Boring Folk Songs The Kipper

Folk Songs Of The Upper Thames - Volume 2 The Boring Ones

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The Smoked Herring Song

This epic song, a variant of Child Ballad number 2,... 4, 10, 12, 13, 17, etc. etc., was collected in Boring-on-Thames from Mr Abishag Valiant, known locally as "Old Vermin", an itinerant wholesaler and nocturnal wildlife redistributor.

The kipper is the king of the sea
Heigh ho, sing parsley
The kipper is the fish for me
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

What do you make of the kipper's eyes? Note 1

Heigh ho, sing parsley
You make them into puddings and pies
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

How do you make such puddings and pies?
Heigh ho, sing parsley
You first catch a kipper with football sized eyes
And a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"How do you catch him?" says Robin the Bobbin
Heigh ho, sing parsley
With a blade of a knife and a rolling pin
And a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"How do you catch him?" says Jack of the Land
Heigh ho, sing parsley
With a cup and a can and a bold fisherman
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

And what do you say to the bold fisherman?
Heigh ho, sing parsley
Fill thou the cup an I the can
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

And now that fish is dead and canned
Heigh ho, sing parsley
Between the salt water and the sea strand
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

And who was it saw that that fish was no more?
Heigh ho, sing parsley
Three rich young lords walking out on the shore
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"And what have we found that lies on its back?"
Heigh ho, sing parsley
The first lord said "It's a laddie called Jack"
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"And what have we found that lies on its belly?"
Heigh ho, sing parsley
The second lord said "It's a lassie called Nellie"
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

The third lord said "Take it home for tea"
Heigh ho, sing parsley
"'Cos it looks like a dead kipper to me"
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

And what do you think their dear mother said? Note 2

Heigh ho, sing parsley
"Oh, where have you been Henry, Randal and Ted?"
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"Come tell unto me why you're covered in gore?"
Heigh ho, sing parsley
"It's from this dead kipper we found on the shore"
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"Oh what do you take me for?" their dear mother said
Heigh ho, sing parsley
"The blood of a kipper was never so red!"
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"Come tell me what colour's this kipper you've seen?"
Heigh ho, sing parsley
"It's speckled and sparkled, it's yellow and green"
It's the colour of bonny green parsley

"And what if you'd eaten this kipper you've got?"
Heigh ho, sing parsley
"We'd all've been as sick as your jolly parrot"
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"What ails you, what ails you, my pretty Polly?"
Heigh ho, sing parsley
"Why prittle and prattle and not be jolly?"
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"The cat has climbed up in the window so high, Note 3

Heigh ho, sing parsley
"And eaten your kipper, since you've asked me why"
With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"And what has he left me, my own dearest dear?"
Heigh ho, sing parsley
"A skull and a skellington's all that's left here"
And a bunch of some bonny green parsley

Oh what did they do with that dead kipper's spine?
Heigh ho, sing parsley
They fashioned a harp so wondrously fine
And strung it with bonny green parsley

And soon that harp sang out loud and clear
Heigh ho, sing parsley
And sang a song for all to hear
And a bunch of some bonny green parsley

And what was the song that they heard the harp sing?
Heigh ho, sing parsley
"Don't you think I've done well with my jolly herring"
And a bunch of some bonny green parsley

THE END

Note 1 The Smoked Herring Song is obviously pre-Christian in origin and probably dates back to the pagan cult of fish worship. Within living memory Boring men ritually smoked herrings on All Soles Day and, to the chant of "A fish cake, a fish cake, please good missus a fish cake" (a Sacred Carp song), toured the parish doing a Plaice Egging Play. Note 1.1

Note 1.1 The play, like the song, is concerned with the death and resurrection of a sacri-fish-ial victim. Parsley is the Greek symbol of death, the fish the Greek symbol for Christ. Thus this song is clearly a Christianised survival of some pagan custom. Note 1.1.1

Note 1.1.1 The players would include a man-woman character, the "fish-wife", and a man covered by a sheet would carry a broomstick mounted with a kipper's skull (cf verse 18).

Note 2 Some historians claim that Henry was, in fact, Bluff King Hal; Randal was the Sixth Earl of Chester and Edward was the Black Prince. That would make the mother both promiscuous and long-lived.
The identity of the kipper has never been satisfactorily established.

Note 3 Although ostensibly an everyday story of ichthycide the song is transparently about incest and was manifestly part of a puberty rite. The three young men have just discovered their "fish" - and one wants to make a meal of it. He proudly presents it to his mother whose pussy immediately gobbles it up. This obviously distresses her caged bird - a male symbol, the father?
The kipper, a fish, is an overt phallic symbol that plays with itself in the last verse, a situation not entirely unknown to folklorists.

