Tag: Felix

Dick Mount

Richard John Mount, 1833–1915

In an article in the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald for 6th October 1900, headed “HARVEST HOME AT NEWINGTON”, the regular columnist ‘Felix’ (W.G. Glanville) described the musical contributions which followed the meal and healths:

Dick Mount, a farm hand of some seventy summers, in a twenty-verse song, told the story of a bashful swain and an innocent country lass, whilst another follower of the plough related in a ditty the doings of a certain little tailor of Dover, much to the amusement of the company.

It’s not possible to positively identify the song which Dick Mount sang, but there certainly was a farm labourer named Richard Mount, of very nearly seventy summers, living in Newington at that time.

He was baptised at St Nicholas, Newington Next Hythe, on 11th August 1833, the son of William and Sarah, née Gower. The 1841 census showed them living in the hamlet of Arpinge near Newington. William and his eldest son (also William) both worked as thatchers. In 1851 Richard was working as an agricultural labourer for William Matson, a farmer of 140 acres, at Alkham (the precise location is difficult to decipher, but could be Drellingore). When the 1861 census was taken he was boarding with the family of Samuel Hood at Paddlesworth, to the West of Hawkinge, working as an agricultural labourer, probably for Robert Marsh at Cole Farm.

He married Jane Gilham at St Nicholas, Newington Next Hythe, on 15th October 1870, and the following year’s census found them living with Richard’s father back at Arpinge (recorded as “Harpinge” on the census return). William was by now 79 years old, but his occupation was still shown as Thatcher, as was that of 38 year old Richard. He and Jane had a baby son, also named Richard.

Thereafter census records show him simply as a farm labourer. With Jane and an ever-increasing family, he was living at Coombe Farm Cottage, Newington Next Hythe, in 1881, at Arpinge in 1891, and at Grove Cottage, Newington in 1901. In 1911 he and Jane were residing at 81 Shaftesbury Avenue, Cheriton and, although he was 78 years of age, he was still listed as “Farm labourer”. He died in the final quarter of 1915.

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Charley Appleton

Charles John Appleton, 1866-1949

The following account appeared in the ‘About the Neighbourhood’ column by ‘Felix’ in the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 5th November 1932: 

“We are all Jolly Fellows that Follow the Plough.”

Upon my word, it is really wonderful what an accumulation of correspondence one receives on various matters in the course of a week or two. For example, I was recently a guest at a harvest home supper, and after sampling “a cut and come again” kind of menu, listened to a very few short speeches and many ancient and modern songs.

Of course the good old “Farmer’s Boy,” with its rollicking chorus came up as fresh as, ever, and so did “We are all jolly fellows that follow the plough.”

Our Mutual Friend, Mr. Appleton, of Pay Street.

The above named farmer who is affectionately known in the countryside as Charley Appleton was present at the harvest supper I refer to and he, knowing my partiality for the song, has taken the trouble to write It out and send it to me. I am not by any means hard-up for subjects, but I must make room for Charley’s effort as follows:

When four o’clock comes
Then up we do rise,
And into the stable
We merrily flies;
Then rubbing and scrubbing
Our horses, I’ll vow
We are all jolly fellows
That follow the plough.

When five o’clock comes
To breakfast we meet;
With beef, pork and bread, boys,
We heartily eat.
With a piece in our pockets
I’ll swear and I’ll vow,
We are all jolly fellows
That follow the plough.

When six o’clock comes
To work we do go –
A trip o’er the plain, boys,
So nimble, you know.
And when we get there, boys,
So noble and bold,
To see which of us
A straight furrow can hold.

Our master came to us
And this he did say:
“What have you been doing, boys,
All this long day;
You have not ploughed an acre,
I’ll swear and I’ll vow:
You’re damned idle fellows,
That follow the plough.

I turned myself round,
And made this reply:
“We have all ploughed our acre,
You tell a damn lie!
We have all ploughed an acre,
I’ll swear and I’ll vow:
And we are all jolly fellows
That follow the plough.”

Our master turned round,
And laughed at the joke:
“It’s past two o’clock, boys,
It’s time to unyoke;
You take home your horses
And rub them down well,
And I’ll give you a jug,
Of the very best ale!”

This ditty, with it [sic] glimpse of farm life, many years ago was a great favourite, but with the increasing number of steam ploughs and tractors, bids fair to become but a memory. It is not only the humorous side, but the rough and ready manner of the singing of them that renders the listening to such songs so enjoyable.

There doesn’t seem much in it,”

Yes, in these days one can imagine a townsman declaring as above but anyone who has witnessed those straight furrows across the ploughed land may well marvel at the skill often displayed by the men employed. In this old picture note the time 4 a.m. in the first verse. It meant going into the stable with a lantern to feed the horses and then to breakfast, “with beef, pork and bread boys.”  I once witnessed a ploughing match and never since that day have I forgotten what a straight furrow means. We all remember how on one occasion the late Lord Rosebery left the then cabinet and declared he would “plough his lonely furrow alone.” And he did thereafter. I thank our good friend Charley of Pay Street fame for thinking of us benighted  townsmen. And that reminds me that on one occasion I met Charley in Tontine Street. He said: “Why don’t you give us a look up at our cottage some day.” I replied, “Ah! that’s a pretty old cottage isn’t it.” Charley replied “It was built before Noah entered the Ark.” Months after I paid a visit to Pay Street and explored the cottage. Well, with its huge beams placed this way, that way, upright or on the slant I found it a most extraordinary place and I should wonder if the gentleman who designed the ark had not had something to do with Charley’s Cottage. Ah! it was a snug little place though, with a duck pond outside and old English flowers smothering the frontage. Tucked away amongst the trees I well liked the old house. Charley and his family lived there many years. But now they reside in a 20th century bungalow and I hope and we all hope that there is much happiness and a life before them.

