“The Trooper and the Tailor”

Description

The trooper is away on duty, so his wife goes to bed with the tailor. When their business is done, they go to sleep. When the trooper shows up, the tailor hides in a cabinet. The chilly trooper wants to burn the cabinet, and finds the hidden tailor.

Notes

This and similar songs are sometimes traced back to a story in Boccaccio (seventh day, second story: Gianella, Peronella, and her husband). But the story is really one of the basic themes of folktale, and doubtless predates Boccaccio as well as these songs. - RBW

The Morton-Ulster text ends when the trooper "caught hold of the tailor just by the two ears, And he clean cut them off with his own little shears...." That explains that text's title: "The Wee Croppy Tailor." Notes to IRClare01 give as one of the explanations of the politically charged term "Croppy," "the practice of punishing convicted felons by cutting off the tops of their ears." - BS

Cross references

Broadsides

  • Bodleian, 2806 c.17(414), "Tailor and Trooper," unknown, n.d.

Recordings

  • Nora Cleary, "The Bold Trooper" (on Voice06)
  • Harry Cox, "The Groggy Old Tailor" (on HCox01)

References

  1. FSCatskills 139, "The Trooper and the Tailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
  2. Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 270-271, "The Trooper" (1 text, 1 tune)
  3. Kennedy 200, "The Game-Cock" (1 text, 1 tune)
  4. Morton-Ulster 45, "The Wee Croppy Tailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
  5. Morton-Maguire 50, pp. 144-145,174-175, "The Wee Croppy Tailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
  6. Peacock, pp. 243-248, "The Bold Trooper" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
  7. Leach-Labrador 116, "Tiddy, the Tailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
  8. PBB 86, "The Bold Trooper" (1 text)
  9. DT, TRPRTAIL*
  10. Roud #311
  11. BI, FSC139

About

Alternate titles: “The Cropped Tailor”
Author: unknown
Earliest date: 1889
Found in: US(MA) Britain(England(South,Lond)) Canada(Newf) Ireland