[...]
Lyrics:
I added the word "verse" and numbers to the lyrics that were found in the summary for this sound file.
This version was recorded by American folk singer/actor Burl Ives. My guess is that Burl Ives' recording of the children's song "Three Jolly Fishermen" in the 1950s was what popularized this children's song in the United States. However, I don't know the title of the 1950s Burl Ives album that this song was first featured on. Please share that information if you know it. Thanks!
Latest Update- Oct. 31, 2022
This pancocojams post showcases two YouTube sound files of the children's song "Three Jolly Fishermen" and documents how the lyrics to that song became "naughty".
The Addendum to this post presents a link to a sound file of the (probably related song) "Three Jews Came From Jerusalem" (or similar titles). My transcription of that sound file is also included in that Addendum along with lyrics for the same or related song "Three Wandering Jews".
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and entertainment purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these sound files and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE #2: Three Jolly Fishermen
Wee Sing - Topic, Jun 7, 2018
Verses 1-4 [The same lyrics that are given in Lyrics #1 above]
Verse #5 They all sailed up to Jericho, They all sailed up to Jericho, Jer-i, Jer-i; cho, cho, cho, Jer-i Jer-i cho, cho, cho. They all sailed up to Jericho,Verse #6 They should have gone to Amsterdam They should have gone to Amsterdam Amster, Amster, Shh! Shh! Shh!, Amster, Amster, Shh! Shh! Shh!
**** PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE The children's song "Three Jolly Fishermen" and the song "Three Jews Came From Jerusalem are probably adaptations of the sea song with that same title. The tune for that sea song* (as sung in this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU*5gYc1uo) appears to me to be basically the same as that children's song, However, except for the title and the repeated first line "We are three jolly fishermen", the rest of the shanty's lyrics are different from those children's songs. -snip- If I understand it correctly, a sea song is a song that is sung for pleasure by sailors while a shanty is a work song that is sung by sailors. Here's the lyrics for a version of that traditional shanty as performed by John Greaves, Recorded in Harrogate on 28/01/2007
http://www.yorkshirefolksong.net/song.cfm?songID=82
Lead) We are three jolly fishermen,
(All) We are three jolly fishermen,
We are three jolly fishermen, while the merry,merry bells do
ring.
(Lead) Make haste, make haste, (Chorus) You be too late,
(Lead) One fish, my dear, (Chorus) I cannot wait,
(All) For me fine fry of herring, me bonny silver herring,
Mind how you sell them while the merry, merry bells do ring.
2. We cast our nets unto the rocks.
3. We’ve white an’ speckled bellied uns.
4. We sell them three for fourpence.
-snip-
Read the next section for comments about the history of this song.
****
INFORMATION AND COMMENTS ABOUT THERE WERE THREE JOLLY FISHERMEN"
From https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=30614
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Three Jolly Fishermen
1. Michael in Swansea, 09 Feb 01 - 07:41 AM
THREE JOLLY FISHERMEN
We are three jolly fishermen
We are three jolly fishermen
We are three jolly fishermen
While the merry merry bells do ring
Chorus: Make haste make haste
You'll be too late
One fish my dear
I cannot wait
For me fine fry of herring
Me bonnie silver herring
Mind how you sell them
While the merry merry bells do ring
We cast our nets into the sea (deep) x3
While the merry ..... etc
We've fine and speckled bellied un's x3
While the merry ..... etc
We sell them three four fourpence x3
While the merry ..... etc
..."Song originating from Whitby in Yorkshire"...
** 3. Michael in Swansea, Date: 10 Feb 01 - 05:01 AM
"Didn't know that, thanks Dave.
Lovely place Whitby, go there every October for the shanty festival." ** 4. mandomad, 10 Feb 01 - 07:22 AM
"Hi Mike, Yes, we see you on the Sunday night when you turn up in the Tap & Spile for a after Festival sing/sup. We know the second verse as...We'll cast our nets unto the rocks(3).
"The merry,merry bells do ring," are ,of course the Bells of St Mary's church up on the cliff top. Do drop into the Tap again this year,and give us a song (with as many of your shanty lads as can manage. We might just persuade Derek Elliott to give his well known rendition of the above song Cheers.
Tony(Mandomad)
The noisy one in the corner."
