Rolling on the Grass

Lyrics

1
To those who live in cities where but bricks and mortar’s seen,
There’s nothing so refreshing as a little bit of green;
So often on a summer’s day an idle hour to pass
Off to the fields I get away and roll upon the grass.

Chorus
Rolling on the grass amongst the buttercups and daisies,
That’s the way, that’s the way an idle hour to pass.
Rolling on the grass amongst the buttercups and daisies,
Fancying you’re a child again whilst rolling on the grass.

2
The prettiest of carpets ’tis that ever could be found,
With daisies sprinkled here and there and may bushes around,
A bright blue roof above o’er which the silver clouds sail by,
And sky birds think it such a lark to whistle in the sky.

3
One day when I reclining was and half inclined to dream
I suddenly was startled by a female’s piercing scream;
Towards me rushed a pretty girl in a fearful state of mind
And followed by a frantic cow unpleasantly behind.

Spoken
now to get to me feet and catch the fainting damsel in me arms was but the wark of a quarter of a minute, and the cow seeing my defiant action came to a full stop and stared.
Then, taking my cap in hand, I said, (action of cap waving required here) ‘Go away, cow, go away!’ And so she did, and sent us both

Chorus

4
I often met her after that and this was my excuse
That should a frantic cow turn up I might perhaps be of use;
She’s going to change her name to mine when a few short months shall pass,
And so I bless that blessed cow and rolling on the grass.

From Ray’s CD Stand up, Raymond

This is a traditional song

Provenance

This Music Hall song was written in 1876 by G W Hunt (1839-1904) who also wrote such wonderful pieces of the period as Up in a Balloon, Old Brown’s Daughter and Billy Johnson’s Ball, still being sung well into the twentieth century and still to be heard occasionally in folk clubs. It was originally sung by Henri Clark (1840-1905). This information is gleaned from that marvellous book Sing us One of the Old Songs, A Guide to Popular Songs, 1860-1920 by Michael Kilgarriff, OUP, 1998, wherein one can find information on dates, singers, writers and composers of all the major Music Hall songs.

Ray’s version comes directly from the singing of the late Arthur Howard who lived at Savile House Farm, Hazelhead, Penistone. He was one of the most influential singers in the Pennine farming district to the west of Sheffield. Many of the songs he sang are featured on our website in the repertoires of other members of this farming community such as Will Noble. Arthur learnt songs from his mother who in turn got them from her father, a regular soldier who had lived at Tintwistle, then in Cheshire, but now in Derbyshire. The Peak District around the Yorkshire/Lancashire/Cheshire/Derbyshire borders unsurprisingly appears to have a common culture and a common song repertoire. Many of the songs we feature from the west Sheffield Pennine area have links to the other surrounding counties. This is partly due to the strong cultural links between the farming communities and the fact that the huntsmen from each hunt attended each other’s Hunt Suppers and swapped songs at these.