Margaret wrote:
Dear Mama Lisa
Please can you help? My daughter learned a song in school 30 years ago and is now anxious to trace the lyrics for her four little boys. The only lyrics we can remember are as follows:
Near / In / Down Wookey Hole in days gone by, were three unlucky men,
The first fell down a treacle mine and was never seen again.
And all the birds cried fancy that,
and all the birds cried fancy that,
and all the birds cried fancy that
To hear this merry song.We think there are three verses, one of them involving a custard lake.
Margaret Phillips
In case anyone’s wondering, Wookey Hole is a village in the south west of England.
If anyone can help with the lyrics to this song, please comment below.
Thanks!
Lisa
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41 Responses to “Can Anyone Help with a Song about “”Wookey Hole in Days Gone By””?”
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July 31st, 2007 at 11:49 am
I can only remember the first 2 men..
The first fell down a Treacle Mine
and never stirred again
And all the birds cried..
The second poor fellow, said to say..
He had no fairer luck
For he climbed up a porridge hill…
and halfway down got stuck
And all the birds cried..
*******************
Our primary school in peterborough competed in a schools singing contest and tow of the songs stuck in my head…
Go Mango walk ( My brother didna tell me that you Go Mango Walk)
And the Wookey Hole song
I was googling Mango walk to see if I could find a torrent to get it when I remembered the Wookey hole song and found this query of yours.
btw.. I can’t remember how well our school did in that contest as I’m now 46 and haven’t heard those songs since. I do recall standing there listening to the other schools singing and thinking… WOW, they are awesome.
Best regards
Paul Hovell
August 6th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
I remember this years and years ago at school. I think the third verse had something to do with a custard lake and getting caught under the skin.
August 28th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Many thanks to Paul Hovell and Jon Howes. The pieces you supplied have now gone to my daughter in Australia who will be reciting them to her
four little boys, and eagerly awaiting the missing third verse.
This is a bit like a jig-saw with just a few pieces missing! Please, someone,
do write in with the missing pieces.
Sorry we cannot help with Mango Walk.
October 31st, 2007 at 12:19 pm
I received the lyrics to Mango Walk! It’s from Jamaica. You can click the link to get to the lyrics page.
-Mama Lisa
PS If anyone would like to sing it for us, I’d love to post a recording!
November 9th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Here’s the last verse of the Wookey Hole song
The third young man, alas alack
He too is no more
He dived into a custard lake
And could not swim to shore
March 16th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
The second verse is something like;
The second man, it’s sad to say,
he had no fairer luck,
For he walked up a porridge hill
and halfway down got stuck
And all the birds cried…
The third young man, sad to say,
He too is no more
He fell into a custard lake
and could not reach the shore.
March 26th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Wow, A new song and one about Wookey Hole! It’s a long time since I got hold of a new Local song but be sure I shall be singing it to a new tune very soon. Maybe you’ll catch it at one of my gigs.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
@ Lisa.
Wow.. You found the lyrics to Mango Walk.
Kudos to you.
:-)
@ Robin.. New Song ?
hehe
Have fun singing it. Just don’t put it to “Death metal” music !!
Regards
Paul Hovell
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Thank you everyone, I’ve been ad-libbing this for two years with my little girl, missing the second verse and now I have it. She will be so made up!
simon
August 5th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
I also remember this tune played byour music teacher at school from 40 years ago. I only remember the second poor fellow. I can also remember : O weathercock i’d like to know, the reason why you never crow, and if you really like to perch upon the steeple f the church. Can anybody remember the rest of these lyrics please?
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I also remember the Weathercock Song from school 40 years ago. Sadly I only remember the verse you have, Steve, plus a little bit on the end: North, South, East and West, O bring me the weather that I like best!
February 13th, 2010 at 6:54 am
hi remeber singer wookey hole in singing competition in school along time ago!in high wycombe now living in Ireland but song still in my head!!! 3rd verse go’s
third poor fellow had no faith and he now is no more, he fell into a custard like and could not swim to shore
also end part went
Alas alas man is but grass let life be short or long
and all the birds cried fancy that to hear this merry song
May 10th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
Thank you all, this has haunted me for 35 years!
