“The Jolly Barber Lad”
Description
A lady sends for a barber to come and curl her hair. He comes to the door; the lady says to send him up, for "My husband he's a yeoman, and I might as well have no man." She pays the barber; now he goes to shave her, but never takes his razor
Long description
A young lady sends for a jolly barber lad to come and curl her hair; he goes to "shave the lady, don't you know what I mean?" He comes to the door; the maidservant answers, and the lady says to send him up, for "My husband he's a yeoman, and I might as well have no man/He's just like a lady when he goes to bed with me." After the job is finished, she gives the young barber a sovereign and a crown; now he always goes to shave her, but he never takes his razor
Notes
Ives-DullCare re "Fogan MacAleer" makes "The Jolly Barber Lad" Lawrence Doyle's "model" for "Fogan MacAleer." Was "The Jolly Barber Lad" ever current in the Canadian Maritimes? Roud #2515 refers to a tape-recording from Ontario of "There Was a Jolly Barber and He Lived in Aberdeen." - BS
Cross references
- cf. "The Chandler's Wife" (theme)
- cf. "The Coachman's Whip" (theme)
- cf. "The Farm Servant (Rap-Tap-Tap" (theme)
- cf. "My Husband's Got No Courage in Him" (theme)
- cf. "Fogan MacAleer" (see notes)
References
- MacSeegTrav 37, "The Jolly Barber Lad" (1 tune, 1 text)
- Roud #2515
- BI, CcCST037