O Good Ale

Emily Portman, Tyneside: On Autumn Harvest ah011: Old Songs & Bothy Ballads 8: The Little Ball of Yarn Live from the Fife Traditional Singing Festival May 2011.

There could hardly be a more widely known drinking song - in this case made popular in the English folk scene from the singing of the Copper Family of Rottingdean who recorded the song in the 1950s. The song was widely published in broadsheet format in the 1800s and has often been collected. There are Scottish versions in Greig-Duncan under the title The Braw Black Jug. Roud 203, GD 3.590

1: Oh it's of good ale to you I'll sing,
And to good ale I'll always cling;
I like my mug filled to the brim,
And I'll drink all you like to bring.

Chorus:
O good ale thou art my darling,
Though art my joy both night and morning.

2: I love you in the early morn,
I love you daylight, dark or dawn;
And when I'm weary, worn or spent,
It's turn the tap and ease the vent.

3: Oh it's you that makes my friends my foes,
It's you that makes me wear old clothes;
But since you come so near my nose,
It's up you comes and down you goes.

4: Now if all my friends from Adam's race,
Were to meet me here all in this place;
I would part from all without one tear,
Before I'd part from my good beer.

Chorus:
O good ale thou art my darling,
Though art my joy both night and morning.