Charley was born on 11th Mar 1866, and baptised on 6th May at St Anthony the Martyr, Alkham. The 1871 census has the Appleton family living at “Woolverton” (actually Wolverton), Alkham. The household consisted of Charley’s father, also Charles, an agricultural labourer; his mother Jane and her father, William Rolfe; two older siblings and two younger. By 1881 the still growing family had moved to Noah’s Ark Cottage, Alkham, and his father was working as a farm bailiff. Charley however, now 15, was employed by George Seath (“Farmer 217 acres 9 men 1 boy”) as “Farm servant (indoor)” at Lower Standen Farm, Hawkinge.

He was married on 23rd February 1889 at St Michael’s, Hawkinge, to Susannah Kember. The 1891 census shows them living at 30 Queen Street, Folkestone. They had a one year old daughter, and there were three lodgers in the house. Charley was working as a carter for the Corporation, but at some point in the next ten years he took up farming: in 1901 he was to be found at Hawkinge Hall, Hawkinge, his occupation “Farmer & dairyman”. He and Susannah now had three children; her widowed mother, also Susannah, was living with them.

Charley continued working as a dairy farmer, and from 1911 onwards the census records show him at Pay Street near Densole. This would have been where ‘Felix’ visited him in his cottage. By 1932, when Charley appeared in the ‘About the Neighbourhood’ newspaper column, he was living in a modern bungalow. Presumably this was The Cabin, Pay Street, which was given as his address in the 1939 Register. His occupation was given as “Farmer Retired”. He died on 1st January 1949, at the age of 82.

The noted singer George Spicer, although he hailed from the Ashford area, came to work at Coolinge Farm, a large dairy farm to the west of Folkestone, in the mid-1920s. In 1927 he married Dorothy Appleton, who was the daughter of Charley Appleton’s younger brother Sid, and George and Charley must therefore have known each other.

Songs

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The Shop walker

Reportedly sung by George Mount, Cheriton.

Roud V29204

‘The Shop Walker’ was a comic song composed by George Le Brunn with lyrics by Walter de Frece, published by Charles Sheard & Co in 1891 or 1892. In 1903 the song entered the repertoire of the well known music hall performer Dan Leno, and was described on the cover of subsequent sheet music printings as “Sung with greatest possible success by Dan Leno”, and his “celebrated pantomime patter song” – see https://www.vandaimages.com/2009CR8416-Song-sheet-cover-featuring-Dan-Leno-in-Walter-de.html.

According to Wikipedia

“The Shopwalker” was full of comic one-liners and was heavily influenced by pantomime. Leno played the part of a shop assistant, again of manic demeanour, enticing imaginary clientele into the shop before launching into a frantic selling technique sung in verse.[1]

Leno recorded the song on a disc issued by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. In July 1903, and it was subsequently  taken up by other performers including Harry Bluff and Sandy Powell- and, no doubt, by many amateur performers around the country.1

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Leno, accessed 4 January 2025. ↩︎
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The Cuckoo

Reportedly sung by George Mount, Cheriton.

Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 8th September 1923

Roud 413

The cuckoo is a pretty bird,
She sings as she flies;
She brings us good tidings,
And tells us no lies.
She sucks little birds’ eggs
To make her voice clear;
She never sings ‘Cuckoo,’
Till summer is near.

Widely collected by the early twentieth century folk song collectors. Cecil Sharp, for example, found numerous versions, in Somerset, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire – and in the Appalachian mountains of the USA. The song was included in English Folk-Songs for Schools collected and arranged by Sabine Baring Gould and Cecil Sharp, published by J. Curwen & Sons Ltd., 1906, so it is entirely possible that George Mount’s grandchildren would have sung it in school. We have no information on George’s version beyond the verse quoted above, nor where he had learned the song.

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I’ll sing you one, O

Reportedly sung by George Mount, Cheriton.

Roud 133

This song is known by various titles, including ‘Green Grow the Rushes, O’, ‘The Twelve Apostles’, ‘The Dilly Song’, and ‘The Ten Commandments’. Collectors such as Sharp and Baring-Gould found the song in England and North America, and a version from Dorset was included in Lucy Broadwood’s English County Songs (1893). She gave a set of words as printed in the Eton College Rifle Volunteer Corps’ publication Camp choruses, and the song continues to be included in Scout campfire song books today.

See Lucy Broadwood and J.A. Fuller Maitland, English County Songs, pp154-159, https://archive.org/details/englishcountyson00broa/page/154/mode/2up

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D’ye ken John Peel?

Reportedly sung by Tom Catt.

Roud 1239

A very well known hunting song from Cumberland. It was written circa 1824 – originally in Cumbrian dialect – by John Woodcock Graves (1795–1886) in celebration of his friend John Peel (1776–1854), a huntsman from the Lake District. The words were subsequently rewritten in more standard English by Carlisle bookseller George Coward (using the pseudonym Sidney Gilpin), while it was the new musical arrangement by William Metcalfe (1829–1909), organist and choirmaster of Carlisle Cathedral, which became best known around the country. The song’s popularity and longevity would no doubt have been increased by its inclusion in The national song book : a complete collection of the folk-songs, carols, and rounds suggested by the Board of Education, edited and arranged by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, published by Boosey & Co. in 1905.

