Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .

Subject: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: GUEST,Odden
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 01:33 AM

This song is probably pretty common--heard it every place we went in Scotland 20 years ago, but saw a line of it in the book Map of the World and now it's driving me crazy to know all the words. All I can remember is the first line of the chorus: "So be easy and free when you're drinking with me, I'm a man you don't meet every day."

It might have been called "John Stuart" (sp?)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: The Shambles
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 02:18 AM

Jock Stewart.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: radriano
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 12:07 PM

There's an Irish version of this too, which I can't remember the name of. Also, the chorus is used for a capstan shanty called "Bound to Australia", which is in Digital Tradition. Click below to see it:

Bound to Australia

Link fixed so it now points to the song you had in mind. --JoeClone, 25-Jul-02.

Subject: Lyr Add: BOUND TO AUSTRALIA
From: radriano
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 12:14 PM

Hmmm, that link in my last post is actually for a song called "The First of the Emigrants". The song I was referring to is from Stan Hugill's book Shanties of the Seven Seas. Here is that version (not in DT):


BOUND TO AUSTRALIA
Capstan shanty

I'm leaving old England, the land that I love
And I'm bound far across the sea
Oh, I'm bound for Australia, the land of the free
Where there'll be a welcome for me

Chorus:
So fill up yer glasses an' drink what ye please
For whatever the damage I'll pay
So be aisy an' free, whilst yer drinkin' wid me
Sure I'm a man you don't meet every day!

When I board me ship for the south'ard to go
She'll be lookin' so trim an' so fine
And I'll land me aboard, with me bags and me stores
From the dockside they'll cast off each line

To Land's End we'll tow, with our boys all so tight
Wave a hearty goodbye to the shore
And we'll drink the last drop to our country's green land
And the next day we'll curse our sore heads

We'll then drop the tug, and sheet tops'ls home taut
And the hands will crowd sail upon sail
With a sou'wester strong, boys, we'll just tack along
By the morn many jibs will turn pale

We'll beat past the Ushant and then down the Bay
Where the west wind it blows fine an' strong
We'll soon get the Trades and we should make good time
To the south'ard then we'll roll along

Round the Cape we will roll, take our flyin' kites in
For the Forties will sure roar their best
And then run our Eastin' with yards all set square
With the wind roaring out of the west

We'll then pass Cape Looin all shipshape and trim
Then head up for Adelaide Port
Off Semaphore roads we will there drop our hook
And ashore, boys, we'll head for some sport

When I've worked in Australia for twenty long years
One day will I head homeward bound
With a nice little fortune tucked under me wing
By a steamship I'll travel I'm bound

So 'tis goodbye to Sally and goodbye to Sue
When I'm leavin' Australia so free
Where the gals are so kind, but the one left behind
Is the one that will one day splice me

Richard

Subject: Lyr Add: I'M A MAN YOU DON'T MEET EVERY DAY (?)
From: whistledon
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 03:38 PM

Here is the version I use, but it is only one version of the song and not set in stone.

Oh, me name is Pat Sweeney. I'm a cagey old man,
And a ramblin' young rover I've been.
So be easy and free when you're drinking with me.
I'm a man you don't meet every day.

I have acres of land and I've been of command,
I've always a shilling to spare.
So be----

I will take out my dog and my gun for to shoot,
and I'll ramble round rivers and lakes.
So be----

Come fill up your glass, be it whiskey or beer,
Whatever the price I will pay.
So be---

Repeat first verse and chorus and end.

