/ · John S. Farmer’s Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes
The Potato Man
The Potato Man
1775
from The Ranelaugh Concert...a choice collection of the newest songs sung at all the public places of entertainment.
I
I am a saucy rolling blade,
1 fellow
I fear not wet nor dry,
I keep a jack ass for my trade,
And thro’ the streets do cry
Chorus. And they all rare potatoes be!
And they’re, etc.
II
A moll I keep that sells fine fruit,
2 mistress
There’s no one brings more cly;
3 money; Notes
She has all things the seasons suit,
While I my potatoes cry.
Chorus. And they all, etc.
III
A link boy once I stood the gag,
4 cry out
At Charing Cross did ply,
Here’s light your honor for a mag,
5 halfpenny
But now my potatoes cry.
Chorus. And they all, etc.
IV
With a blue bird’s eye about my squeeg,
6 handkerchief
And a check shirt on my back,
7 Notes; neck.
A pair of large wedges in my hoofs,
And an oil skin round my hat.
Chorus. And they all, etc.
V
I’ll bait a bull or fight a cock,
Or pigeons I will fly;
I’m up to all your knowing rigs
8 smart tricks
Whilst I my potatoes cry.
Chorus. And they all, etc.
VI
There’s five pounds two-pence honest weight
Your own scales take and try;
For nibbing culls I always hate,
9 cheating dealers
And I in safety cry.
Chorus. And they all, etc.
Notes
Stanza II, line 2. Cly = properly pocket, but here is obviously
meant the contents.
Stanza IV, line 1. Blue bird’s-eye = a blue and silk
handkerchief with white spots.
Taken from
Musa Pedestris,
Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes
[1536―1896], collected and annotated by John S. Farmer.
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