Revels 2026 Spring Pub Sing Song Sheet
Brian O’Donovan Legacy Series:
Revels Spring Pub Sing with David Coffin
May 13, 2026
FATHOM THE BOWL
English Drinking Song
Come all you bold heroes, give an ear to me song,
I’ll sing in the praise of good brandy and rum.
Come lift up your glasses, good cheer is our goal,
Give me the punch ladle, I’ll fathom the bowl.
REFRAIN:
I’ll fathom the bowl, I’ll fathom the bowl,
Give me the punch ladle, I’ll fathom the bowl.
From France we do get brandy, from Jamaica comes rum
Sweet oranges and apples from Portugal come.
But stout and strong cider are England’s control,
Give me the punch ladle, I’ll fathom the bowl.
REFRAIN
My father he do lie in the depths of the sea,
No stone at his head, but what matters for he?
There’s a clear crystal fountain near England do roll
Give me the punch ladle, I’ll fathom the bowl.
REFRAIN
My wife she do despise me as I lay at my ease,
She says as she likes and she does as she please.
My wife, she’s the devil, she’s as black as the coal,
Give me the punch ladle, I’ll fathom the bowl.
REFRAIN
GOOD ALE
English Drinking Song
‘Tis of good ale to you I’ll sing,
And to good ale I’ll always cling.
I likes me mug filled to the brim,
And I’ll drink all you care to bring.
REFRAIN:
Oh good ale, thou art my darling;
Thou art my joy, both night and morning.
‘Tis you that helps me with my work,
And from a task I’ll never shirk.
For if I can get a good home brew,
Why, better than one pint, I’ll take two.
REFRAIN
It’s you that make my friends my foes,
It’s you that make me wear old clothes.
But since you come so near my nose,
It’s up you comes and down you goes.
REFRAIN
If all the friends of Adam’s race,
Were gathered here all in this place,
I’d part with them without a tear
Before I’d part with my good beer.
REFRAIN
You’ve caused me debts; I’ve often swore
That I never would drink strong ale no more,
But from thee for all that I’ll forgive
And I’ll drink strong ale, as long as I live.
REFRAIN
PADSTOW DRINKING SONG
English Drinking Song
Pass the good old bumper ‘round and never count the score
Drink the good old liquor down and boldly ask for more.
REFRAIN:
For t’is he who will not merry, merry be
Shall never taste of joy,
See, see, the Cape’s in view
And forward, my brave boys.
Here’s a health unto her majesty and long may she reign
Queen of all the seven seas and the pride of the Spanish main.
REFRAIN
But one more thing I’ll ask of you before you count the score:
Bring to me the girl I love and the key to the cellar door.
REFRAIN
Once more unto her majesty and let the toast go ‘round
Confusion to her enemies wherever they are
BELFAST MILL
by Si Kahn
REFRAIN:
And the only tune I hear is the sound of the wind
As she blows through the town,
Weave and spin, weave and spin.
CLICK GO THE SHEARS
Australian Folk Song
REFRAIN:
Click go the shears boys, click, click, click,
Wide is his blow and his hands move quick,
The ringer looks around and is beaten by a blow,
And curses the old snagger with the blue-bellied “Joe.”
THE DERBY RAM
English Folk Song
REFRAIN:
And indeed me lads it’s true, me lads, I never was known to lie,
If you would’ve been in Derby you’d’ve seen him the same as I.
THREE JOLLY ROGUES OF LYNN
English Folk Song
In the good old colony days
When we lived under the king
Lived a miller and a weaver and a little tailor
Three jolly rogues of Lynn.
Three jolly rogues of Lynn
Three jolly rogues of Lynn
Lived a miller and a weaver and a little tailor
Three jolly rogues of Lynn
Well, the miller, he stole corn
And the weaver, he stole yarn
And the little tailor, he stole broadcloth
For to keep those three rogues warm.
For to keep those three rogues warm
For to keep those three rogues warm
And the little tailor, he stole broadcloth
For to keep those three rogues warm.
Well, the miller was drowned in his dam
And the weaver hanged in his yarn
And the Devil put his paw on the little tailor
With his broadcloth under his arm.
With his broadcloth under his arm
With his broadcloth under his arm
And the Devil put his paw on the little tailor
With his broadcloth under his arm.
The miller still floats in his dam
The weaver still hangs in his yarn
And the little tailor he skips through Hell
With his broadcloth under his arm.
With his broadcloth under his arm
With his broadcloth under his arm
And the little tailor he skips through Hell
With his broadcloth under his arm.