For the standard words and tune, see The national song book pp6-7, https://archive.org/details/nationalsongbook00stan/page/6/mode/2up

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The Farmer’s Boy

Reportedly sung by Tom Catt, James Rye and others.

Roud 408

A song which was frequently encountered by early folk song collectors, right across the country, and with a variety of tunes. Writing in the New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, Steve Roud and Julia Bishop say

Extremely widely-known in Britain and also in North America, ‘The Farmer’s Boy’ is for some the archetypal English folk song and was often used as a semi-official rural anthem at union meetings and harvest suppers. Most of the early collectors noted versions and they commented on how common it was Sabine Baring-Gould, for example, wrote, ’One of the most popular and widely known folk-songs in England. It would be hard to find an old labourer who has not heard it’ (English Minstrelsie, I (1895), p. xxx).

The earliest known record of the song’s words is their appearance on an 1832 ballad sheet published by J. Catnach, but they may be older. The words remain fairly constant in collected versions. The tune most commonly associated with the song today, which has also done service as the regimental quick march of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment and the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (successor to the Royal East Kent regiment, popularly known as “The Buffs”), is based upon ‘Ye Sons of Albion’, a patriotic song dating from the Napoleonic Wars – see William Alexander Barrett, English folk-songs (1891), https://archive.org/details/englishfolksongs00barr/page/22/mode/2up.

The newspaper columnist ‘Felix’ refers to ‘The Farmer’s Boy’ being sung by Tom Catt at a Shorncliffe Drag Hunt annual dinner, probably in the 1890s1; and also – by unnamed singers – at a harvest home supper near Folkestone, 1932.

I was recently a guest at a harvest home supper, and after sampling “a cut and come again” kind of menu, listened to a very few short speeches and many ancient and modern songs.

Of course the good old “Farmer’s Boy,” with its rollicking chorus came up as fresh as, ever, and so did “We are all jolly fellows that follow the plough.”2

‘Felix’ appears to assume that his readers will be familiar with the song and, since he makes no comment about the song being sung to an unfamiliar tune, it seems likely that he heard it sung to the “standard” tune. Examples of the song being sung to the ‘Ye Sons of Albion’ tune were collected by Cecil Sharp at Hambridge in Somerset (CJS2/10/56) and by Janet Blunt at Adderbury in Oxfordshire (JHB/2/6) – and this was the tune recorded from Charlie Bridger of Stone-in-Oxney in 1983. But versions of the song in the VWML Archive Catalogue can be found with variations on this tune and, sometimes, a completely different tune. Frank Kidson’s Traditional Tunes (1891) included four different North Country tunes for the song, in 6/8 and 3/4 rather than the more normal 4/4. The version sung by Ethel Ford to Anne Gilchrist, which she had learned from her father the blacksmith, might originally have been derived from the ‘Ye Sons of Albion’ tune, but had diverged significantly from it.

These are among the many other newspaper references to the song being performed:

