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The Jolly Grinder

from Porter Songs by Rusts

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about

In this song, the Jolly Grinder, a Sheffield-centric rewrite of the traditional song The Jolly Miller / The Miller of Dee, our defiant grinder tells the meddling sarsaparilla zealot to ‘mind their own’ in no uncertain terms. There are a sackload of tunes set to versions of the Miller of Dee and The Jolly Miller, which can be found on the EFDSS Full English online archive. I chose to use a tune collected by Cecil Sharp, performed by Richard Hutton in 1914, in Goatheland, Yorkshire.

lyrics

There was a jolly grinder
Once lived by the River Don,
He worked and sang from morn ‘til night,
and sometimes he worked none.

Chorus
And still the burden of his song for ever used to be:
'Tis never worthwhile to work too long
if it doesn't agree with me!

He seldom on a Monday worked
Except near Christmas Day.
It wasn't the labour that he shunned,
For 'twas easier far than play.

Chorus

A pale teetotaller chanced to meet
Our grinder one fine day.
As he sat at the door with his pipe and glass
he to our friend did say:
"You destroy your health and senses too."
Says the grinder, "You're much too free.
Attend to your work, if you've ought to do,
and don't interfere with me."

Chorus

"There's many like you go sneaking around
Persuading beer drinkers to turn.
'Tis easier far on our failings to spout
than by labour your living to earn.
I work when I like and play when I can
and I envy no man I see,
Such men as you won't alter my plan
for I know what agrees with me.”

Chorus

credits

from Porter Songs, released June 21, 2015
Trad.
Arranged, performed and recorded by Scott Russell

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Rusts Sheffield, UK

Rusts is a Sheffield-based musical entity, creating homespun homages to people, places and the past.

A new album of songs by 19th Century Sheffield optician Edward Darbyshire will be released and toured in Spring 2018.

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