This song was commissioned by Peter Bellamy in 1983 when he was editor of the Whitby Folk Festival newsletter and is copyright Lawrence Heath 2009

The kipper is the king of the sea Heigh ho, sing parsley The kipper is the fish for me With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

What do you make of the kipper's eyes? Note 1
Heigh ho, sing parsley You make them into puddings and pies With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

How do you make such puddings and pies? Heigh ho, sing parsley You first catch a kipper with football sized eyes And a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"How do you catch him?" says Robin the Bobbin Heigh ho, sing parsley With a blade of a knife and a rolling pin And a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"How do you catch him?" says Jack of the Land Heigh ho, sing parsley With a cup and a can and a bold fisherman With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

And what do you say to the bold fisherman? Heigh ho, sing parsley Fill thou the cup an I the can With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

And now that fish is dead and canned Heigh ho, sing parsley Between the salt water and the sea strand With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

And who was it saw that that fish was no more? Heigh ho, sing parsley Three rich young lords walking out on the shore With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"And what have we found that lies on its back?" Heigh ho, sing parsley The first lord said "It's a laddie called Jack" With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"And what have we found that lies on its belly?" Heigh ho, sing parsley The second lord said "It's a lassie called Nellie" With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

The third lord said "Take it home for tea" Heigh ho, sing parsley "'Cos it looks like a dead kipper to me" With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

And what do you think their dear mother said? Note 2
Heigh ho, sing parsley "Oh, where have you been Henry, Randal and Ted?" With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"Come tell unto me why you're covered in gore?" Heigh ho, sing parsley "It's from this dead kipper we found on the shore" With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"Oh what do you take me for?" their dear mother said Heigh ho, sing parsley "The blood of a kipper was never so red!" With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"Come tell me what colour's this kipper you've seen?" Heigh ho, sing parsley "It's speckled and sparkled, it's yellow and green" It's the colour of bonny green parsley

"And what if you'd eaten this kipper you've got?" Heigh ho, sing parsley "We'd all've been as sick as your jolly parrot" With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"What ails you, what ails you, my pretty Polly?" Heigh ho, sing parsley "Why prittle and prattle and not be jolly?" With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"The cat has climbed up in the window so high, Note 3
Heigh ho, sing parsley "And eaten your kipper, since you've asked me why" With a bunch of some bonny green parsley

"And what has he left me, my own dearest dear?" Heigh ho, sing parsley "A skull and a skellington's all that's left here" And a bunch of some bonny green parsley

Oh what did they do with that dead kipper's spine? Heigh ho, sing parsley They fashioned a harp so wondrously fine And strung it with bonny green parsley

And soon that harp sang out loud and clear Heigh ho, sing parsley And sang a song for all to hear And a bunch of some bonny green parsley

And what was the song that they heard the harp sing? Heigh ho, sing parsley "Don't you think I've done well with my jolly herring" And a bunch of some bonny green parsley

Note 1	The Smoked Herring Song is obviously pre-Christian in origin and probably dates back to the pagan cult of fish worship. Within living memory Boring men ritually smoked herrings on All Soles Day and, to the chant of "A fish cake, a fish cake, please good missus a fish cake" (a Sacred Carp song), toured the parish doing a Plaice Egging Play. Note 1.1
	Note 1.1	The play, like the song, is concerned with the death and resurrection of a sacri-fish-ial victim. Parsley is the Greek symbol of death, the fish the Greek symbol for Christ. Thus this song is clearly a Christianised survival of some pagan custom. Note 1.1.1
		Note 1.1.1	The players would include a man-woman character, the "fish-wife", and a man covered by a sheet would carry a broomstick mounted with a kipper's skull (cf verse 18).
Note 2	Some historians claim that Henry was, in fact, Bluff King Hal; Randal was the Sixth Earl of Chester and Edward was the Black Prince. That would make the mother both promiscuous and long-lived. The identity of the kipper has never been satisfactorily established.
Note 3	Although ostensibly an everyday story of ichthycide the song is transparently about incest and was manifestly part of a puberty rite. The three young men have just discovered their "fish" - and one wants to make a meal of it. He proudly presents it to his mother whose pussy immediately gobbles it up. This obviously distresses her caged bird - a male symbol, the father? The kipper, a fish, is an overt phallic symbol that plays with itself in the last verse, a situation not entirely unknown to folklorists.