  • by Mr Fuller, at Maidstone, at the annual dinner for employees in the goods department of the South Eastern Railway Company, January 1869; other songs sung on this occasion included ‘Cheer, boys, cheer’, ‘Ladies won’t you marry’, and “a new negro song”, whose title is best not repeated here. 3
  • by Mr Cole, who sang ‘The Farmer’s Boy’ at a Penny Reading entertainment in Sittingbourne Town Hall, in December 1880. 4
  • by Mr Clemens, on 18th January 1883, at Colonel Warde’s Rent Audit, held at the Crown Hotel, Westerham. 5
  • as a concertina solo, played by W. Kirk at a concert put on by the Folkestone Branch of the Young Men’s Friendly Society, in May 1888. Mr Kirk also played ‘The white squall’, while other songs included ‘My love is like a red, red rose’ and ‘The Blacksmith’s song’. 6
  • at a smoking concert at the Sittingbourne Workman’s Hall, “given in connection with the Sittingbourne and Milton Workmen’s Club” where following songs such as ‘Life is a river’, ‘Poor old Jeff’ and ‘The Belfry Tower’,  Mr Cole sang ‘Excelsior’ and then, as an encore, ‘The Farmer’s Boy’. 7
  • at an entertainment in the school room at Sholden, where Mr Potts sang ‘The pigeon that fluttered and died’, followed by ‘The Farmer’s Boy’. 8
  • by James Rye who, as he entered his one hundredth year in 1899 could “sing “The Farmer’s Boy” with any man his own age, and dance a country jig in rare good form”. 9
  • in the Ship Inn, Southfleet, following a cricket match between “the employees of Mr. C. Snelling, of Joyce Hall, and those of Capt. Andrus, of Scadbury” when, after tea, “songs were rendered by those present, Mr. John Batt (the Southfleet tenor) ably sustaining his reputation in “The Farmer’s Boy””. 10
  • at an event at Kingsdown in August 1902 where Mr Palmer “vigorously sang ‘The Farmer’s Boy,’” following which there was “an encore on the phonograph”, Dan Leno’s ‘Huntsman’ causing “laughs sans intermission”. 11
  • by Mr J. Ralph, at a smoking concert held at the Ship hotel in Sheerness, “in connection with the Smoking Club and Ratepayers’ Association in commemoration of their “late famous victory” of returning three members to the Town Council”. 12
  • at an event at the Drill-hall in Dover billed as “Saturday evenings for men”, where Mr John Davis “(better known as “Comrade”)”  sang ‘The Farmer’s Boy’, with ‘Tom Bowling’ as an encore. 13
  • at the annual tea and entertainment of the Sandgate Druids Juvenile Benefit Society in February 1906. 14
  • in May 1908 at Chatham, at the “Great demonstration of hop labourers and pickers” protesting against unfair foreign competition, where
    “on the part of the rustics a popular chorus seemed to be:-
    To plough and sow,
    To reap and mow,
    And to be a farmer’s b-o-y
    And to be a farmer’s boy”. 15
  • by Mr Short, “telegraphist for Admiralty work”, at a smoking concert organised by Sheerness Post Office staff, at the Napier Hotel, December 1909 16
  • at the annual dinner of the Folkestone Bowls Club in 1910, where Mr A. Andrews’ singing of ‘The Farmer’s Boy’ and ‘Three little pigs’ “fairly brought down the house” 17
  • “THE FARMER’S BOY—AGED 92.
    Mr. William Curtis. aged 92 years, the eldest guest at the annual dinner given to the old folk of St. Lawrence at the Parish Hall last week. entertained the company by singing ” The Farmer’s Boy.” Mrs. Colthup, another of the 190 guests, each of whom was over 60 years of age, also contributed a song to the programme”. 18
  • at the Hartlip Gardeners’ Annual Supper, 1925, where “the veteran Mr. Sellen produced his concertina and delighted the company with a selection of popular airs, the chorus of “The Farmer’s Boy” being taken up with great gusto, towards which every man in the room “did his bit.”” 19
  • at the quarterly meeting of the Sportsman’s Arms Thrift Club, Deringstone Hill, in September 1927, where “A very pleasing rendering of “Eileen” was given by the Chairman, whilst Mr. R. Dean gave “I’m one of the old fashioned froth blowers.” “The Farmers Boy” and “The old rustic bridge by the Mill” were also in turn duly honoured”. 20
  • in November 1927, when “a smoking concert took place at the Drill Hall of “D” Co. of the 4th Battalion of the Buffs, at which the prizes won in the recent rifle competition were presented.
    “A very enjoyable musical programme was provided, as well as some Community singing, which included the “Farmer ‘s Boy,” which was the regimental air of the 5th Battalion. now incorporated with the 4th, and which now forms part of the 4th’s regimental march.”21
  • at a social event for the Folkestone Harbour marine staff in January 1928 22
  • in February 1932, at the third annual social organised by the Staff Social Committee of the Weald Electricity Supply Co. Ltd., held at the Victoria Hall, Hawkhurst, where “the company sang with great heartiness “The Farmer’s Boy,” “Tipperary,” and other old popular favourites”. 23
  • at a farewell supper in October 1932, marking the retirement of Mrs O. Maycock as licensee of The Star Inn, Newington, after nearly 30 years 24
  • by the Hythe Male Voice Quartet (Messrs F.C. Mack, S.J. Hollyoak, C.E. Capon and R.S. Barnes) at an event in December 1932; their repertoire also included ‘The Catastrophe’, ‘In Cellar Cool’, ‘Sweet and Low’, ‘Hey-Diddle-Diddle’, ‘Don ‘t you cry my honey’, ‘Breathe soft ye winds’ and ‘Simple Simon’. 25
  • at an old folks entertainment put on by members of the Sheerness Wesley Guild, the Rev. W. Haddon Beer “favoured with two solos”, namely ‘The Floral Dance’ and ‘The Farmer’s Boy’. 26
  • under the headline “STONESTREET’S WAR ON RODENTS”, after an account of how many rats and squirrels had been dispatched in the previous twelve months by the members of the Stonestreet and District Rat and Sparrow Club, was an account of the entertainment at the club’s annual dinner in March 1936. “The CHAIRMAN said it was customary for Mr. DANIELS to conclude their programme”, and Mr Daniels obliged with a rendition of ‘The Farmer’s Boy’, after which the company sang ‘Auld Lang Syne’. 27
  • presumably it was the same Mr Daniels who, the following year, sang “his customary song” at the annual general meeting of Westerham Town Cricket Club. Having sung ‘The Farmer’s Boy’, “in response to an insistent encore”, he gave them “Old King Cole”. 28
  • at a “dug-out supper” organised by the local British Legion – a curious event which appears to have been a nostalgic recreation of life in the trenches of the First World War, just months before the outbreak of the second – a newspaper reporter “sat for two hours in a cellar 20 feet by 15 feet… breathing an atmosphere equally compounded of tobacco smoke, gunpowder fumes and carbon dioxide… I drank beer out of a jam jar when I couldn’t scrounge a tea cup–I ate hard biscuits and bully beef”. ‘Mademoiselle from Armentieres’ was sung to the accompaniment of a wheezing accordion, and then “There were yells for “Charlie”, “Bill” and ” Jack” to “give us a song”. If Charlie, Bill or Jack could not “cough up” the required “harmony” they were promptly mulcted in the sum of 2d. for the beer “kitty””. One “much respected burgess” claimed that he didn’t know any songs, and didn’t have any “coppers” to pay the forfeit, upon which the company “shook him till his teeth rattled” and demanded that he sing ‘The Farmer’s Boy’. Eventually “We had “The Farmer’s Boy,” sung (and very well sung too) to the accompaniment of the accordian, now reinforced by a mandoline”. 29
  • in December 1943, at an old age pensioners’ Christmas Party in Unity Hall, Sheerness, “Mr. Harold Amor was in good form in “The Bandlero” and “The Farmer’s Boy,” which proved very popular with those present”. 30
  • at the “C” Company Home Guard Old Comrades’ monthly smoking concert at the Minster Working Men’s Club, the songs included ‘Paddy McGinty’s Goat’, ‘A Group of young soldiers’, ‘The Mountains of Mourne’, and a parody of ‘If those lips could only speak’. “A great effort by Lieut. E. Taylor with “A thousand miles I’ve travelled,” was well applauded, and he gave an encore, “To be a farmer’s boy.”” 31
  • once again “Pot” Daniels gave “his time-honoured renderings” of ‘The Farmer’s Boy’, ‘Old King Cole’ and ‘The house that Jack built’ at the 1951 annual dinner of the Stone Street Rat and Sparrow Club, whose annual “bag” of vermin had declined, in part because of the rising cost of cartridges, but whose eight members had still managed to shoot no fewer than 3694 of God’s creatures in the previous year. 32
  • the recital of carols in Faversham Market Place by the Canterbury Handbell Ringers, December 1955, also included songs such as ‘Robin Adair’, ‘The Vicar of Bray’ and, of course, ‘The Farmer’s Boy’. 33
  • at the Young Farmer’s annual ball at the Royal Star, Maidstone in January 1961, “Over 500 people from all parts of the county danced to the music of Joe Blake’s Band. “The Dashing White Sergeant” and “The Gay Gordons” were great dance favourites with the Young Farmers, and the finale included the singing of “The Farmer’s Boy.”” 34