Hope that helps you, just be aware that there are others versions too.
Whistledon

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 25-Jul-02.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: kendall
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 04:47 PM

I dont believe the dog ever got shot..the way I learned it was..I took out my gun WITH my dog I did shoot. In Britain they say "shoot" whereas we say "hunt"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: Jeri
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:03 PM

Whistledon's version still has him taking his dog and gun and going shooting. I think I first heard the "I took out my gun, my dog for to shoot" or some such from the Pogues.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: whistledon
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:17 PM

thanks for clearing that up, Jeri. I sing it as if the dog and it's owner were going hunting for critters. I have heard it sung, " I will take out my gun and my dog for to shoot", but I won't sing it that way.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: Greyeyes
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:17 PM

"I took out my gun and my dog for to shoot" or "I took out my dog and my gun for to shoot" do not suggest that it is the dog that is being shot. In the UK to take your dog and gun to shoot just means you went out shooting (hunting) with a dog and a gun.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: Greyeyes
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:22 PM

I think I have heard a version "With my dog and my gun I went oot, hares to shoot"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: mousethief
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:55 PM

I just read the title of this thread correctly. I had been reading it as "It's so easy to be free" -- I even read the posts in here a couple of hours ago, and thought that the song said "It's so easy to be free when you're drinking with me."

Gotta have my frontal lobe alignment done again.

Alex

Subject: Lyr Add: THE MAN YOU DON'T MEET EVERY DAY
From: Liam's Brother
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:56 PM

I have heard, many years ago, mind you...

"I took out my gun with my dog I did run
All down by the River Kildare..."

You might also like this from a 19th century Irish-American songster...

THE MAN YOU DON'T MEET EVERY DAY

I've a nice little cabin that's built with mud,
In the beautiful county Kildare;
I've acres of land and men at command,
And I've always a shilling to spare.
Och! I didn't come here boys to look for a job,
But just a short visit to pay;
And as I walk through the streets people say that I meet,
"There's a man you don't meet every day."

Then call for your glasses, have just what you want,
And whatever the damage I'll pay;
Bhoys, be airy and free when you're drinking wid me,
For I'm the man you don't meet every day.

When I landed in Glasgow, what a sight met my eyes,
As first I put my foot on the shore;
There was Felix O'Donough, blind Barney McGurk,
And around 2 or 3 dozen more.
Och! murther! you ought to have seen them all stare,
And then they did all run away;
Says I, "My spanpeens, do you think I'm a ghost
Because I'm a man you don't meet every day?"

I'm in love with a nice little girl in the town,
And we're going to be married today;
And if you come over a twelvemonth from now,
A right welcome to you I will pay;
And I think I can show you a little spaleen,
Who then will be able to say
To my friends and companions, while pointing me out,
"There's a man you don't meet every day."

All the best,
Dan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: kendall
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 09:46 PM

Is there an echo in here?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 09:58 PM

WEll, the tune I heard it to back in the dark (McCarthy era) ages was My Lodging Is In the Cold Ground (Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: GUEST,Jimmy
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 11:42 PM

The use of "I took out my gun and my dog for a shoot" is an example of a figure of speech called ZEUGMA where one verb modifies two or more nouns. The expanded expression would read "I took out my gun and (I took out) my dog for a shoot"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 12:30 AM

On some thread here I noted before that the song could be found on the Bodley Ballads website.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 10:43 AM

The broadside Bruce refers to (and which is very close to the version quoted by Dan) may be seen here:  I'm a man you don't meet every day  Printer and date are unknown.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: radriano
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 11:50 AM

The melody shown for "Bound to Australia" in Stan Hugill's Shanties of the Seven Seas is very close to "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: mousethief
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 12:08 PM

And here I had thought ZEUGMA was a comic-book action hero.

Subject: Lyr Add: A MAN YOU DON'T MEET EVERY DAY
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 10:11 PM

G'day all,

Dan (aka Liam's Brother: I was looking around a few years back for a version of A Man You Don't Meet every Day to sing with a nice Australian-collected waltz, obviously related to My Home is on the Cold, Cold ground and A Man You Don't Meet every Day. I did see Stan Hugill's song, but found it difficult to sing from an Australian perspective (notice how many stanzas to get past the Bay of Biscay - and how few out here!).

