Havercake Man

A stack of flat round large pancaked shaped havercakes on a gingham tablecloth

Traditional Yorkshire havercakes
Credit: The Yorkshire Society

"When I was a child foodstuffs were often prepared under filthy and unhygienic conditions. Old Dans Bakehouse was no exception.
The bakehouse was quite near where I lived and sometimes us children would go “down the ginnel” to his bakehouse to watch him working. The mice, cockroaches and other vermin didn’t matter to us then, but as I grew older, I realised how awful it must have been. But we seemed to thrive on it.
Old Dan used to call every Friday night with his wares. Ha'penny a cake or three a penny. We had havercake rolled up with old-fashioned black treacle for supper, “good for the bowels” it was said. The remainder was hung up on the indoor clothesline and was crisp by morning. We the ate it at various times with “mucky fat”or, as a treat, with home made blackberry jam.
As the chorus says, it was a tasty meal. It was often put on free in the Inn taprooms of the spittoon and sawdust days. The “mucky fat”was the dripping from roast brisket or sirloin, the “mucky” bits were from the bottom of the jar where the jellified gravy had set.
The expression “fit for a Queen”( meaning Queen Victoria ) was often used by old taproom characters after a good feed of havercake and “mucky fat”.
The name havercake is presumed to derive from haversack, meaning the food or oat sack, used for storing the grain."
Original note by Tommy Daniel.

He has a bakehouse in dark cellar deep,
It’s just the place where his oatmeal will keep.
With water and oatmeal and methods unique,
He’s baking his havercake three times a week.

Chorus

Here comes Dan, Here comes Dan,
Here comes Dan, the Havercake man.
You’ll make him happy if you buy his wares,
The taste of his cake will banish all cares.
When it is soft you just roll it up,
With treacle in between,
But eat it when crisp with some mucky beef fat
It’s a banquet that’s fit for a queen.

Old Dan is much pestered with trouble and strife,
He has to deal with a quarrelsome wife.
She throws the roll at him in a big roll
He picks it up, puts it back in his bowl.

Though she’s a tarter she does not shirk,
Willing and able to share in the work.
They take it in turns as to who stays awake
Keeping the cockroaches out of the cake.

There’s mice in the oatmeal he can’t keep 'em down,
He has the laziest cat in the town.
His cake has a flavour that makes it so nice,
What does it matter to smell a few mice.

Sometimes on his rounds to the inn he will roam
He always knows when it’s time to go home.
His basket is empty, he’s tight as a drum
He’s swapped all his oatcake for noggins of rum.

Old Mrs. Dan is both worldly and wise,
And when young mothers she deigns to advise,
She always tell them their babies to rear,
On some soft havercake soaked in old beer.

She keeps on nagging that trade is so dull,
She doesn’t know he’s an old stocking full.
He knows she’s a spendthrift would go through it all,
‘Cause she asked for two shillings to buy a new shawl.

Sometimes they are friendly, and candles are lit,
'Tis warm in the bakehouse and there they will sit,
He smokes his pipe, she rolls a fag
He likes his twist and she smokes light shag.

Tommy Daniel

Woman in farmhouse kitchen making havercakes, vintage illustration

Woman in farmhouse kitchen baking Havercakes
from The Costume of Yorkshire by George Walker 1814

Traditional Yorkshire Havercakes were large very thin oatcakes made from of water, milk, fine oatmeal, flour and yeast, that were fried in a large frying pan.

The mixture was made into batter, then allowed to stand for a while. The batter was then stirred again, then enough batter to thinly cover the bottom of the frying pan was poured into it. When cooked, they were turned out and left to cool on a linen cloth.

The making of them was almost exclusively a female occupation, and any spare ones could be sold to friends and neighbours or hawked around the streets.

About Mick

Mick Haywood is a traditional folk singer & folk song collector who has run and organised folk clubs and festivals for many years. He now lives in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Poverty, Poverty Knocks

The life and songs of Tommy Daniel of Batley

Havercake Man

About Mick

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