June 6th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
This has really made my day! I have been singing my three year old the first two verses of this song and driving myself mad with the frustration of not remembering the third verse, I must have learnt it forty years ago. At last I won’t be told not to ‘la la’ that bit. Thanks
Pamela
October 2nd, 2010 at 5:11 pm
This has haunted me for decades. I learned it at a school in the Caribbean at our singing class, which was taken by our rather rotund Latin teacher. He was also a Catholic Priest with the most delightful Irish lilt to his accent, which was something we had only ever heard from the priests who were our teachers.
Thanks to all who contributed.
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:51 pm
Thanks for filling in the lyrics everyone!
Almost 30 years on, I couldn’t remember the second and third verses to sing to my four year old daughter, so she’s been enjoying a different rendition every night. I could never beat the original :D
January 21st, 2012 at 5:41 am
Wow, this song brings back memories! Learnt it when I lived in England 35 years ago! I live in Nigeria now and I’m teaching my kids all those childhood songs!
February 4th, 2012 at 4:28 am
In Wookey Hole in days gone by lived 3 unlucky men, the first fell in a treacle mine and was never seen again.
And all the birds said……,,(as above)
The second poor fellow , sad to say, he had no better luck, he tried to climb a treacle hill and half way down got stuck.
And all the birds said fancy that….
The third fellow, sad to say, he too is no more, he tried to swim a custard lake and could not get to shore.
And all the birds said……
March 12th, 2012 at 11:01 am
It’s amazing I was looking for these same lyrics and like someothers I learned it during primary school in the 60’s for a school competition from a teacher who was British.
January 14th, 2013 at 7:42 am
Does anyone have the music for the song “THREE UNLUCKY MEN”?
February 11th, 2013 at 7:56 am
The music is the same as that for the rugby song “Dinah, Dinah, show us your legs”, but I don’t suppose that’s much help.
I went to a school in Marlow where this was on the music curriculum.
The words were slightly different and I cannot remember it all.
“Near Wookey Hole in days gone by
Lived 3 unlucky men,
The first fell in a treacle mine
And never stirred again
(Chorus – “And all the birds cried fancy that, fancy that, fancy that
And all the birds cried fancy that,
To hear this merry song”)
The second had no better fate
And he too is no more,
He fell into to a custard lake
and could not get to shore
(Repeat chorus)
Cannot remember the third verse, sadly.
March 17th, 2013 at 5:39 am
Just telling my daughter about a song I learned 41 years ago and struggled to remember verses 2 and 3. Flicked onto the net to see if I could find the lyrics and found you all. I’m laughing as I remember ‘Go mango walk’ too! Lived in a mining town in Northern England and it was part of a school singing festival, now living in New Zealand and practising!
Thanks everyone.
October 19th, 2013 at 4:18 pm
I was one of the many teachers who used this song to great effect in the early 70’s (and much later too come to that!) and this is the definitive version:
The Three Unlucky Men
(Wookey Hole)
Verse 1. Near Wookey Hole in days gone by lived three unlucky men
The first fell down a treacle mine and never stirred again
Chorus And all the birds cried “Fancy that!”
All the birds cried “Fancy that!”
All the birds cried “Fancy that!”
To hear this merry song.
Verse 2. The second had no better fate and he too is no more
He fell into a custard lake and could not get to shore
Chorus
Verse 3. The third poor fellow sad to say he had no fairer luck
For he climbed up a porridge hill and halfway down got stuck
Chorus
Verse 4. Alas, alas, man is but grass let life be short or long
And all the birds cried “fancy that!” to hear this merry song
Chorus.
October 19th, 2013 at 5:47 pm
That’s great! Would you (or anyone else) like to sing it for us?
November 12th, 2013 at 7:20 pm
I’ve just come across this site while searching for the same ‘wookey hole’ lyrics that I learned about 40 years ago for a singing competition in Reading. We also sang something called the song of the Isles (the far Coolins are pulling me away….anyone remember that?) and I’m desperately trying to find another one which starts “friends and loves I have none”. All I’ve found so far is a poem but with slightly different lyrics which the song was obviously adapted from – does anyone know the sung version of this? What an amazing tear jerking thread this is!!
November 30th, 2013 at 10:22 pm
I remember my sister ( now deceased) singing this song. I was busting my brain to remember it to teach my 2 girls nad only googled it tonight and found it. brings back memories of her…2 years now
January 17th, 2014 at 10:53 am
I just did a search for these lyrics (esp trying to find who wrote them)
I also sang it at school back in the 60’s
The lyrics I remember are just slightly different (then again, I couldn’t remember all of them).