Most of these examples show the song being sung at more or less formal events, what might be termed “polite gatherings”. ‘The Farmer’s Boy’ is recognised as an old song, but it’s rubbing shoulders with comic songs, parlour ballads, and “national songs”. Modern folk song scholars tend to agree that what makes a song a folk song is less about the song’s provenance (e.g. how old it is, whether it has a known composer) and more about the context in which it is sung. The events referenced above may or may not be contexts which would lead one to class the songs performed as folk songs: when sung at harvest suppers and penny readings, perhaps; when sung by a vocal harmony quartet at a formal concert, probably not. Which is not, of course, to say that ‘The Farmer’s Boy’ is not a folk song. No doubt it was being performed in all sorts of less formal situations – sing-songs at home or in a country pub, for example – which, naturally, would not be reported in a newspaper.

Clearly the song was very well known – a song which might come to mind when in one’s cups, perhaps, judging by reports of certain court cases. For instance, Frank Broadley, a farmer from Singledge Farm, Whitfield, who was brought before the Dover magistrates in October 1929 on a charge of being drunk and disorderly, his singing of  ‘The Farmer’s Boy’ on a late-night bus having aggravated some miners who were on board, leading to a fracas. Summing up, Mr. Mowll for the defence said

Here was a farmer on a ‘bus, well known to the passengers—he may have had too much to drink—but apparently the worst he was doing was singing the good old English agricultural song “The Farmer’s Boy.” The miners did not seem to like it.

To which the Magistrates’ Clerk replied, drolly

They may have liked the song but not the way it was being sung. 35

A few decades earlier, outside Kent, but in a case reported in more than one Kent newspaper, Thomas Davis, “an elderly man of decidedly bucolic appearance, described as an agricultural labourer”, was charged at the Westminster Police court with begging.

Leader, a plain clothes constable employed in the repression of mendicity, said that on Thursday night the prisoner was in the Fulham-road, singing in doleful strains an apparently interminable refrain called “The Farmer’s Boy.” He seemed to do very well, and the witness, knowing that he was a persistent beggar, took him in custody. The Prisoner : I was brought up as a farmer’s boy. Mr. Partridge : How old are you ? The Prisoner : I dunno, I reckon about 60. Mr. Partridge : You don’t suggest that you are in your second childhood, do you? You call yourself a farmer’s boy at 60 years of age. (Laughter.) 36

The words of the song were sufficiently well known that they could be used in other contexts. For example by Mr Herbert Knatchbull-Huguessen MP who, at a Conservative meeting at Sittingbourne in 1887 entered the current debate on Technical Education (a Royal Commission had reported on the subject that year, and 1889 would see the passing of the Technical Instruction Act). Knatchbull-Huguessen observed that

he did not quite understand what was meant by technical education. If it meant that the boys of the agricultural labourer, instead of having their heads stuffed with French grammar, and all that sort of nonsense, were taught to

Plough and mow,
And reap and sow,
And be a farmer’s boy

(laughter), then he was an advocate for it. If it meant that the girls, instead of being taught French and fancy work, were taught to cook, and bake, and sew, then he was in favour of it; for such subjects as he had mentioned he contended unfitted the children of agricultural labourer for the position in life which they were intended to occupy. 37

In the interests of balance, it is worth pointing out that at the time of the next general election in 1892, the same newspaper carried a letter from “P.B.”, who described herself as a working man’s daughter, from Sittingbourne. Her letter poured scorn on the very idea of the Conservative working man – “In my mind a working man who calls himself a Conservative, if he really understands the meaning of that term, is a double-distilled lunatic. He is making a rod to whip his own back when he supports a Conservative policy”. The letter continued

Do not let us be content to sit down to the doctrine of the Conservatives, “To plough and sow and reap and mow and be a farmer’s boy,” and be content with our miserable lot, or to sit down to the policy of “To him that hath much, unto him much shall be given, but unto him that hath little, all that he hath shall be taken away,” which is decidedly the policy of the Conservative party. 38

‘The Farmer’s Boy’ and The Buffs

The Buffs, formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was one of the oldest regiments in the British Army, having been formed in 1572. Based in Canterbury, from 1881 the regiment was known as the Royal East Kent Regiment. Since 1961 the regiment has been subject to a number of mergers, becoming in turn the Royal Kent Regiment, the Queen’s Regiment and, finally in 1992, the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. Today the regimental quick march is a medley of ‘The Farmer’s Boy’ and ‘Soldiers of the Queen’.

