The Derby Ram or As I was Going to Derby is a traditional comic English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 folk song (Roud

Roud Folk Song Index

The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...

 #126) that tells the story of a ram

Domestic sheep

Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...

 of gargantuan proportions and the difficulties involved in butcher

Butcher

A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...

ing and otherwise processing its carcass.

Commentary

Llewellyn Jewitt wrote about the song in his The Ballads and Songs of Derbyshire of 1867, asserting that song had been alluded to for at least a century before that.

The song and the association of a ram with the town of Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

 has been incorporated by a number of groups based there. In 1855, the First Regiment of Derbyshire Militia adopted a ram as their mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

 and the ballad as their regimental song, a tradition that has continued into the 95th Derbyshire

95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot

The 95th Regiment of Foot was formed when the 95th Rifles were redesignated as The Rifle Brigade . In 1881, during the Childers Reforms, it was united with the 45th Regiment of Foot to form the Sherwood Foresters .-History:...

 Regiment. Similarly, the football team, Derby County F.C.

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 (nicknamed "The Rams"), have adopted it as their anthem, also taking the ram as their club mascot. There are a number of References to a ram throughout the architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 of Derby - perhaps the most notable is a large street sculpture on the junction of East Street and Albion Street by Michael Pegler.

The song was adapted by the English composer John Wall Callcott

John Wall Callcott

John Wall Callcott was an eminent English musical composer.Callcott was born in Kensington, London. He was a pupil of Haydn, and is celebrated mainly for his glee compositions and "catches". In the best known of his catches he ridiculed Sir John Hawkins' History of Music...

 (1766-1821) into a 3 part glee

Glee (music)

A glee is an English type of part song spanning the late baroque, classical and early romantic periods. It is usually scored for at least three voices, and generally intended to be sung unaccompanied. Glees often consist of a number of short, musically contrasted movements and their texts can be...

 "As I was going to Derby".

Merle Travis

Merle Travis

Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues" and "Dark as a Dungeon"...

 recorded a version of the song which was called Darby's Ram, departing from the Irish origins of the song but retaining the theme of the lyrics.

British folk rock band Erland and the Carnival released a version of the song on their 2010 self-titled album, adapting the lyrics to refer to the suicide of Shaun Dykes in Derby in 2008

Lyrics

The following version is the one transcribed by Llewellynn Jewitt in The Ballads and Songs of Derbyshire (1867). Real Audio and MIDI versions of the tune can be found at this site.

As I was going to Darby, Sir,

All on a market day,

I met the finest Ram, Sir,

That ever was fed on hay.

Daddle-i-day, daddle-i-day,

Fal-de-ral, fal-de-ral, daddle-i-day.

This Ram was fat behind, Sir,

This Ram was fat before,

This Ram was ten yards high, Sir,

Indeed he was no more.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The Wool upon his back, Sir,

Reached up unto the sky,

The Eagles made their nests there, Sir,

For I heard the young ones cry.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The Wool upon his belly, Sir,

It dragged upon the ground,

It was sold in Darby town, Sir,

For forty thousand pound.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The space between his horns, Sir,

Was as far as a man could reach,

And there they built a pulpit

For the Parson there to preach.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The teeth that were in his mouth, Sir,

Were like a regiment of men;

And the tongue that hung between them, Sir,

Would have dined them twice and again.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

This Ram jumped o'er a wall, Sir,

His tail caught on a briar,

It reached from Darby town, Sir,

All into Leicestershire.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

And of this tail so long, Sir,

'Twas ten miles and an ell,

They made a goodly rope, Sir,

To toll the market bell.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

This Ram had four legs to walk on, Sir,

This Ram had four legs to stand,

And every leg he had, Sir,

Stood on an acre of land.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The Butcher that killed this Ram, Sir,

Was drownded in the blood,

And the boy that held the pail, Sir,

Was carried away in the flood.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

All the maids in Darby, Sir,

Came begging for his horns,

To take them to coopers,

To make them milking gawns.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The little boys of Darby, Sir,

They came to beg his eyes,

To kick about the streets, Sir,

For they were football size.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The tanner that tanned its hide, Sir,

Would never be poor any more,

For when he had tanned and retched it,

It covered all Sinfin Moor.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

The Jaws that were in his head, Sir,

They were so fine and thin,

They were sold to a Methodist Parson,

For a pulpit to preach in.

Daddle-i-day, &c.

Indeed, Sir, this is true, Sir,

I never was taught to lie,

And had you been to Darby, Sir,

You'd have seen it as well as I.

Daddle-i-day, daddle-i-day,

Fal-de-ral, fal-de-ral, daddle-i-day.

An alternative recording of the song is found on the Derbyshire Folk and Dialect Vinyl LP "Ey Up Mi Duck, A celebration of Derbyshire. This version was recorded by Derbyshire-based Folk group Rams Bottom in the 1970s.

As I was going to Derby,

All on the market day,

I spied the finest ram, sir,

That ever was fed on hay,

And indeed me lads,

It's true me lads,

I never was known to lie,

If you'd have been to Derby,

You'd have seen the same as I.

This ram it had a tail, sir,

It was too long to tell,

It stretched rate ovver to Ireland,

An' it rang St.Patricks bell,

And indeed me lads...etc.

This ram it had two horns, sir,

They reached up to the moon,

One lad went up in January,

An' never come down 'till June,

And indeed me lads...etc.

The tanner who tanned his hide, sir,

He'll never be poor no more,

'C'us' when he'd tanned and stretched it,

By! It covered Sinfin Moor,

And indeed me lads...etc.

And all the women o' Derby,

Come begging for his ears,

To make 'em leather aprons,

Just to last 'em forty years,

And indeed me lads...etc.

And all the men in Derby,

Come begging for his eyes,

To kick around the streets me lads,

'C'us' they was football size,

And indeed me lads...etc.

Now if you don't believe me,

Or think I tell a lie,

Just ask the folks of Derby,

'C'us they're bigger liars than I,

And indeed me lads...etc.

External links

• The Derby Ram, 1867
• Derby Ram