** 5. Malcolm Douglas Date: 12 Feb 02- 10:03 AM "Roy Palmer prints a slightly different set in The Oxford Book of Sea Songs (1986), now revised and reprinted as Boxing the compass. He comments:"Steve Gardham recorded this from Thomas Calvert of Runswick Bay, North Yorkshire, in 1971. The song, which seems to have been a particular favourite in the Whitby area (though Cecil Sharp had a version from Middlesex, attached to a dance), was issued on a broadside printed in 1837-8 by W. and T. Fordyce, Newcastle, under the title of Caller Herring. This in turn loosely derives from a song of the same name by Lady Carolina Nairne (1766-1845), published in 1824 to a tune by Nathaniel Gow (1777-1831), based on 'the original Cry of the Newhaven fish wives, Selling their fresh herrings in the streets of Edinburgh'. Gow's tune was issued as a shilling music sheet for piano in c.1802."
**
6. Dave Bryant, Date: 12 Feb 02 - 12:50 PM
"Alan, You were around at Stony on Saturday night when Linda and I sang it - although we sing it as "Two" rather than "Three" fo obvious reasons. There is another verse after "We cast our nets into the sea"
We bring them fresh to market.
I first heard it sung many years ago by Derek & Dorothy Elliot, and we basically use their arrangement of Linda (& chorus ladies) singing the "Make Haste, Make Haste" and "One fish my dear" lines, and me (and chorus men) singing "You'll be too late" and "I cannot wait" lines.
I had heard that it referred to Staithes, further up the coast from Whitby, where the fisherfolk were very religious (Plymouth Brethren?). When the boats landed with the catch, fish were only on sale for a short time before the fisherfolk would have to attend prayers to give thanks. It's an interesting story anyway. I can remember women from Staithes selling fish at Stockton market when I was up in the NE during the 60s. They used to wear long black skirts and bonnets rather like the Sally Army ones."
-snip-
This comment is the first one that I've come across that connects the sea song "There Were Three Jolly Fishermen" with the contemporary song of the same title that is considered a Christian children's song.
"The Sally Army" referred to in the quoted comment is a colloquial referent for the Salvation Army
****
SOURCE #2
From https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/FSWB240A.html Once There Were Three Fishermen (The Three Jews)
"DESCRIPTION: "Once there were three fishermen (x2),
Fisher fisher men men men (x3) Once there were three fishermen." The three fishermen are named, and their voyages described.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Harbin-Parodology)
FOUND IN: US(MW,Ro) Canada(Mar,Newf)
[...]
Roud #3708 and 12776
NOTES : This is rather confusing, because the change of one word significantly changes the song. In several texts (Gardner and Chickering, Greenleaf and Mansfield), the three heroes are Jews. But in Pankake, as well as the version printed by Silber, they are fishermen. The
latter version is very much a children's song, I've only encountered two versions of this, and they differ in most particulars: In the Silber version, the sailors are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they sail for Amsterdam (with resulting comments about naughty words); Ed McCurdy sings a version with different sailors, in which Halifax is the destination. It appears
Averill-Camp Songs Folk Songs also had the Amsterdam version.
The fact that the three sailors are "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" in one of the "Fishermen" versions implies to me that the "Three Jews" version is older; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are, of course, the three patriarchs of the Jews, so if they show up in a "Fishermen" version, it's because the names were derived from a "Three Jews" version.
In this case, Roud splits the two versions. But the verse form, as well as the names of the characters, says they are the same."
****
SOURCE #3
From https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=107415 Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Three Jolly Fishermen
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This is basically a reprint of very small Mudcat discussion thread. All of the post [comments] are reprinted here except for a comment that I wrote encouraging the first commenter to add his comment to the Biblical Place Name discussion thread that I had started.]
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 06:52 PM
"Astounded that this one is not in the DT or a Mudcat Thread.
Azizi's posting regarding Biblical Places prompted the
memory.
Three Jolly Fishermen
There were three jolly fishermen,
There were three jolly fishermen,
Fisher, fisher, MEN, MEN, MEN.
Fisher, fisher, MEN, MEN, MEN.
There weere three jolly fishermen.
