Owing to the indelicate nature of its theme this ballad was intentionally excluded from Francis James Child's renowned compilation of folk songs The English and Scottish Popular Ballads.[2] The song has a Roud Folk Song Index of 149. It is also known as "The Crayfish".
A man brings a crabfish (most likely a common lobster) home as a gift for his wife and puts it in the chamber pot. Some time in the night his wife answers a call of nature and the crustacean grabs her private parts. In the ensuing scuffle the husband gets bitten too.[3]
Fisherman, fisherman, standing by the sea Have you got a crayfish that you can sell to me By the way side high diddly aye do
Yes sir, yes sir, that indeed I do I have got a crayfish that I can sell to you By the way side high diddly aye do
Well, I took the crayfish home, and I thought he'd like a swim So I filled up the chamber pot, and I threw the bugger in By the way side high diddly aye do
In the middle of the night, I thought I'd have a fit When my old lady got up to a-have a shit By the way side high diddly aye do
Husband, husband, she cried out to me The devil's in the chamber pot, and he's got hold of me By the way side high diddly aye do
Children, children, bring the looking glass Come and see the crayfish that bit your mother's arse By the way side high diddly aye do
Children, children, did you hear the grunt Come and see the crayfish that bit your mother's cunt By the way side high diddly aye do
It's the ending of me story; I don't have any more I've an apple in me pocket, and you can have the core By the way side high diddly aye do
Variantsedit
"Johnny Daddlum" is the Irish version of this song.[4] There are variants in which the coarse language is more clear-cut than in others. In some variants the wife is pregnant, having previously told her husband about her craving to eat crabfish meat.
This song has also variants under other names such as "Old She-Crab," "The Crayfish," "A Combat Between an Ale-Wife and a Sea Crab," "The Fishy Crab," and "The Lobster."[5][6][7][8]
Versionsedit
A sanitised version of "The Crabfish," expunging the straightforwardness of the original in order to make the song available for child audiences, was released in recent[when?] years.[9] Instead of private parts the crabfish grabs the wife by the "face" and "nose".[10]
Referencesedit
^Frederick J. Furnivall, ed. (1867). Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript: loose and humorous songs. London. p. 100.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^"Folk & Traditional Song Lyrics - The Crayfish". www.traditionalmusic.co.uk.
External linksedit
, archived from the original on 2012-12-11, retrieved 2014-06-08
Dan and Bonnie Milner sing "The Crabfish" at the 2009 Chicago Maritime Festival
Tom Chapin sings "The Crabfish Song" (children version)
February 26, 2024
crabfish, ribald, humorous, folk, song, english, oral, tradition, dates, back, seventeenth, century, appearing, bishop, percy, folio, manuscript, song, named, crabb, based, earlier, tale, moral, story, that, should, look, chamber, before, using, songlanguageen. The Crabfish is a ribald humorous folk song of the English oral tradition It dates back to the seventeenth century appearing in Bishop Percy s Folio Manuscript as a song named The Sea Crabb based on an earlier tale 1 The moral of the story is that one should look in the chamber pot before using it The Crabfish SongLanguageEnglishPublishedc 1620Songwriter s TraditionalOwing to the indelicate nature of its theme this ballad was intentionally excluded from Francis James Child s renowned compilation of folk songs The English and Scottish Popular Ballads 2 The song has a Roud Folk Song Index of 149 It is also known as The Crayfish Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Text 3 Variants 4 Versions 5 References 6 External linksSynopsis editA man brings a crabfish most likely a common lobster home as a gift for his wife and puts it in the chamber pot Some time in the night his wife answers a call of nature and the crustacean grabs her private parts In the ensuing scuffle the husband gets bitten too 3 Text editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Fisherman fisherman standing by the sea Have you got a crayfish that you can sell to me By the way side high diddly aye do Yes sir yes sir that indeed I do I have got a crayfish that I can sell to you By the way side high diddly aye do Well I took the crayfish home and I thought he d like a swim So I filled up the chamber pot and I threw the bugger in By the way side high diddly aye do In the middle of the night I thought I d have a fit When my old lady got up to a have a shit By the way side high diddly aye do Husband husband she cried out to me The devil s in the chamber pot and he s got hold of me By the way side high diddly aye do Children children bring the looking glass Come and see the crayfish that bit your mother s arse By the way side high diddly aye do Children children did you hear the grunt Come and see the crayfish that bit your mother s cunt By the way side high diddly aye do It s the ending of me story I don t have any more I ve an apple in me pocket and you can have the core By the way side high diddly aye doVariants edit Johnny Daddlum is the Irish version of this song 4 There are variants in which the coarse language is more clear cut than in others In some variants the wife is pregnant having previously told her husband about her craving to eat crabfish meat This song has also variants under other names such as Old She Crab The Crayfish A Combat Between an Ale Wife and a Sea Crab The Fishy Crab and The Lobster 5 6 7 8 Versions editA sanitised version of The Crabfish expunging the straightforwardness of the original in order to make the song available for child audiences was released in recent when years 9 Instead of private parts the crabfish grabs the wife by the face and nose 10 References edit Frederick J Furnivall ed 1867 Bishop Percy s Folio Manuscript loose and humorous songs London p 100 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Lyr Req Mr Radalum Raddle um Crabfish etc The Crabfish Retrieved 24 January 2016 Johnny Daddlum Old She Crab The Crayfish A Combat Between an Ale Wife and a Sea Crab Lobster Song Retrieved 24 January 2016 The Crabfish Retrieved 24 January 2016 Folk amp Traditional Song Lyrics The Crayfish www traditionalmusic co uk External links editSalty Dick s Uncensored Sailor Songs The Crabfish archived from the original on 2012 12 11 retrieved 2014 06 08 Dan and Bonnie Milner sing The Crabfish at the 2009 Chicago Maritime Festival Tom Chapin sings The Crabfish Song children version Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Crabfish amp oldid 1198411211, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