HOLMFIRTH ANTHEM
English Folk Song
Abroad for pleasure as I was a-walking, it was one summer summer’s evening clear. x2
There I beheld a most beautiful damsel, lamenting for her shepherd swain. x2
The fairest evening that e’er I beheld thee, evermore with the lad I adore. x2
Wilt thou go fight the French and Spaniards, wilt thou leave me thus my dear? x2
No more to yon green banks will I take thee, with pleasure for to rest myself and view the lambs. x2
But I will take thee to yon green gardens, where the pretty flowers grow. x2
SAE WILL WE YET
by Tony Cuffe
REFRAIN 1:
And sae will we yet, and sae will we yet,
For we’ve aye been provided for and sae will we yet.
REFRAIN 2:
And sae will we yet, and sae will we yet,
For we drank together many’s a time and sae will we yet.
REFRAIN 3:
And sae will we yet, and sae will we yet,
For we’ve lippen’d aye to providence and sae will we yet.
REFRAIN 4:
And sae will we yet, and sae will we yet,
When we fell we aye got up again and sae will we yet.
JOHN BALL
by Sydney Carter
REFRAIN:
Sing, John Ball and tell it to them all
Long live the day that is dawning
And I’ll crow like a cock, I’ll carol like a lark
For the light that is coming in the morning
COUSIN JACK
by Steve Knightley (Show of Hands)
REFRAIN:
Where there’s a mine or a hole in the ground
That’s where I’m heading for, that’s where I’m bound
Look for me under the lode or inside the vein,
Where the copper, the clay, where the arsenic and tin
Run in your blood, they get under your skin
I’m leaving the county behind and I’m not coming back
So follow me down Cousin Jack
DARK AS A DUNGEON
by Merle Travis
REFRAIN:
Where it’s dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew,
Where the dangers are many and the pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines,
It’s dark as a dungeon way down in the mines.
CORNISH LADS ARE FISHERMEN
by The Countrymen
REFRAIN:
For Cornish lads are fishermen,
And Cornish lads are miners too,
But when the fish and tin are gone,
What are the Cornish boys to do?
OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY
English Folk Song
REFRAIN:
O’er the hills and o’er the Main
Through Flanders, Portugal, and Spain
King George commands and we obey
Over the hills and far away
THE WILD ROVER
English Folk Song
I’ve been a wild rover for many a year
And I spent all my money on whiskey and beer,
And now I’m returning with gold in great store
And I never will play the wild rover no more.
REFRAIN:
And it’s no, nay, never,
No nay never no more,
Will I play the wild rover
No never, no more.
I went to an ale-house I used to frequent
And I told the landlady my money was spent.
I asked her for credit, she answered me “Nay,
Such a custom as yours I could have any day.”
REFRAIN
I took from my pocket ten sovereigns bright
And the landlady’s eyes opened wide with delight
She said, “I have whiskey and wines of the best
And the words that I spoke sure were only in jest.”
REFRAIN
I’ll go home to my parents, confess what I’ve done
And I’ll ask them to pardon their prodigal son.
And if they caress (forgive) me as ofttimes before
Sure I never will play the wild rover no more.
REFRAIN
MOLLY MALONE
Irish Folk Song
In Dublin’s fair city where girls are so pretty,
‘Twas there that I first met sweet Molly Malone.
As she wheeled her wheelbarrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh.”
REFRAIN:
Alive, alive oh, alive, alive oh,
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh”
She was a fishmonger and sure ‘twas no wonder
For so were her mother and father before.
And they each wheeled their barrows,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh.”
REFRAIN
She died of a fever and no one could save her,
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
Now her ghost wheels her barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh.”
REFRAIN
PARTING GLASS
Scottish Folk Song
Of all the money that e’er I had,
I spent it in good company.
And all the harm I’ve ever done,
Alas! it was to none but me.
And all I’ve done for want of wit
To mem’ry now I can’t recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all.
Oh, all the comrades that e’er I had,
They’re sorry for my going away,
And all the sweethearts e’er I had,
They’d wish me one more day to stay,
But since it falls unto my lot,
That I should rise and you should not,
I gently rise and softly call,
Good night and joy to be with you all.
If I had money enough to spend,
And leisure time to sit awhile,
There is a fair maid in this town,
That sorely has my heart beguiled.
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips,
I own she has my heart in thrall,
Then fill to me the parting glass,
Good night and joy be with you all.