Yorkshire Garland
 

The Tailor's Britches

 
Performed by:
John Greaves
Recorded in:
Gilling East
Recorded on:
14/11/2006
Recorded by:
Steve Gardham
Genre:
Humour
Keywords:
Dancing,
Musicians,
Clothing,
Theft
 

Archival information

TYG:
49
Key:
Eb Maj
Time Signature:
6/8
Roud id:
1610
Laws id:
Master title:
The Tailor's Breeches
Places Cited:
Whitby

Lyrics

1
Come, ladies and gentlemen, and listen unto me,
I’ll sing you a song of the north count(h)ry;
In a village near to Whitby town a tailor yance did dwell,
And women, wine and company, why ‘e loved ‘em all right well.

2
At a dance ya New Year’s Evening the tailor did attend,
Ah’m sure that ‘e would nivver ‘a’ gone if ‘e could ‘a’ seen the end;
That poor little tailor, why ‘e’ll ne’er forget that night,
For nivver yet was tailor seen in sike a sorry plight.

3
‘E danced an’ ‘e sang, ‘e ‘ad whisky monny’s the tot,
The jolly little tailor was the merriest of the lot;
To the lady ‘e was dancin’ with, the tailor then declared,
“If you lend me your petticoats I’ll dance like a maid.”

4
Oh, ‘is britches ‘e put off and ‘er petticoat put on,
The maid, the tailor’s britches then, she quickly did adorn;
Oh, the fiddler ‘e played for them a merry, merry tune,
She danced ‘is money, watch and britches clean out of the room.

5
“Oh, bring me me britches back!” the tailor loud did bawl,
“Oh, bring me me britches back, me money, watch and all!”
For the company there assembled, with laughter they did roar,
The little tailor’s petticoat fell down upon the floor.

6
“O, Lord,” said the tailor, “wherivers thou may be,
O, Lord,” said the tailor then, “take pity now on me!”
What to do the little tailor then ‘e really did not know,
For ‘is little shet was far too short to cover all below.

7
‘Twas then the fiddler played a tune for all that ‘e was woth;
The tune ‘e played the tailor was the famous ‘Cock o’ the North’.
All the ladies were delighted and the’ loudly shouted, “No!”
When the tailor took ‘is t(h)rilby ‘at to cover Uncle Joe.

8
When at last the little tailor then got out upon the street,
A bevy of fair damsels then ‘e chanced for to meet;
The ladies screamed with laughter when the tailor did appear,
And ‘e wished ‘em Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

9
That poor little tailor, those ladies did address,
Ses ‘e, “It is not ladylike to laugh at man’s distress,"
Ses the ladies to the tailor then, “Give us nae mair o’ that,
If you call yourself a gentleman why don’t you raise your hat?”

10
In that village near to Whitby town there’s ord men livin’ yet,
They’ll tell you of that famous dance, they nivver will forget,
Those ladies they will tell to you the dance they loved the best
Was the dance the little tailor then showed off ‘is cuckoo’s nest.

11
That jolly little tailor, from that day unto this,
Of women, wine and company, why, ‘e’s given ‘em all a miss.
At a dance the little tailor then, you nivver more will catch,
Since the woman pinched ‘is britches and ‘is money and ‘is watch.