Historically, the quick march of the Buffs was known simply as ‘The Buffs’ – a fine 4-part tune in 6/8, which can be found in 19th century sources under various titles, including ‘The Weymouth Quickstep’ and ‘Argyll Rout’. However there seems to have been a close association between the regiment and ‘The Farmer’s Boy’. For example “Town and Country Notes” in the South Eastern Gazette, 11th January 1916, referred to a battalion of the Buffs exercising their rights (having been granted the Freedom of the City of London some 250 years earlier) to march through the City with bayonets fixed:

Recently, in moving from Kent to a new station, a battalion of the Buffs (East Kent Regiment) had occasion to march across the City of London, and in doing so exercised the ancient privilege of the regiment – the battalion marched with bayonets fixed. As was appropriate, the band played the Regimental March, with which is incorporated the old Weald Of Kent March, “The Farmer’s Boy.”

And the Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser for 26th February 1932 reported that ‘The Farmer’s Boy’ had been “adopted as the regimental march of the Weald”:

CRANBROOK BUFFS’ PRIZE DAY

Not the least important item on the programme at the Territorial prize-giving and concert, held at Cranbrook last week, and briefly reported in our last issue, was the singing of “The Farmer’s Boy,” which has been adopted as the regimental march of the Weald. It is one of the traditions of “C” Company that their annual prize-distribution should always be opened in this way: and the time-honoured practice never fails to win the approval of the general public, who feel that it is some small recognition of their own existence.

Note: the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the East Kent Regiment was designated the Weald of Kent battalion, so it may be that this battalion in particular favoured the use of ‘The Farmer’s Boy’.

  1. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 3 March 1934 ↩︎
  2. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 5 November 1932 ↩︎
  3. Maidstone Telegraph, 16 January 1869 ↩︎
  4. East Kent Gazette, 18 December 1880 ↩︎
  5. Westerham Herald, 01 February 1883 ↩︎
  6. Folkestone Express, Sandgate, Shorncliffe & Hythe Advertiser, 02 June 1888 ↩︎
  7. East Kent Gazette, 17 November 1888 ↩︎
  8. Deal, Walmer & Sandwich Mercury, 09 March 1889 ↩︎
  9. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 13 May 1899 ↩︎
  10. Gravesend & Northfleet Standard, 29 July 1893 ↩︎
  11. Deal, Walmer & Sandwich Mercury, 16 August 1902 ↩︎
  12. Sheerness Times Guardian, 14 November 1903 ↩︎
  13. Dover Chronicle, 26 December 1903 ↩︎
  14. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 17 February 1906 ↩︎
  15. Rochester, Chatham & Gillingham Journal, 06 May 1908 ↩︎
  16. Sheerness Guardian and East Kent Advertiser, 04 December 1909 ↩︎
  17. Folkestone Express, Sandgate, Shorncliffe & Hythe Advertiser, 19 November 1910 ↩︎
  18. Thanet Advertiser, 16 February 1924 ↩︎
  19. East Kent Gazette, 26 December 1925 ↩︎
  20. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 01 October 1927 ↩︎
  21. Dover Express, 11 November 1927 ↩︎
  22. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 28 January 1928 ↩︎
  23. Kent & Sussex Courier, 05 February 1932 ↩︎
  24. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 22 October 1932 ↩︎
  25. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 03 December 1932 ↩︎
  26. Sheerness Times Guardian, 19 December 1935 ↩︎
  27. Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser, 13 March 1936 ↩︎
  28. Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser, 12 March 1937 ↩︎
  29. East Kent Times and Mail, 05 April 1939 ↩︎
  30. Sheerness Times Guardian, 17 December 1943 ↩︎
  31. Sheerness Times Guardian, 09 February 1945 ↩︎
  32. Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser, 16 March 1951 ↩︎
  33. Faversham News, 23 December 1955 ↩︎
  34. Kentish Express, 27 January 1961 ↩︎
  35. Dover Express, 18 October 1929 ↩︎
  36. Dover Express, 19 October 1888 ↩︎
  37. East Kent Gazette, 10 November 1888 ↩︎
  38. East Kent Gazette, 09 July 1892 ↩︎

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George Mount

George Mount, 1851-1923

George Mount is mentioned in a column by ‘Felix’ in the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald of 8th September 1923:

A Real Old Timer

There has recently passed away at 154,High Street, Cheriton, in the person of Mr. George Mount, a somewhat remarkable man. He first saw the light of day in a little cottage on the slopes of the hillside near the chalk pit at Newington. During the seventy-two years that he lived Mr. Mount was for the most part an agricultural labourer, his last employer being Mr. Church, builder, of Cheriton. But “good old George,” as he was popularly known, had more than local fame. He was indeed known over a wide area of East Kent. He had one great hobby—and a good one too. Although in a humble walk of life, he formed a taste for following the hounds. To listen to the huntsman’s horn on a cold and frosty morning was often too much for George. Hunting on foot was in his blood.

