Lyr Req: A Suit of Corduroy's

Subject: A Suit of Corduroy's
From:
Date: 21 Mar 01 - 10:28 PM

This is a song about a Mother making her Son a suit of corduroy clothing and how he has lost them. Some of the words go: "The godamn things they tumbled in and I lost my corduroys" " "I shit in my corduroys" He lost them while trying to clean his dirt up in a brook etc. A little crude but a cute old song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Suit of Corduroy's
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 21 Mar 01 - 10:57 PM

At Garry Gillard's  Copper Family  site:

Corduroy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Suit of Corduroy's
From: Garry Gillard
Date: 22 Mar 01 - 07:08 AM

Thank you Malcolm!

Garry

Subject: Lyr Add: CORDUROY (from Bob Copper)
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 22 Mar 01 - 11:59 AM

And, now:

CORDUROY

(Traditional; from the singing of Bob Copper. © Coppersongs, 1976.)

My father was fond of lush and he emptied many a butt,
And for to get a suit of togs we had to stinge our guts;
Oftimes my mother and I dined off a saveloy,
To save up the "browns" to buy me a suit of corduroy.

Chorus:

Right tiddy fol lol fol lol fol lol right tiddy fol lol, fal lay,
Right tiddy fol lol fol lol fol lol right tiddy fol lol fal lay.

When father came home at night and drunk we used him rob,
And after the course of a week or two we saved up seven bob.
One day my mother did say, "Come along with me, my boy,
We will go to Moses and Sons for a suit of corduroy."

We soon picked out a suit, the best that we could find,
They fitted me very well but rather loose behind.
"That's no fault" said the man, "for he's a growing boy
And I'll warrant that his behind it will grow to the corduroy."

We quickly fitted them on and my mother she paid the blunt,
There was two pockets at the side and a little hole in front.
As we were walking along all the people they did cry:
"How very nice he looks in his suit of corduroy."

My mother she used to scold because I had so many faults
And feeling rather queer one day she gave me a dose of salts.
Soon after I was taken short and the buttons did so annoy
And before I could get my trousers down I ...[raspberry noise]... my corduroy.

When I was out at play one day, my pal said to me: "Jim,
Let's go to Battersea Park and there we'll have a swim."
As we were swimming about, me and this other boy,
Some covey hooked it off with my suit of corduroy.

Now as naked as I was born I was taken home in a cart
And when my mother heard the news it nearly broke her heart.
She said, "You've cooked my goose, you very naughty boy,
I shall never forget the day when you lost your corduroy."

A midi of the tune, based on the notation in Bob's book, Early To Rise (Heinnemann 1976) goes to Alan of Australia for the  Mudcat Midi Pages.  As a temporary measure until it appears there, it can be heard, courtesy of the  South Riding Folk Network,  here:

Corduroy: Click to play Midi.

This was a popular song of the mid-19th century; presumably it had its origins in the Music Halls -the tune is very much of that type.  There are several broadside copies at the  Bodleian Library Broadside Collection:

Suit of Corderoy  Printed between 1846 and 1854 by E.M.A. Hodges, (from Pitt's), wholesale toy warehouse, 31 Dudley street [S]even Dials.
The suit of corduroy  Printed between 1860 and 1883 by H. Disley, 57, High-street, St. Giles, London. W.C.
Suit of corduroy  Printed by Bebbington, J.O. Oldham-road, Manchester.
Suit of corduroy!  Printed and Sold between 1849 and 1862 at Such's Song Mart, 123, Union Street, Boro' S.E.
There is also a mostle illegible Glasgow edition, which specifies the tune as that of Four and Nine.

Some of the above are in Standard English, others are written in the "Stage Cockney" of the day.  There isn't a great deal of variation in the texts, though locations and the name of the tailors vary.  Evidently, the song made it to the USA as well; there is a songsheet at the  "America Singing" Collection:

The Suit of Corduroys  H. De Marsan, Publisher, 60 Chatham Street, N. Y. [no date.]  Again, much the same, but with the incontinence episode omitted, perhaps for the benefit of tender American sensibilities!


Malcolm