I found a little 1-stanza compressed version of this (collected in south-east Queensland, from Alan Offa, of Toowoomba (who turned out to be an uncle of my old friend Eva Gaddes). this seems to get a complete story across in a remarkably short time ... in contrast to all those long English farmers' songs detailing everything they grew and everything that they do with them on their self-sufficient farms.

This was just enough for me to work on the difficult task of singing along with my own buttion accordion playing. Being an old mouth-organ player, I suffer from Mouth-Organist's Syndrome - compulsive huffing & puffing in concert with the accordion's bellows ... not very good for the singing style! I needed something I never played on harmonica to cut out that connection and a good tune to keep the mechanics of playing out of the other side of my brain. (Alan actually sang this to another tune, but it does belong with something very like the tune I now use.)

Regards,

Bob Bolton

A MAN YOU DON'T MEET EVERY DAY

I've a nice little cottage, all made out mud,
On the border of County Kildare;
I've an acre of ground and I grow my own spuds,
I've plenty - and a little to spare.
So drink up your fill when you're drinking with me,
Whatever the damage; I'll pay;
So be easy and free, when you're drinking with me;
I'm a man you don't meet every day.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 25-Jul-02.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 10:14 PM

G'day again,

Whoops!

I forgot the breaks!

A Man You Don't Meet every Day

I've a nice little cottage, all made out mud,
On the border of County Kildare;
I've an acre of ground and I grow my own spuds,
I've plenty - and a little to spare.
So drink up your fill when you're drinking with me,
Whatever the damage; I'll pay;
So be easy and free, when you're drinking with me;
I'm a man you don't meet every day.

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: zander (inactive)
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 04:42 AM

A man You dont meet every day is actually a Scottish song called ' Jock Stewart ' who was a real person. His great, great granddaughter the traditional singer Belle Stewart is very much alive and still singing. I saw her a few years ago at Ripponden folk club near Halifax and she was absolutely brilliant. Dave

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 08:44 AM

G'day Zander,

About 20 posts above this, The Shambles, in the first reply, posted a link called (and presumably to a version of) Jock Stewart. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get the link to work on either computer that I use for Mudcat!

That said, the old Irish versions are not about Jock Stewart - they are about Irish emigrant workers. This is folk music ...How old are they? ... How old is the Jock Stewart version? (Interestingly, the song usually goes to a tune generally thought of as Irish ... but where does a good tune come from?)

BTW: I just checked the Digital Tradition database above and it has a version of Jock Stewart ... and this message at the end:

The song is an Irish narrative ballad that has been shortened to an Aberdeenshire drinking song. It is essentially Jeannie Robertson's version, slightly modified by Archie Fisher in the third verse so the dog doesn't get shot. It is alternatively claimed by the Singing Stewarts to have been written for Bell's father.

I have been looking closely at the various versions of Man you don't Meet Every Day and they are diffuse. Any simple answer (particularly in folk music) should be suspected on first principles.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 11:10 AM

Four American traditional versions (two published) all differ considerably from the early text (and from each other). One who sent a text to Robert Gordon in the 1920s said everyone was singing it in 1890 (Gordon Manuscript transcripts, Library of Congress). That's not good evidence for the date of the song, but I haven't seen any other date for it, so it will have to do at present.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: fat B****rd
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 02:29 PM

Try The Pogues "Rum Sodomy and the Lash" LP (LP ??) there's a sinister version on there sung by their then bass player Caitlin, who became Mrs. Elvis Costello fB

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 06:24 PM

Zander, Belle Stewart is not in fact "very much alive and still singing". Belle died three years ago, leaving an irreplaceable void in the Scottish folk scene.

Murray

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Be Easy and Free When You're. . .
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 09:38 PM

Belle Stewart Obituary  (Sheila Douglas, 1997).

Belle's daughters, Sheila and Cathie, continue the family tradition.

Have a look at these two reviews at  Musical Traditions:

Sheila Stewart: From the Heart of the Tradition
Sheila Stewart: Time goes on ... and time goes on ...

Malcolm