The first one's name was Abraham,
The first one's name was Abraham,
Abra, Abra; ham ham, ham,
Abra, Abra; ham ham, ham,
The first one's name was Abraham,
The second one's name was I-I-saac,
The second one's name was I-I-saac,
I-I, I-I- zik, zik, zik, etc.
The third one's name was Ja-a-cob,
The third one's name was Ja-a-cob,
Ja-a, Ja-a; cub, cub, cub, etc.
They all went down to Jericho,
They all went down to Jericho,
Jer-i, Jer-i; cho, cho, cho, etc.
They should have gone to Amsterdam,
They should have gone to Amsterdam,
Amster, Amster, Shh! Shh! Shh!,
Amster, Amster, Shh! Shh! Shh!
You shouldn't say that naughty word!
CAN BE SUNG AS A ROUND
Sincerely,
Gargoyle"
**
2.
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 07:36 PM
Well, I'm glad to know that that the Biblical Place Name Thread inspired this thread.
As to the song Three Jolly Fisherman, the version that I learned along the way {which means I don't remember when I learned it but it probably wasn't when I was a young child} is somewhat different than the version that you posted, Gargoyle. Here's that version:
Three Jolly Fishermen
There were three jolly fishermen, fishermen.
There were three jolly fishermen, fishermen
Fisher, fisher, men, men, men
Fisher, fisher, men, men, men.
There were three jolly fishermen.
The first one's name was Abraham, Abraham
The first one's name was Abraham, Abraham
Abra, Abra, ham, ham, ham.
Abra, Abra, ham, ham, ham.
The first one's name was Abraham.
The second one's name was I-I-saac, Isaac.
The second one's name was I-I-saac, Isaac.
I-I, I-I- zik, zik, zik,
I-I, I-I- zik, zik, zik,
The second one's name was I-I-saac.
The third one's name was Ja-a-cob, Jacob.
The third one's name was Ja-a-cob, Jacob.
Jay-a, Jay-a; cub, cub, cub.
Jay-a, Jay-a; cub, cub, cub.
The third one's name was Ja-a-cob.
They all went down to Amster-shh! Amerster-shh!
They all went down to Amerster-shh!
Amster, Amster, Shh! Shh! Shh!
Amster, Amster, Shh! Shh! Shh!
They all went down to Amster-shh!
You must not say that naughty word! Naughty word.
You shouldn't say that naughty word! Naughty word.
Naughty naughty, word word word.
Naughty naughty, word word word.
You must not say that naughty word!
I'm gonna say it any how, any how.
I'm gonna say it any how, any how.
Any any how how how.
Any any how how how.
I'm gonna say it any how.
They all went down to AmsterDAM. AmsterDAM.
They all went down to AmersterDAM. AmsterDAM.
Amster, Amster, DAM! DAM! DAM!
Amster, Amster, DAM! DAM! DAM!
They all went down to AmsterDAM!
**
Actually, I don't recall singing the last two* verses.
However, that's the way it was sung in the summer camp that my children
attended in the mid 1990s."
-snip-
Oct. 27, 2022 - Correction- I don’t recall singing the last four verses [ i.e.
I believe that the way I remember singing that song is that it ended with the Jacob verse. Also, notice that my version (probably in the late 1950s when I was around age 10 years old and my children's version from the 1990s didn't include the "Jericho" verse.]
3.
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 07:48 PM
**
4. From: Joe_F
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 08:27 PM
5.
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 09:16 PM
****
SOURCE #4
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srb0fdH7yEE [This is the link to the first YouTube sound file that is given in this pancocojams post.]
Here are some comments from this sound file's discussion thread. Numbers have been assigned for referencing purposes only.
"I recall ending the song with 'and now we're going to finish
it. And now we're going to finish it. Finney Finney, ** ** **, Finney Finney **
** **!!' shouting the last words at the top of our lungs in the back of the
bus. So naughty. ;)"
**
Reply
2. Zippity Zoop, 2016
"We used say they all went down to Amsterdam: Amster, Amster,
dam dam dam!"
**
3. E. Collins, 2018
"In the version from my childhood, after the Amsterdam verse,
there was "I must not say that naughty word, etc." Then, "I'm gonna say it anyway,
etc." And finally (!), "They
all went down to Amster DAM!, etc."...
