Hop Hop Hop
John Howarth vocal & banjo; Gerry Kearns vocal & guitar; Larry Kearns vocal & mandolin
Hop hop hop to the butcher’s shop
I dare not stay no longer
For if I do mi mother will say
“ You’ve been playing with the girls down yonder’.
Chorus
Early in the morning,
Early in the morning,
Early in the morning,
Before the break of day.
I’ll tell mi ma over our Mary Ann,
Goin’ down the street with a nice young man,
Laced up boots and a feather in her hat,
That’s the way she gets her chap.
Chorus
I made you look an’ I made you stare,
I made the barer cut your hair,
He cut it long and he cut it short
He cut it with a knife and fork.
Chorus
Sam Sam the dustbin man,
Washed his face in a frying pan,
Combed his hair with a donkey’s tail.
And he scratched his belly with his big toe nail.
Chorus
You know last night you know the night before,
Three little tom cats came knocking at the door,
One had a fiddle , the other had a drum,
And one had a pancake stuck to his bum.
Chorus
Me an’ wife an’ family of three,
Went to Royton by the sae,
We watched th’ clog-dancers, and we listened to bands,
And then we went on Royton sands.
And we kept eating parkin, we kept eating parkin,
We kept eating parkin, that’s why we look so brown.
Hop hop hop to the butcher’s shop
I dare not stay no longer
For if I do mi mother will say
“ You’ve been playing with the girls down yonder’.
Chorus
Early in the morning,
Early in the morning,
Early in the morning,
Before the break of day.
I’ll tell mi ma over our Mary Ann,
Goin’ down the street with a nice young man,
Laced up boots and a feather in her hat,
That’s the way she gets her chap.
Chorus
I made you look an’ I made you stare,
I made the barer cut your hair,
He cut it long and he cut it short
He cut it with a knife and fork.
Chorus
Sam Sam the dustbin man,
Washed his face in a frying pan,
Combed his hair with a donkey’s tail.
And he scratched his belly with his big toe nail.
Chorus
You know last night you know the night before,
Three little tom cats came knocking at the door,
One had a fiddle , the other had a drum,
And one had a pancake stuck to his bum.
Chorus
Me an’ wife an’ family of three,
Went to Royton by the sae,
We watched th’ clog-dancers, and we listened to bands,
And then we went on Royton sands.
And we kept eating parkin, we kept eating parkin,
We kept eating parkin, that’s why we look so brown.
Hop Hop Hop Children’s songs
Children’s songs often seem peculiar to one region simply because of the accent in which they are sung. As in folk ballads, however, they often turn up in variants throughout Britain, or even Europe.
The songs in this group (as opposed to the Coal-hole medley) are of this type. The Oldham Tinkers have used a convenient chorus to tie the songs together and in this form, they have already been given a new lease of life in the Oldham area.
Children’s songs often seem peculiar to one region simply because of the accent in which they are sung. As in folk ballads, however, they often turn up in variants throughout Britain, or even Europe.
The songs in this group (as opposed to the Coal-hole medley) are of this type. The Oldham Tinkers have used a convenient chorus to tie the songs together and in this form, they have already been given a new lease of life in the Oldham area.
First issued by TOPIC 1968
Deep Lancashire TOPIC 12T188
Songs and Ballads of the Industrial North – West
Recorded by Bill Leader 1968
Traditional Arrangement © Oldham Tinkers
Notes by Harry Boardman
TOPIC RECORDS LIMITED
Re-released on C.D. by Pier Records in 2006 under licence from Topic Records Ltd, England.
The C.D. The Oldham Tinkers, ‘For Old Time’s Sake’ PIERCD 507
A classic Lancashire folk album, available for the first time on CD, with four bonus tracks, (Hop Hop Hop is one of the bonus tracks) and full song notes.