Name: Lusty Young Smith
Channel: words and music traditional
Description: License options are available for this song. The Lusty Young Smith is an 17th century English song first appearing in Thomas D'Urfey's 'Wit and Mirth: Pills to Purge Melancholy' in 1698.

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The Lusty Young Smith is an 17th century English song first appearing in Thomas D'Urfey's 'Wit and Mirth: Pills to Purge Melancholy' in 1698.

mandolin autoharp recorde

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Brobdingnagian Bards

The Original Celtic Renaissance duo from Austin, TX! Called Masters of Traditional Folk by The Austin Chronicle, Marc Gunn and Andrew McKee join the autoharp, r

We are the Brobdingnagian Bards (pronounced brAHb'ding-näg-EE-en). We perform a unique style of Celtic folk music that we like to call "a Renaissance in Celtic music" or "The Original Celtic Renaissance. Ask our fans though, and they'll tell you our music is just plain "fun!" With six studio albums completed in just five years, combined with ten other compilations, singles and EPs, we've been called one of the most-productive Celtic groups around. But we just love playing the music.

Song Info

Genre

Acoustic • Acoustic Folk

Charts

Peak #81

Peak in subgenre #9

Author

words and music traditional

Rights

Gunn-McKee

Uploaded

January 26, 2006

Track Files

MP3

MP3 2.7 MB • 128 kbps • 2:55

Story behind the song

The Lusty Young Smith is an 17th century English song first appearing in Thomas D'Urfey's 'Wit and Mirth: Pills to Purge Melancholy' in 1698. I learned this song from a tape of the Irish Breakdown my mother gave me. Their version was different from that which I learned at Renaissance faires and thank goodness. Most of the other versions I've heard have use "jingle, bang, jingle" as their chorus. Boy, is that annoying! Okay, one exception. Dallas' Queen Anne's Lace puts the "jingles" and the "bang jingles" all in the right place as they jingle their breasts. It's very amusing to watch and really fits the chorus. But that's the ONE exception.

Lyrics

A lusty young smith at his vice stood a-filing.
His hammer laid by but his forge still aglow.
When to him a buxom young damsel came smiling,
And asked if to work in her forge he would go.

    Rum, rum, rum. Rum, rum, rum.
    In and out. In and out. Ho! 

"I will," said the smith, and they went off together,
Along to the young damsel's forge they did go.
They stripped to go to it, 'twas hot work and hot weather.
They kindled a fire and she soon made him blow.

Her husband, she said, no good work could afford her.
His strength and his tools were worn out long ago.
The smith said "Well mine are in very good order,
And I am now ready my skill for to show."

Red hot grew his iron, as both did desire,
And he was too wise not to strike while 'twas so.
Said she, "What I get I get out of the fire,
So prithee, strike home and redouble the blow."

Six times did his iron, by vigorous heating,
Grow soft in her forge in a minute or so,
But as often was hardened, still beating and beating,
But the more it was softened, it hardened more slow.

When the smith rose to go, quoth the dame full of sorrow:
"Oh, what would I give could my husband do so.
Good lad with your hammer come hither tomorrow,
But pray could you use it once more ere you go!"