The Hedonistic Bellowhead Trivia Quiz

Answer: A barrel

A traditional song, recorded by various artists. The short version is that a sailor comes on shore in New York with his wages. Thinks he has got a nice evening ahead with a woman. She takes him home, slips him something in his drink and by the time he comes round he has no money, clothes or anything else.

Off he goes wearing a barrel and manages to sign on board another ship.
As the last line of the song indicates: "You have to get up early to be smarter than a whore". Other versions of this song end with "New York girls are tougher than the other side of hell".

Other recordings of this song I have to hand include Steeleye Span (with Peter Sellers), the Oyster Band and Fisherman's Friends.

Answer: Monarch

A traditional song which contrasts the easy life of a beggar with that of a king;
"I've got no tax to pay and I heed no master's bell
Who would be a king when a beggar does so well?"

Martin Carthy has an updated version of this song that includes the lyrics;
"For I'm a great Victorian value I'm enterprise poverty
Completely invisible to the state and there for all to see"

A similar song of the same theme is "The Beggars Song" recorded by Fairport Convention on the album "Red and Gold".

Answer: His father

The song is "The Hand Weaver and the Factory Maid". A battle of old ways versus the new. A hand weaver represents the traditional weaving method, but the shuttles of the factory loom are the new technology. The second verse starts:

"My father to me scornful said
How could you fancy a factory maid"

The rest of the song is the singer's statement that the factory maid is the one he loves and that he will go and work where he finds the women to be. There are many recordings and different versions of this song but the two that I have to hand are by Brass Monkey and Steeleye Span

Answer: Grey Horse

The song is about a bet, if the maid can come to the hill and return still a virgin. She wins the bet by using a spell, in this version of the song she has asked a witch, in others she is a witch. The spell she casts sends the man into a deeper and deeper sleep. The consequence is that she can say she arrived but didn't lose her maidenhead.

The answer to the question posed is in one of the later verses when the man has finally awoken and found the evidence the maiden came and went.

"Oh where were you, my good grey steed
That I have loved so dear?
Why did you not stamp and waken me
When there was a maiden here? "

The horse is most indignant and replies that he did all he could;

"Oh I stamped with my feet, master,
And all my bells I rang,
But there was nothing could waken you
Till she had been and gone."

Versions of this song from around Europe are thought to date back as far as the twelfth century, it is found in the Child Ballads and has been recorded by many singers under various titles.

Answer: Riddles

The Earl of Rosslyn's daughter is walking through the woods alone. Next, she is accosted by a military man who chats her up. Before she agrees to get into bed she says:

"But," said the pretty lady, "before you me perplex
It's you must answer questions yet and that is questions six.
It's questions six you must tell me and that is three times twa
Before I'll lie in your bed at either stock or wall."

Riddling contests seem to have been an in thing in history, although the lady here must think she is a cut above in the intelligence stakes, as she feels the need to explain that six is three times two. (Twa is the spelling used in the lyrics, simply a Scottish word for two.)

Another song which seems to have similar roots begins "I gave my love a cherry that had no stone". Though the version I remember (possibly by Alan Sherman) ends with the lines
"When you give a baby there is just one thing
You ought to give at least an engagement ring."

The title track of Steeleye Span's album "Now We Are Six" also consists of riddles. Maybe this is where Professor Tolkien got the idea for the riddle contest in "The Hobbit". He was a professor of Anglo Saxon with interests including mythology and folklore. If such riddling was common in traditional folk song it is plausible to suggest this.

Answer: Her lover is dead

From the start of the song the woman is weeping at her lover's graveside. After twelve months of this he gets up complaining about the noise. The lady asks for a kiss from his white lips but the deceased points out that if he grants such a wish, she will shortly be joining him in the grave.

It then briefly moves into a verse from the riddle songs referred to elsewhere:
"Go fetch me a flower from the dungeon deep,
Bring water from a stone.
Bring white milk from a virgin's breast
That baby never bore none."

Looking at the history of the song, the site Mostly Norfolk quotes the Kenneth S. Goldstein, editor of the album "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Volume 1", that "this ballad is notable for its exhibition of the universal popular belief that excessive grief on the part of mourners disturbs the peace of the dead". I don't have access to this album for verification but the quote is said to appear in the album's booklet.

There is also a quote in Cecil Sharp's Collection of English Folk Songs volume 2 which states:
"...refer to the ancient belief that a maiden betrothed to a man was pledged to him after his death, and was compelled to follow him into the spirit world unless she was able to perform certain tasks or solve certain riddles."

This version seems to combine both of these traditional beliefs in the one song.

Answer: Accordion

For a change this song isn't listed as traditional but is a translation of a song by Belgian songwriter Jacques Brel. The song focuses on the antics of sailors in the "Port of Amsterdam". The relevant lyric is:

"And they turn and they dance
And they laugh and they lust
Till the rancid sound of
The accordion bursts."

Not sure what it is about Amsterdam that attracts songwriters. In addition to this in my music collection alone I can find Michelle Shocked with her song "5am in Amsterdam", Christy Moore singing "Weekend in Amsterdam" while Richard Thompson gets in on the action with his song "Beatnik Walking". The latter includes the refrain:

"Amsterdam, where good things come in threes
Ease your troubled mind and shoot the breeze"

Answer: Little Daisy Dawson

According to the bosun that is.

"Little Daisy Dawson
She's got flannel drawers on
So says our old bosun"

All of the verses of this song follow the same format. Little Sally Racket, the title character, appears in the first verse where she has pawned the singer's coat but sadly lost the ticket.

This is a shanty that also goes by the names of "Haul her away" and "Cheer'ly Men". Both Richard Thompson and Maddy Prior have recorded versions that I am familiar with, but there are a lot more recordings available.

Answer: Plump with golden hair

The first verse of this little ditty gives the young ladies description.
"In Yarmouth Town there lived a man,
He kept a tavern by the sand.
This landlord had a daughter fair,
A plump little thing with the golden hair."

The plot of the story is that she rejects an offer of marriage with the words: "I get all I want without being wed." However then the saucy lady adds that if you are interested in a good time, "I'll tie a bit of string all around my finger. As you pass by, just pull on the string". This works out fine for the lothario. The word gets round and the next night she is happy to open the doors to fifteen sailors.

Although the song is listed as traditional I feel it should just be anon. The oldest listed sources are twentieth century, possibly it is based on an older song with a twist to the tale added more recently.

Answer: Parson's Farewell

Parson's Farewell is described in some places as a bourre. The original tune is listed as "trad" but this recording has been adapted in various ways by Sam Sweeney.

The wrong answers are all instrumental tracks on the Bellowhead album Burlesque.