As I was going to Banbury,
Ri fol lat-i-tee O,
As I was going to Banbury,
I saw a fine codlin apple tree,
With a ri fol lat-i-tee O.
And when the codlins began to fall,
Ri fol lat-i-tee O,
And when the codlins began to fall,
I found five hundred men in all.
With a ri fol lat-i-tee O.
And one of the men I saw was dead,
Ri fol lat-i-tee O,
And one of the men I saw was dead,
So I sent for a hatchet to open his head.
With a ri fol lat-i-tee O.
And in his head I found a spring,
Ri fol lat-i-tee O,
And in his head I found a spring,
And seven young salmon a-learning to sing.
With a ri fol lat-i-tee O.
And one of the salmon as big as I,
Ri fol lat-i-tee O,
And one of the salmon as big as I,
Now do you not think I am telling a lie?
With a ri fol lat-i-tee O.
And one of the salmon as big as an elf,
Ri fol lat-i-tee O,
And one of the salmon as big as an elf -
If you want any more you can sing it yourself!
With a ri fol lat-i-tee O.
abc | midi | pdf
Source: Cyril Winn, A Selection of some less known Folk-Songs, Vol 2, Novello.
Notes:
Sharp noted this from Sister Emma (71) of Clewer, Berkshire, on March 13, 1909. This song has been found only rarely in tradition. A slightly longer version appeared as A Shoulder of Mutton Jumped Over From France in The Journal of the Folk Song Society, vol.V, issue 20, 1916, pp.292-4: it was noted by Marian Arkwright from Mrs. Godfrey Arkwright, who had learned it c. 1835-40, and Kenneth Peacock got a set from George Reid of Codroy, Newfoundland, in 1960 (Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, vol. I p. 14, 1965) as A Leg of Mutton Went Over to France.
Iona and Peter Opie (The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, 1951; pp. 312-3) quote a single verse from James Orchard Halliwell's The Nursery Rhymes of England (1842):
As I was walking o'er little Moorfields,
I saw St. Paul's a-running on wheels,
With a fee, fo, fum.
Then for further frolics I'll go to France,
Where Jack shall sing and his wife shall dance,
With a fee, fo fum.
They comment:
"This seems to come from the ballad of Tom Tell-Truth [c. 1676], a copy of which, printed in black-letter, is in the Roxburghe collection:
I see St. Paul's steeple run upon wheels, fal la &c.
I see St. Paul's steeple run upon wheels and in the middle of all Moor-fields,
With a fa la, fa la la la, fa la la la la la la."
They go on to quote from Mrs. Arkwright's set, which also includes a form of that verse, and conclude:
"The precise locality of these strange happenings is here lost, but it is probable that it was Moorfields as in the broadside edition and the nursery rhyme. This would be an appropriate setting for a nonsense song, for in 1675 the old Bethlem Hospital was moved to Moorfields from Bishops Gate Without. An associated verse, also preserved in the nursery, is Upon St. Paul's Stands a Tree."
According to Lesley Nelson-Burns, a copy appears in the Crawford Collection (circa 1890) and in the Roxburghe ballads (circa 1770). The tune is a variant of Tanta ra ra ra, Tantivee (Tom Tell Truth) which was entered in the Stationers' Register in 1564/5 (see BruceO's Broadside Ballads).
A codling is a variety of apple (Kentish Codling, Keswick Codling, etc.), and the word is a 16c. respelling of quodling, earlier (14c.-15c.) querdling, of disputed origin. All codling varieties are cooking apples (sour apples) and the word is also applied to an unripe apple (presumably by association).
(The change in spelling from 'codlin' to 'codling' is an accurate reflection of the sources.)
Roud: 2423 (Search Roud index at VWML)
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