Guitar, Banjo,
Vocals - Robin
Bass - Barry Weisenfeld
Fiddle- Dan Collins
Percussion - Cheryl Prashkar
This humorous ballad comes from Britain and a version exists which was published in ____. Others say it dates back to the 15th century and is related to the Scottish “John Grumlie”. It's also known as "The Old Man Who Lived In The Wood." Different melodic versions exist; this one is my own arrangement, shifting the melody from a 3/6 feel to a 4/4 feel.
Father Grumble
There was an old man who lived in
the wood, as you can plainly see
He said he could do more work in a day than his wife could do in three
"If that be true," the old woman said "this you must allow;
You must do my work for a day, while I go drive the plow."
"And you must milk the teeny cow, for fear she will go dry
And you must feed the little pigs that lay within the sty
And you must watch the speckled hen, for fear she'll go astray
And you must wind the bobbin of
yarn that I spun yesterday."
The old woman took the sack in her
hands and she went to drive the plow
The old man he picked
up the pail and he went to milk the cow
But Tiny hitched and Tiny twitched, and Tiny cocked her nose
And Tiny gave the man such a kick that the blood ran down his clothes
"Now stay my good cow, and hold
my good cow, and please good cow, stand still!
If I ever milk this cow again, it will be against my will."
But Tiny hitched and Tiny twitched, and Tiny cocked her nose
And Tiny gave the old man such a kick that the blood ran down to his toes.
And when he milked the tiny cow for
fear she would go dry
Well then he fed the little pigs that lay within the sty
He went to feed the little pigs that lay within the sty
But the old sow ran up against his legs and she knocked him ten feet high
And then he watched the speckled hen for fear she'd go astray
But he forgot the reel of yarn that his wife spun yesterday
He swore by all the stars in the sky, and all the leaves on the trees
That his wife could do more
work in a day than he could do in three
He swore by all the leaves on the
trees and all the stars in Heaven
That his wife
could do more
work in a day than he could do in seven