Thanks to all the contributors!
I’d gladly sing it for you all, but I don’t know of anyway to upload it. Actually, I might. watch this space!
January 17th, 2014 at 11:55 am
Used copies (or at least one copy) of the sheet music for this (Words by James Reeves 1952) are currently for sale on Amazon UK. A google search for “Three unlucky men” will take you there.
I presume James Reeves is Jim Reeves the country singer.
March 18th, 2015 at 12:25 am
We sang this at primary school when I was 8 or 9 years old. I will be 57 this year…. I couldn’t remember the porridge hill verse but remembered all of the rest clearly. We had to sing it in a singing competition too. Our head master was a Mr Jones, was Welsh and loved singing. I came from a little village in East Sussex UK. I think the program we learned it from was called Sing Together or something similar. Happy memories 😊
March 28th, 2015 at 12:28 am
I have just been singing the Wookey hole song tonight to my daughter. We must have done so much singing for competitions in the 1970s and I seem to remember most of the words. We also sang Nicholas Nye, Rise men of Cymru, Scarborough Fair, water of Tyne and many others. It was great for developing memory!
April 7th, 2015 at 9:19 pm
I sang the Wookey Hole song at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh in the early 70’s with a choir from Clermiston Primary school. We won the competition. Can’t remember the other song we sung -something about Snow in Summer. Thanks to everyone who has pieced together the words -I’ve been trying to remember them for years.
September 6th, 2015 at 10:19 am
So glad I stumbled upon this thread, it has brought back happy memories as my class from our school in Belfast entered a singing competition around 1970 and sang 2 songs ‘Wookey Hole’ and ‘Lochaber Lullaby’ with the line from a mother singing to her baby ‘when you are grown you will steal me a cow, a horse and a sheep from the herds of the Campbell’s’. They don’t write ’em like that any more!
My Mum and aunt came to the concert and had to listen to about 20 schools singing the same two songs.
June 19th, 2017 at 10:27 am
I have just been ploughing through my mums old music, she was a primary school teacher in Kendal. The Oxford Choral Songs describe this as a calypso and I have the full score !
June 19th, 2017 at 2:17 pm
That’s great Katie! Would you like to share it? If you can email it to me we can make a simple arrangement from it so people can get the tune. Thanks! :) Mama Lisa
April 11th, 2018 at 9:43 am
I used to be a music teacher back in the 1960s and I sang this song with my children at school, who really loved it . For a bit of fun at the end we used to slightly change the chorus and instead of singing “ all the birds cried fancy that” we used to sing” and all the birds wore dancy hats!”
February 18th, 2020 at 9:31 pm
I know this is an old thread, but if anyone is still listening, there is a children’s (Soprano!!) choir version of this on soundcloud at present.
August 9th, 2021 at 11:18 am
Well it’s 2021, I’m 60 years old now and thanks to Jim I now know the complete version.
Kind of weird seeing my original post here from 2007
Paul – Still in Peterborough, UK
October 23rd, 2021 at 4:23 pm
My second verse was…
The second poor fellow, sad to say, he had no fairer luck, he fell down a treacle mine, and half way down got stuck.
This goes back to my school days in 1967 (ish)
January 17th, 2022 at 3:20 pm
Thanks! I had the same question (my sister would sing verse 1 in the seventies) and this thread filled in the holes. I like verse 4!
Yay Internet – for some things!
January 27th, 2022 at 7:30 pm
Basically you have all answered the question I was seeking on the tune about ‘Wookey Hole’, I had remembered the first verse as most of you had, though I believe it formed part of a Musical script inserted into that of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ as our music teacher combined this for the production back in 1979.
The Radio programme ‘Singing Together’ also produced a version to popularise Folk songs for children, including this in one of their extensive volumes. Furthermore, it turned up in the music books for recorder at Primary School level. Published as I remember by ‘Tobin’s’.
I hope this is extra helpful and may lead to better results. Many Thanks.
May 9th, 2022 at 2:15 pm
I’ve just visited Wookey Hole for the first time ever and I told my husband we used to sing a song about it at primary school. I remembered the first verse and that there was custard and porridge involved. Not bad after about 60 years since I last heard it.