t have been; this is after all the nature of oral transmission.
Ray Black

(See notes to TYG126 Early Pearly for origins and links to earlier versions.)