Three Jolly Rogues

{{short description|Traditional song}}

Three Jolly Rogues is an English folk song.

Synopsis

A miller, a weaver and a tailor lived in King Arthur's time (or in "Good Old Colonial times"). They were thrown out because they could not sing. All three were thieves. They are suitably punished.

:The Miller got drowned in a dam

:The Weaver got hung in his yarn

: The Tailor tripped as he ran away with the broadcloth under his arm.

Lyrics (version from "Three Jolly Rogues of Lynn", performed by Tim Hart and Friends)

:In good King Arthur's day

:When we served under the King

:Lived a miller and a weaver and a little tailor

:Three jolly rogues of Lynn.

:Now the miller he stole corn

:And the weaver he stole yarn

:And the little tailor he stole broadcloth

:For to keep those three rogues warm

:Now the miller was drowned in his dam

:And the weaver was hanged in his yarn

:And the devil put his claw on the little tailor

:With the broadcloth under his arm

:Now the miller still drowns in his dam

:And the weaver still hangs in his yarn

:And the little tailor he skips through hell

:With the broadcloth under his arm

Printed versions

The earliest complete text is a broadside in the Bodleian Library, dated 1804, "The Miller Weaver and Little Tailor".Johnson Ballads fol. 84 It is also known as "In Good King Arthur's Days". The song is quoted by Thomas Hardy in "Under the Greenwood Tree". It is known in the USA from the early nineteenth century, usually as "In Good Old Colony Days" or "In Good Old Colony Times."

{{cite web

| url = https://folkways.si.edu/jean-ritchie/the-appalachian-dulcimer-an-instructional-record/music-instruction/music/album/smithsonian

| title = Smithsonian Institution Shop: The Appalachian Dulcimer: An Instructional Record

| accessdate = 2018-09-15}}

Recorded versions

{{Listen

| filename = 1889 recording by Otto von Bismarck.ogg

| title = Phonograph recording of Bismarck's voice (1889)

| description = The only known recording of Bismarck's voice.Ron Cowen, [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/science/bismarcks-voice-among-restored-edison-recordings.html "Restored Edison Records Revive Giants of 19th-Century Germany"] The New York Times (30 January 2012). Retrieved 1 February 2012 See the file's page for a transcript and other details.}}

References