**
Reply
4. lyncap99, 2021
"Yeah this is the version I remember they all went down to amster-shhh... Must not say that naughty word... Think I'll say it anyway... All went down to amster dam"
**
5. TheHoffy59, 2019
"You should have seen that old peacock. Pea Pea..............."
****
ADDENDUM - "THREE JEWS OF JERUSELAM" / "THREE JEWS CAME FROM JERUSALEM"
https://sounds.bl.uk/World-and-traditional-music/Bob-and-Jacqueline-Patten-Collection/025M-C1033X0015XX-1200V0 Three Jews Of Jerusalem
-snip-
Here's my transcription of that sound file (Additions and corrections are welcome)
There were three Jews of Jerusalem
Jery ery ery usalem
Jer ery ery usalem
There were three Jews of Jerusalem
And the first one’s name was Isaac
The first one’s name was Isaac
I ey I ey I ey zik zik zik
I ey I ey I ey zik zik zik
The first one’s name was Isaac
The second one’s name was Abraham
The second one’s name was Abraham
Abrey abrey abrey ham ham ham
Abrey abrey abrey ham ham ham
The second one’s name was Abraham
The third one’s name was Jacob
The third one’s name was Jacob
Jaey ey ey cub cub cub
Jaey ey ey cub cub cub
The third one’s name was Jacob
They all went up in a chari bang
They all went up in a chari bang
chari ari ari bang bang bang
chari ari ari bang bang bang
They all went up in a chari bang
But they all had to go to hospital
They all had to go to hospital
Hos ey osey osey pit pit al
Hos ey osey osey pit pit al
They all had to go to hospital
But then they decided to finish it
Then they decided to finish it
Finney eney eney it it it
Finney eney eney it it it
Then they decided to finish it
-snip-
The structure for this song is the same as the structure of "Three Jolly Fishermen".
The tune for both songs are very similar. However, the tune for the last line of "Three Jews Of Jerusalem" is different from the last line for "Three Jolly Fishermen". The last line of this song sound to me like the last line of the verses for the Christian hymn "Take My Life And Let It Be" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ93HVuYd5Y .
**
Here's a link to a YouTube video that shows some children from India singing "Three Jews Came From Jerusalem" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrdI9J6a2pA published by Akash Mondal, Feb. 28, 2020
This song is described in the video's summary as an "action song". This is one of several YouTube videos of Christian groups of Indian children singing that song. Unfortunately, I don't feel confident about transcribing the words that are sung.
Here's the lyrics for a YouTube video of the same song with basically the same tune* as "Three Jolly Fishermen" and "Three Jews Of Jerusalem", but with a different title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivvvnBwEGZ8 Song: Three Wandering Jews, published by Mission Bible Class, July 22, 2013
"Lyrics:
Once there were three wandering Jews
Once there were three wandering Jews
Wandering, wandering
Jews, jews, jews
Wandering, wandering
Jews, jews, jews
Once there were three wandering Jews
The first one's name was Abraham
The first one's name was Abraham
Abra-abra
Ham-ham-ham
Abra-abra
Ham-ham-ham
The first one's name was Abraham
The second one's name was Isaac
The second one's name was Isaac
I-I
Saac-saac-saac
I-I
Saac-saac-saac
The second one's name was Isaac
The third one's name was Jacob
The third one's name was Jacob
Ja-ja
Cob-cob-cob
Ja-ja
Cob-cob-cob
The third one's name was Jacob
They all went down to Canaan's land
They all went down to Canaan's land
Canaan-canaan
Land-land-land
Canaan-canaan
Land-land-land
They all went down to Canaan's land"
****
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I like this song but be careful not to say the naughty word...DAMN
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous.
DeleteThanks for your comment.
Yes, "damn" was and still is in some circles considered a naughty word.
I remember when they sang that song children were expected to skip the word "damn" and instead sing "Amster Amster (and put their finger to their mouth ins a shushing gesture. Still sometimes children would be risque and sing the verse that says "I'm gonna sing it anyhow./I'm gonna sing it anyhow/Amster Amster DAMN DAMN DAMN/ Amster Amster DAMN DAMN DAMN/They all went down to AMSTERDAMN."
I remember children enjoying flaunting societal rules in that little way because they knew that they wouldn't be penalized for doing so (or they sang the whole song somewhere among people who wouldn't punish them for doing so).