The Grand Pubs of Yorkshire

Lyrics

1
I’m a travelling man that’s for certain.
Now some people think drinking’s me job.
Well I need a small ale to tell the tall tales,
For which people will pay a few bob.
I’ve travelled all over the country;
I’ve drunk in the east and the west,
From Lands End to Wick I’ve marched double quick,
But the pubs in Yorkshire are best

Chorus
So here’s to the grand pubs of Yorkshire:
The White Bear, The Star and the Plough,
The Admiral Ben, The Parson’s Revenge,
How I wish I was drinking there now.

2
Of London I’ve not much to tell thee
And Devon has cream cheese and tea.
Well Kent has its meads but it’s better in Leeds,
Where Tetley’s the brewer for me.

3
In Birmingham town I got stranded;
It’s down in The Midlands you know,
Well the beer is all flat, I could never drink that
And the barmaids are always too slow.

4
There’s a chap called McEwan in Scotland
And the ale that he serves isn’t bad,
But the secret he knew, for the beer that he’d brew,
He stole from an old Yorkshire lad.

5
Well I knew an old lad, went to Ireland
Where the beer is so dark that it’s black,
Well the whisky is fine and the girls are divine,
So we don’t know if he’s coming back.

Chorus:- starts: To drink in the grand pubs...etc.

6
Now I know what some people are thinking,
That to leave such a heaven I’m mad,
But when I left my home and decided to roam,
I didn’t know beer could be bad.

Final chorus:
Yes here’s to the grand pubs of Yorkshire:
The White Bear, The Star and the Plough,
The Admiral Ben, The Parson’s Revenge,
How I wish I was drinking there now,
Yes I wish I was drinking there now.

This is a contemporary song about Yorkshire.

Provenance

In December 1981, Roy’s friend Peter J. Benson emigrated to the United States. Before long he began to feel homesick, particularly because he missed the pubs that had been such an integral part of his social life here in England. The song was written as a nostalgic tribute to these former drinking haunts.

Music and words by Peter Benson.

Sung by Roy Hardacre, accompanying himself on melodeon.
Guitar by Ray Black and additional vocals on the chorus provided by Chas Marshall and Ray Black
Recorded by Chas Marshall at his home in Harrogate.

Of the pubs referred to in the chorus The White Bear is probably the one in Masham and the Plough more than likely the one in Whitby.
The others may well have been chosen purely because they rhyme. This means they could be anywhere you would like them to be - as long as it is in Yorkshire!
Ray Black