John Barleycorn
The Bassett Street Hounds sing this tune when they do the dance, The Drunken Idiot. The words are written by morris dancer, Jon Berger, and set to a Stan Rogers song, The Idiot. Folk-lore has it that Stan Rogers wasn't terribly fond of morris dancers. Imagine his immense irritation when this tune began being fit to morris dances all across North America. In many cases, as with the Hounds, it just happened and wasn't done at all intending to provoke old Stan. Karin Howe, one of the composers of the dance, was unaware until recently of Rogers' version of the song, having only heard Berger's version.
- John Barleycorn to the sea's gone down
- On a ship both bold and new
- The thirst to slake of Captain Drake
- And all his loyal crew
- To venture brave through wind and wave
- The Spaniard for to halt
- And though he die of Spanish grape
- He'll live as English malt.
- Chorus:
- So we'll strike him down and we'll bind him round
- And we'll serve him worse than that
- We'll grind his bones between two stones
- And we'll bung him in a vat
- Then we'll drink his health in nut brown ale
- And raise our glasses high
- For before that he can live again
- John Barleycorn must die
- John Barleycorn to the courtin's gone
- All dressed in fine array
- In pewter clad from toe to head
- To win a lady gay
- The poetry that he declaims
- Will stand him in good stead
- For the ladies there do all declare
- They love it more than bread
- John Barleycorn's to the hangman gone
- This tale I will unfold
- For robbing loyal Englishmen
- Of their silver and their gold
- In a grave unmarked by cross or stone
- John Barleycorn is lain
- 'Til summer's rains have come and gone
- And he rises up again.