“The dusky night rides down the sky and ushers in the morn,
The hounds all join in glorious cry,
The huntsman winds his horn
When a hunting we do go”1

 Old George Mount, when he heard the sound of the horn, has been known to “down tools” and run off to follow the quarry on foot, such was his passion in this respect. Over hill or dale, through dense thicket, or on the breezy upland, there our friend would make his way in all weathers, and, what was more, with his knowledge of devious paths and short cuts he would generally manage somehow or other to get in “at the death,” even if it had been a fast run across country for the hounds. Not for thirty years did old George miss a meet of the Foxhounds at Elham. Successive masters of the Hunt and also its prominent members have in turn greeted George as a humble supporter. He had no peer for cross country travel in these parts perhaps, with the exception of Captain D’Aeth, who was also a great supporter of the Hunt and a mighty walker, with a big stride into the bargain. What George did not know about foxes and their habits was not worth knowing.

 Rollicking Songs.

Well I recall the old fellow too singing at those old-time harvest home suppers given to their men by Alderman Quested, J.P., and Mr. F. Graves. It did not matter if after the cloth had been removed professional singers came on the scene; it was George Mount’s songs that were the gems of the evening. After I had listened perhaps a day or two previously to singers of world-wide reputation, it was a change indeed to listen to some of our hero’s efforts. One of these was known as “The Shop-walker.” It had just forty verses, each with a refrain. At times old George’s memory would play tricks with him, and when he had arrived at, say the twentieth verse, he often broke down. No, the words would not come. Then a voice would probably be heard: “Go back twenty verses,” and old George would go back as desired and start afresh. There was another ditty too entitled: “I’ll sing you one, O.” That also was a long effort. But perhaps his greatest success was “The Cuckoo,” and the manner he gave effect with his strident voice to the following lines was something to remember:

“The cuckoo is a pretty bird,
She sings as she flies;
She brings us good tidings,
And tells us no lies.
She sucks little birds’ eggs
To make her voice clear;
She never sings ‘Cuckoo,’
Till summer is near.”

George Mount was baptised at St Martin’s, Cheriton, on 28th September 1851. He was the first child of Mary, née Fisher, and George, who been listed in the census that year as “Bricklayer employing 2 men”. The couple lived at Limekiln Cottage, Danton, near Cheriton. The 1861 census shows George Senior was working as a gamekeeper, living on Cheriton Hill. Two more sons are shown on the census return, but in fact there was another son, Richard, just a baby, who was being looked after by William and Harriet Bailey at Otteringe. George was now a widower, Mary having died earlier in the year – possibly in childbirth. The household in Cheriton included his sister-in-law Ann Clayson, who was shown as house keeper, her young son George, and a niece, Sarah Fisher.

George remarried in 1867. His new bride was Harriet Harman, herself a widow, whose maiden name was Taylor. At the time of the 1971 census the family was living at Denton Pinch, Cheriton. There were four sons from George’s first marriage, one from his marriage to Harriet, and another from Harriet’s previous marriage. George Senior’s occupation was now builder; George Junior, now 19, and his 17 year old brother Charles were both working as bricklayer’s labourers, presumably for their father.

In the summer of 1872 George Junior married Eliza Taylor, and they had two daughters, Rosa and Eliza. George’s wife Eliza died in 1876, again, quite possibly in childbirth. George was married again on 15th October 1877, at St Mary the Virgin, Elham, to Mary Jane Raines. By 1881 they had set up house at Bank House, Newington Next Hythe, with two year old Georgina joining the two daughters from George’s first marriage. George was now working as an agricultural labourer.

In 1891 George’s occupation was “General labourer”. The family has grown again – one daughter and four sons are living in their home at Uphill Cottage, Uphill, near Hawkinge. By the start of the twentieth century the family had moved back to Cheriton, and George had returned to the building trade. In 1901, with another two daughters and a son, he was working as a carpenter’s labourer, living at 9 Park Road, Cheriton. His 16 year old son Sidney was also a carpenter’s labourer.

In 1911 and 1921 George and Mary were living at 154 High Street, Cheriton. In 1911 George was shown as “Labourer brickyard”, in 1921 his occupation was given as “General labour”, employed – as stated in the newspaper article quoted above – by Mr Church, Builder, High Street Cheriton.

He died at the age of 71, and was buried on 10th August 1923, in the church where he had been baptised, St Martin’s, Cheriton. The article by ‘Felix’ in the Folkestone Herald for 8th September 1923 concluded

George loved the hunt above all things, and he loved his fellow men. No millionaire ever got more innocent enjoyment out of his existence than good old George Mount, and because he has now passed away, there is one less cheery soul in the world. He was laid to rest where he would wish to be, in the shadow of those hills he loved in life so well. With his widow and seven children considerable sympathy is expressed. Two of his sons, I may say, laid down their lives in the Great War.

