John Browell playing at Batley Ceilidh Club Christmas Party 2019
I learned this accumulative song from John Browell who learnt it from his wife Hazel’s Grandfather who lived in Bradford. John and Hazel were founder members of the EFDSS folk dance and song group that was set up in Wakefield in the early nineteen sixties, and though both in their eighties they can still be found both playing most Wednesdays in the Yorkshire Mixtures Ceilidh Band at Batley Ceilidh Club.
I Went to Market
1. I went to market and bought a cock
My cock did very well please me
And every time I fed my cock
I fed it under a tree, tree.
Cock went cock-a cock-a-doodle doo,
And after every farmers hen will my cock crow.
2. I went to market and bought a hen
My hen did very well please me
And every time I fed my hen
I fed it under a tree, tree.
Hen went cackle-cock, cock went cock-a-doodle doo,
And after every farmers hen will my cock crow.
Each subsequent verse then adds another farmyard
animal with its appropriate sound and the penultimate
line of each verse grows longer in reverse order.
Verse 3 Goose went gan-gan.
Verse 4 Pig went wee,wee.
Verse 5 Sheep went ba-ba.
Verse 6 Cow went moo,moo.
Verse 7 Wife said dammit.
7. I went to market and bought a wife
My wife did very well please me
And every time I fed my wife
I fed her under a tree, tree.
Wife went dammit!
Cow went moo,moo.
Sheep went ba-ba.
Pig went wee, wee.
Goose went gan-gan.
Duck went quack, quack.
Hen went cackle-cock,
Cock went cock-a-doodle doo,
And after every farmers hen will my cock crow
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.
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