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Jim the Carter Lad
Bob Lewis: On Autumn Harvest ah09: Bob Lewis: Drive Sorrows Away. Recorded at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival May 2009.
A song that was often published on broadsides and is still widely known throughout England, Scotland and North America. Bob had known snatches of the song for many years and got the rest from George Belton another Sussex singer (Roud 1080; GD 3.457).
1: My name is Jim the carter lad, a jolly cock am I,
I always am contented be the weather wet or dry;
I snap my fingers at the snow and whistle at the rain,
I’ve braved the storm for many a day and can do it again.
Chorus:
Crack, crack goes the whip, I whistle and I sing,
I sit upon my wagon, I’m as happy as a king;
My horse is always willing and I am never sad,
There’s none can lead a jollier life than Jim the carter lad.
2: Now my father was a carrier many years e’er I was born,
He used to rise at daybreak and do his rounds each morn;
He’d sometimes take I with him especially in the Spring,
I used to sit upon the cart and hear my father sing.
3: Now the girls they always smile at me as I go riding past,
My horse is such a beauty and she jogs along so fast;
We’ve travelled many weary miles and happy hours have had,
I hope you all will drink with me to Jim the carter lad.
4: Now it’s time to bid you all goodnight, it’s time I was away,
My horse will only weary if I much longer stay;
To see your smiling faces, it makes me feel quite glad,
I hope you all will drink with me to Jim the carter lad.
Chorus:
Crack, crack goes the whip, I whistle and I sing,
I sit upon my wagon, I’m as happy as a king;
My horse is always willing and I am never sad,
There’s none can lead a jollier life than Jim the carter lad.
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c p 2010 Autumn Harvest : www.springthyme.co.uk
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