Songs

  1. Verse written by Henry Fielding (1707-54), from Don Quixote in England (1733) Act 2, Scene 5 ↩︎
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“Tom” Catt

The weekly column by ‘Felix’ Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald for 19th February 1927 included the following:

The foregoing reminds me that at one time the officers comprising members of the Shorncliffe Drag Hunt were wont to give a dinner to farmers whose lands were hunted over by the “Drag.” Those farmers, with their friends, were right royally entertained on such occasions. One such gathering occurs to me as I mention community singing. It was at that period when that splendid sportsman, the late Hon. A.S. Hardinge, was Brigade-Major. That gallant gentleman was a real favourite with the sturdy yeomen. His jet black hair, his dark flashing eyes, and his lithe, dapper figure come before me as I wield my pen. Probably there were 400 or 500 guests present at the particular dinner I refer to. After the good things had been properly attended to by the sons of the soil, the full band rendered some delightful selections. Suddenly there were cries of “Catt, Catt,” from all parts of the great building. ” Catt,” be it explained, died several years ago. He was a short sturdy man with a jolly countenance. He was not a great singer. He did not pretend to be. His repertoire was limited to about three songs, and one of these was “John Peel.” I well remember how the hero of the moment was greeted when he appeared on the platform. Catt had just the good old rollicking style for the song, but it was the community singing, as represented by the chorus of “John Peel,” that brought down the house, or rather, lifted the roof. The memory of the rendition of the song and chorus remains with me. Rough and ready it may have been, but Catt, who was a jolly farmer and poultry raiser at Ham Street, exactly fitted the song.

‘Felix’ returned to this theme a few years later, in his column for 3rd March 1934:

It was in the early days of the “Folkestone Herald,” when I was present at the a annual dinner of the Shorncliffe Drag Hunt. The great building was beautifully decorated,

and the farmers over whose land the “Drag” hunted were present in large numbers from this part of East Kent, including the Marsh. The officers comprising the Hunt, attired  in their picturesque mess jackets, were there to welcome their guests. A full regimental band provided music of the right sort.

The hero of the evening was no doubt the then Secretary of the Hunt (Major the Hon.

A. S. Hardinge, Brigade Major). This gallant soldier and splendid sportsman was a rare favourite both with the farmers of the countryside and his brother officers of the Hunt.

What a night that was! I recall, amongst other things, during the “after dinner” proceedings, how Tom Catt, a sturdy farmer from Ham Street, sang “D’ye ken John Peel?” and how between three and four hundred guests nearly lifted the roof off in the rollicking chorus. Catt, known far and wide, was equally successful in “The Farmer’s Boy.” Singing! Rough and ready it might have been, but what a treat to hear those yeomen “go it.”

The Herald commenced publication in 1891, so “the early days” of the newspaper might be assumed to be the 1890s. There does not seem to have been a farmer in the Ham Street district around this time named Thomas Catt, but “Tom Catt” could very well be a nickname, probably for Robert Catt, who was indeed a poultry farmer at Ham Street for several decades.

Robert Martin Catt, 1846-1903

He was baptised at St Mary the Virgin, Orlestone on  30th March 1846. His parents were Sarah née Martin, and Robert, who worked as a carrier. In 1861 Robert Senior’s occupation was given as “Dealer shop keeper”, but in 1871 both father and son were listed as “Poulterer”.

It was probably the elder Robert Catt who appeared as the plaintiff in a couple of court cases reported on in the local press:

Joseph Cobb, lately a master wheel-wright, of Warehorne, appeared to answer a charge of stealing a mutton chop and a piece of suet, valued at 1s., from the van of Robert Catt, carrier, Ham-street. The prisoner, who in the first instance said he took the meat in a joke, now alleged that the meat produced in court was pork and not, mutton. This, however, was disproved, and he was committed for 21 days’ with hard labour.1

At the Dymchurch quarter sessions on Wednesday, Thomas Cobb, 16, was charged with stealing about a hundred of bloated herrings, the property of Mr. Robert Catt, of Hamstreet, Warehorne, on Nov. 27th. The prisoner it may be remembered, was convicted and sentenced to a month’s imprisonment for stealing an overcoat at Hamstreet in October last. As he had been grossly neglected by his parents a great deal of pity was felt for him, and Mr. Catt kindly employed him to sell herrings when he came out of prison. The lad rewarded this by embezzling 7s. he had received for herrings entrusted to him by Mr. Catt to sell, and afterwards getting into the herring hang and taking the herrings he was charged with stealing. He pleaded guilty, and the Recorder sentenced him to four months’ hard labour.2

The younger Robert married Emily Ann Wanstall at Orlestone on 21st May 1873, and by the time of the 1881 census they were living at Ham Street with two daughters and a son – plus two of Robert’s brothers, and Elizabeth and Henry Law who worked as domestic servants. Robert’s occupation was “Poultry merchant”. In 1891 and 1901 he was shown as “Farmer & poulterer”. In the latter year his sons Robert and Alfred were listed as “Poultry dealer” and “Farmer’s son” respectively.

On at least two occasions Robert Catt was mentioned in local newspapers as a singer, both times in relation to concerts held at the Warehorne Board Schools: on 23rd November 1888 the Kent County Examiner and Ashford Chronicle listed “the Misses Catt”, Mr S. Catt and Mr R. Catt as vocalists at a recent concert; while the Kentish Express, 26th January 1889, carried a report where, among numerous other performers – including a Mr Bridger and a Mr Lonkhurst – Mr R. Catt sang “Four jolly smiths”.

Robert Catt died at the age of 56 and was buried at Orlestone on 8th July 1903.

Songs

  1. Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser, 07 May 1866 ↩︎
  2. Kentish Express, 09 January 1869 ↩︎
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