Yorkshire Garland
 

John The Little Mester

 
Performed by:
Oughtibridge Primary School
Recorded in:
Yorkshire
Recorded on:
01/05/2012
Recorded by:
Robin Garside
Genre:
Keywords:
Factories
 

Archival information

TYG:
145
Key:
Em
Time Signature:
3/4
Roud id:
0
Laws id:
Master title:
John The Little Mester
Places Cited:
Oughtibridge

Lyrics

1
In Oughtibridge down by the river,
I made up my penknives from steel.
I forged them all in my workshop,
And I ground them all on my wheel 

Chorus
With a bang and a tap on my Stiddy,
I pin up the parts of a knife,
The handle is horn, brass or rosewood,
It'll last you the rest of your life. 

2
I?d polish the parts on my linisher,
And punch in my mark on the tang,
I?d carefully put in a nail mark, 
And hammer until my ears rang.

3
Firstly I take up the bolsters,
For they are the first things I made,
I'll put in the springs and the linings
And then I can put in the blade.

4
And then when I finished a penknife
I'd sell it for a only a 'Bob',
Little Mesters don?t make lots of money,
I never got rich at this job.

5
My knives were sent all over,
To Portugal, France and to Spain,
America, Greece and Germany
They all knew the Sheffield name.