1
Brian O’Lynn he had a grey mare,
Her back were up and her ribs were bare,
The lash of her tail cut through her o’d skin,
‘She’s a rum un to kick,’ says Brian O’Lynn.
Chorus
Wi’ me fal the lal lery, flare away Mary,
Bool yer o’d barrer to Lockin’ton Fair.
2
Brian O’Lynn ha’n’t a jacket to put on,
The’ made him one from a cauf-skin,
He buckled the horns tight under his chin,
‘Hey up, or I’ll stick yer!’ says Brian O’Lynn.
3
Brian O’Lynn had no trousers to put on,
The’ made him a pair from a sheepskin,
The woolly side out and the fleshy side in,
‘It sticks to me behind,’ said Brian O’Lynn.
Recorded by Steve Gardham and Jim Eldon at Ethel’s home, 78 Headlands Drive, Aldborough, 8th January 1972.
This is a traditional song
For extensive notes on this song's history and background see TYG15, Sedgefield Fair.
These three stanzas sung by Ethel Grinsdale from her father's singing all appear in standard versions of Brian O'Lynn, but the tune and chorus both belong to The Old Grey Mare which has many versions found all over Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.
See TYG15 Sedgefield Fair on this website for a full Yorkshire version. Both songs are ancient and in Yorkshire crossed versions are fairly common as we can demonstrate here.
In the same village of Aldborough, Lesley Smith, 74-year-old retired farm labourer and a close neighbour, sang us a version to the same tune (a version of Richard of Taunton Dean) the text of which is really The Old Grey Mare.
1
Brian O'Lynn he had an old mare,
Its back were up and its ribs were bare,
The lash of her tail cut through her skin,
Woa hops! Old mare thoo leuks very thin.
2
Brian O'Lynn he had an old mare,
He went and he took her to Lockin'ton Fair,
Lockin'ton Fair it wasn't very good,
He went and he tonned her into Banbury's Wood.
3
He went and he tonned her into Banbury's Wood,
Thinking owd mare would do a bit o’ good,
………….
4
Banbury’s Wood was covered wi' trees,
An she run with her head aboard of a tree,
Woa hops! Owd mare thoo’s gooin’ ter dee.
………….
At the first time of recording Mr Smith attempted a chorus:
Wi' me fol-der-di oodle-di, fol-der-di-day,
Bool yer owd barrer to Lockin'ton Fair.
On a subsequent visit he sang it without a chorus and claimed there was no chorus.
A distant relative of mine, the late Maurice Ogg, of Coleby, N. Lincs, around about the same time collected a Brian O'Lynn version from J M Pennell of Burton, N. Lincs. It is useful to give it here for comparison.
1
Brian O’Lynn went to the fair,
He bought three horses and one was a mare;
One was blind and t'other couldn't see,
One had his heard where his tail should be;
Chorus
With a nickerty nackerty, hi-fly-ackerty;
Wockertail, cockertail, ho-tickertail, tackertail, tally-hi-ho.
2
He rode the mare to Somerby Wood,
To try and see if she’d do any good;
She ran her heard aboard a tree,
Gor damn the mare, I think she’ll dee!
3
Brian O'Lynn went home to Groats,
To get th'owd mare a feed of oats;
She ate the oats and swallowed the sieve;
Gor damn the mare, I think she’ll live!
4
Brian O'Lynn went out to plough,
When he got there he didn't know how;
He swore at the horses and bu…..d the plough;
Said he, 'Go home and milk the cow.'
5
Brian O'Lynn went to milk the cow;
When he got there he didn't know how;
He pulled its tail instead of its tit;
And all he got was a bucket of s….
The first stanza of the above is sometimes attached to versions of TYG30 The Yorkshire Farmer / Mutton Pie, but is also found in Yorkshire as a separate little verse on its own.
Earlier this year (2006) I was involved in a highly successful project Sing for your Life with an organisation called ArtsAway. It brought together once a week groups of primary school children and senior citizens in the Goole area, to swap songs and games. One of the older participants, Lil Botterill, in her eighties, of Barmby in the Marsh near Howden, sang her father’s version of Brian O'Lynn which combines the Lincolnshire chorus with a stanza of Ethel Grinsdale’s version.
1
Brian O'Lynn, his wife and his mother,
They all went over the bridge together.
The bridge gave way, they all fell in,
'We're off to hell', said Brian O'Lynn.
Chorus
With a nickerty nackerty, tally-i-ackerty,
Cockles and Wopples and tally-i-o.
2
Brian O'Lynn had no trousers to wear,
They bought a goatskin to make him a pair,
The woolly side out and the sticky side in,
'They stick to me arse,' said Brian O'Lynn.
The original recording of Ethel Grinsdale’s version is deposited in the British Library Sound archive at C1009/7 C48 [access copy 1CDR0009332 BD2] and this recording was digitized by the British Library Sound Archive as part of the Traditional Music in England project sponsored by the Heritage Lottery fund. Further details can be obtained at:-www.bl.uk/collections/sound-archive/traditional_music.html, along with details of many other recordings of traditional songs made by Steve Gardham and others from other parts of the UK.
The first stanza, chorus and tune of Ethel Grinsdale's version were originally published in a composite version in Gardham, An East Riding Songster, Lincolnshire and Humberside Arts, 1982, p25, and the full words on p49.