The Derby Ram (song)

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The Derby Ram or As I was Going to Derby is a traditional comic English folk song (Roud #126) that tells the story of a ram of gargantuan proportions and the difficulties involved in butchering and otherwise processing its carcass.

Contents 1 Commentary 2 Lyrics 3 References 4 External Links

[edit] Commentary

Llewellyn Jewitt wrote about the song in his The Ballads and Songs of Derbyshire of 1867, asserting that song had been alluded to for at least a century before that.^[1]

The song and the association of a ram with the town of Derby has been incorporated by a number of groups based there. In 1855, the First Regiment of Derbyshire Militia adopted a ram as their mascot and the ballad as their regimental song^[2], a tradition that has continued into the 95th Derbyshire Regiment^[3]. Similarly, the football team, Derby County F.C. (nicknamed "The Rams"), have adopted it as their anthem, also taking the ram as their club mascot. There are a number of references to a ram throughout the architecture of Derby - perhaps the most notable is a large street sculpture on the junction of East Street and Albion Street by Michael Pegler^[4].

[edit] Lyrics

The following version is the one transcribed by Llewellynn Jewitt in The Ballads and Songs of Derbyshire (1867)^[5]. Real Audio and MIDI versions of the tune can be found at this site.

As I was going to Darby, Sir,

All on a market day,

I met the finest Ram, Sir,

That ever was fed on hay.

Daddle-i-day, daddle-i-day,

Fal-de-ral, fal-de-ral, daddle-i-day.

This Ram was fat behind, Sir,

This Ram was fat before,

This Ram was ten yards high, Sir,

Indeed he was no more.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The Wool upon his back, Sir,

Reached up unto the sky,

The Eagles made their nests there, Sir,

For I heard the young ones cry.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The Wool upon his belly, Sir,

It dragged upon the ground,

It was sold in Darby town, Sir,

For forty thousand pound.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The space between his horns, Sir,

Was as far as a man could reach,

And there they built a pulpit

For the Parson there to preach.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The teeth that were in his mouth, Sir,

Were like a regiment of men;

And the tongue that hung between them, Sir,

Would have dined them twice and again.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

This Ram jumped o'er a wall, Sir,

His tail caught on a briar,

It reached from Darby town, Sir,

All into Leicestershire.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

And of this tail so long, Sir,

'Twas ten miles and an ell,

They made a goodly rope, Sir,

To toll the market bell.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

This Ram had four legs to walk on, Sir,

This Ram had four legs to stand,

And every leg he had, Sir,

Stood on an acre of land.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The Butcher that killed this Ram, Sir,

Was drownded in the blood,

And the boy that held the pail, Sir,

Was carried away in the flood.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

All the maids in Darby, Sir,

Came begging for his horns,

To take them to coopers,

To make them milking gawns.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The little boys of Darby, Sir,

They came to beg his eyes,

To kick about the streets, Sir,

For they were football size.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The tanner that tanned its hide, Sir,

Would never be poor any more,

For when he had tanned and retched it,

It covered all Sinfin Moor.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The Jaws that were in his head, Sir,

They were so fine and thin,

They were sold to a Methodist Parson,

For a pulpit to preach in.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

Indeed, Sir, this is true, Sir,

I never was taught to lie,

And had you been to Darby, Sir,

You'd have seen it as well as I.

Daddle-i-day, daddle-i-day,

Fal-de-ral, fal-de-ral, daddle-i-day.

[edit] References

[edit] External Links

• The Derby Ram, 1867
• Derby Ram