Chummy's Wedding, The

DESCRIPTION: "If you'll listen to me, I'll sing of a spree, Which happened a week or two back." Carrotty Sal and Bandy-legged Jack marry at a wild party so large that there aren't beds for all the guests -- so they sleep in groups, and nine months later pay the price
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (Bodleian broadside Harding B 11(1720))
KEYWORDS: marriage party drink food sex baby
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Howson-SongsSunginSuffolk, #71, "Old Song (Jack on the Green)" (1 short text)
ADDITIONAL: _The Fatty Stewart Comic Songster_, Dick & Fitzgerald (New York), 1863 (available at University of Pittsburg Digital Collections), p. 32, "Bandy-Legged Jack and His Bride" (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #10690
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1720), "The Chummy's Wedding," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 11(1719), "The Chummy's Wedding," unknown (n.d.)
NOTES [160 words]: There is much that is curious about the history of this song. The earliest datable copy I've found is in the Fatty Stewart Comic Songster (at least, that's what the cover page calls it; the interior spells the title "Fattie Stewart"). This booklet as a whole says it was "Written by John F. Poole, Esq. and sung by the popular comedian and comic vocalist, J. C. Stewart." Does this mean that Poole wrote the song? This assuredly doesn't follow, since the book contains songs which predate him, such as "Bryan O'Lynn. In any case, some of the broadsides are earlier than the Stewart Songster; it's just that they can't be dated. Still, Poole did write a lot of songs.
According to the Stewart Songster, this is "A Roaring Comic Song Sung by J. Riley."
Various tunes are listed. The Stewart songster says it is sung to "The Gay Cavalier." One of the Bodleian broadsides gives it as "The Maypole."
Dan Emmet wrote a song, "Jack on de Green." This is not it. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.0
File: Hows071

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