Begging Song - Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick (Live)
"And A-Begging I Will Go / The Begging Song" [Roud 286] is a traditional English and Scottish folk song.
"Most of the versions of this song still current in Scotland differ only in matter of detail from the one printed in Ford's Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland, where its authorship is attributed to Alexander Ross (1700-1783). A black-letter copy of an English version appears in The Bagford Collection of Ballads. where it is described as The Beggars Chorus in A Jovial Crew, 1641, a play by Richard Brome, who, in addition to being a minor dramatist, acted as Ben Jonson's servant. Chappell, in his Popular Music, observes that the song does not appear in the printed text of the play and suggests that it was probably an actor's interpolation. Both the Scots versions and the 19th century Lancashire version given here have stanzas in common with Brome's song."
--- Ewan MacColl
Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick released the song on the album "Life and Limb" in 1990. This video is taken from the "100 Not Out" video album (Recorded 1991 / Released 1992).
Of all the trades in England the beggin' is the best
For when a beggar's tired he can lay him down and rest
Chorus: And a-beggin' I will go
And a-beggin' I will go
I got on the train in Carlisle they kicked me out at Crewe
I slept on every paving-stone from there to Waterloo
I got breakfast off the Embankment I got my lunch and tea
And only the finest cardboard made a home that was fit for me
We sit on the stair at Leicester Square from seven o'clock till ten
Then round the back of the Connaught House for dinner from out of a bin
I can rest when I am tired and I heed no master's bell
A man'd be daft to be a king when beggars live so well
The law came down to see us they came down three together
They put out the fire they left us there Oh Lord how we did shiver
I am a great Victorian value I'm enterprise poverty
Completely invisible to the state and there for all to see
Of all the trades in England the beggin' is the best
For when a beggar's tired he can lay him down and rest