The Old Woman in Yorkshire

Lyrics

1
There was an old woman in Yorkshire, in Yorkshire she did dwell;
She loved her husband dearly and another man twice as well.

Chorus
Ti me fal-the-doo-ra-lido, fal-the-doo-ra-lay.

2
She went unto the doctor to see if she could find,
Something to give her husband for to make him blind.

3
She bought a stone of marrow bones and made him eat them all.
The old man said, "I am so blind I can't see nowt at all."

4
The old man broken-hearted he unto her did say,
"I'm sure that I would drown meself if I could find the way."

5
"If you will go and drown yourself, and that without delay,
If you will go and drown yourself, now I'll show you the way."

6
So they both went hand in hand unto the river's brim,
The old man wadn't drown hisself unless she shoved him in.

7
So she stepped back a yard or two for to shove wiv all her might,
The old man quickly stepped aside and in she tummled quite.

8
Good lord how she did holler, good lord how she did bawl,
The old man said, "I am so blind I can't see nowt at all."

9
She swam until she floated unto the river's brim,
The old man took his walking stick and shoved her farther in.

10
So now me song is ended and what do you all think?
He's a damn poor singer if he didn't 'arn a drink. ('arn = earn)

This is a traditional song about Yorkshire, collected in Yorkshire.

Provenance

We include this widespread humorous ballad, initially because it was collected in Yorkshire from one of our most prestigious singers, Arthur Wood of Littlebeck, but also because his version sets the scene firmly in Yorkshire. The earliest versions extant are two different stall copies of the first two decades of the nineteenth century. John Pitts of London printed a slip song in five double stanzas entitled 'There was an old woman in Yorkshire' from his 14 Great St Andrews Street address where he was printing from 1802 to 1819 (Madden Coll. VWML microfilm 75, no. 1349). In the Robert White Collection, Newcastle University Library (ref 15.39) is an Edinburgh printed garland of 1818 which includes the ballad under the title 'There was an old woman in our town' consisting of 11 stanzas.

Undoubtedly the ballad is considerably older than these printings and there is evidence to suggest they were both taken from contemporary oral tradition. Apart from their differences in text, in both cases there is a refrain, but tantalizingly, as is the case with most broadside refrains, only a fragment of it is given; the printer obviously assuming that the ballad seller knew the refrain, as would the buyers. It is also likely that the ballad seller actually contributed the version of the ballad to the printer. The London refrain runs 'Sing whack, fal lal' and the Edinburgh version 'With my ri to do fal la la lu', both similar to oral refrains that have survived into the twentieth century.

In the John Bell Collection (Songs from the Manuscript Collection of John Bell, Harker, 1985, p336), later acquired by Robert White mentioned above, there is a Northumbrian version without tune 'The Gay Old Landlady' in the handwriting of James Telfer, sent to Bell or White c1841. Its refrain is similar to the earlier ones:
'With my right fan a fan airy O,
With my right fan a fan O.'

In the North East of Scotland Greig-Duncan Collection, vol 2, pp445-452 there are ten versions under the main heading of 'The Wife of Kelso' and the title 'The Wily Auld Carle' is also used. Again 'fal de ral' refrains predominate. An interesting feature of the Scots versions is that instead of sucking on marrowbones the old man is given ground marbles. The ballad is also common in Ireland and it is widespread in North America, a few versions having been found in Australia.

As one would expect the ballad is set in a wide range of places, usually close to where each version has been collected. The neutral 'our town' of the Edinburgh garland copy features far more than any named place, particularly in Ireland where the name Wexford is also used. In English versions Yorkshire is the most common location, notably in Walter Pardon's and Harry Cox's Norfolk versions, and Yorkshire also features in some American versions.

In about 1850 an enterprising artiste of the newly blossoming Music Halls, John Sinclair, rewrote it giving the husband and wife the names Johnny Sands and Betty Hague. It differs from the earlier ballad in that marrowbones and feigned blindness do not feature. Instead she merely ties his hands at his request and when she tumbles in he can't save her because his 'hands are tied' (perhaps the origin of the well known phrase). Eventually this song entered oral tradition and it can be found in many folk song collections alongside its ancestor. Our copy of the sheet music is dated 1853 but it may be a later edition. The sheet informs us that it had a follow up (indicating its great popularity at the time) titled 'Betty Hague'.