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The Game of All Fours
The Game of Cards / The Game of All Fours
[
Roud 232
/ Song Subject MAS778
; Master title: The Game of Cards
; Ballad Index K175
; GlosTrad
Roud 232
; DT GAMECARD
; Mudcat 66884
; trad.]
Alan Helsdon: Vaughan Williams in Norfolk Volume 1 Maud Karpeles: Cecil Sharp’s Collection of English Folk Songs Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger: Travellers’ Songs From England and Scotland John Morrish: The Folk Handbook Roy Palmer: Songs of the Midlands Frank Purslow: Marrow Bones James Reeves: The Everlasting Circle Sam Richards and Tish Stubbs: The English Folksinger Steve Roud, Julia Bishop: The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs
Wally Fuller sang The Game of Cards in a recording made by Peter Kennedy at Laughton near Lewes, Sussex, on 11 November 1952. He also recorded Queen Caroline Hughes singing this song in her caravan near Blandford, Dorset, on 19 April 1968. Both recordings were included in 2012 on the Topic anthology I’m a Romany Rai (The Voice of the People Series Volume 22). Caroline Hughes also sang The Game of All Fours to Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger in 1963 or 1966, which was included in 2014 on her Musical Traditions anthology Sheep-Crook and Black Dog.
Sam Larner sang All Fours in a Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger recording made in 1958-60 on his 1961 Folkways album Now Is the Time for Fishing.
Tom Willett sang The Game of Cards at his home on a caravan site near Ashford, Middlesex in 1962. This recording by Bill Leader and Paul Carter was released in the same year on the Willett Family’s Topic album The Roving Journeyman. Another recording made by Ken Stubbs in 1960 was released in 2013 both on the family’s Forest Tracks anthology A-Swinging Down the Lane and on their Musical Traditions anthology Adieu to Old England in which Rod Stradling noted:
On the surface we are dealing with card play, and Hoyle’s Rules of Games (1955) indeed lists All Fours. It’s usually a two-handed card game and is sometimes called Seven Up. Four items count towards the score; High (the highest trump out); Low (the lowest trump out); Jack (the knave of trumps); and Game (scoring an extra point to the ultimate holder of the more valuable tricks).
In her edition of Cecil Sharp’s Collection of English Folk Songs (1974), Maud Karpeles places in the section devoted to sports and pastimes The Game of Cards, a version of the song Hoyle noted in 1908. Yet this is a transparently erotic piece which had to wait until 1960 to appear in respectable print, in James Reeves’s anthology of English traditional verse, The Everlasting Circle. That it was well known a century earlier is attested by the broadside issued by Henry Disley of London, a political adaptation or parody dealing with Garibaldi’s struggle for Italian unity under the title of The Game of All Fours. At much the same time, the catalogue of the Manchester ballad printer, T. Pearson, included the original Game of All Fours, twinned with The Steam Loom Weaver [Roud V2124].
A fairly widely collected song, found only in the southern half of England, with 58 Roud entries, the most northerly being from Staffordshire and Norfolk. It seems to be very popular amongst Travellers and George Dunn, Charlie Wills and Sam Larner are about the only Gorgios amongst the singers named. Vic Legg informs us that All Fours is still played in a number of pubs in the china-clay areas near St Austell in Cornwall; indeed, they have a League—for the card game, that is.
Sarah Porter sang The Game of All Fours at The Three Cups in Punnets Town in 1965. This recording by Brian Matthews was published in 2001 on the Musical Traditions anthology of 1960 recordings from Sussex country pubs, Just Another Saturday Night.
Hyram Brazil sang The Game of All Fours The Game of All Fours to Peter Shepheard at The Pelican in Gloucester on 20 April 1966. This recording was included in 2007 on the Brazil Family’s Musical Traditions anthology Down by the Old Riverside. Rod Stradling noted:
This was also sung by Danny and Lemmie. Among Roud’s 49 noted instances, all from the southern half of England, are 18 sound recordings—indicating that the song was still popular in recent times. Vic Legg informs us that All Fours is still played in a number of pubs in the china-clay areas near St Austell in Cornwall; indeed, they have a League—for the card game, that is.
This transparently erotic piece had to wait until 1960 to appear in respectable print, in James Reeves’s anthology of English traditional verse, The Everlasting Circle. That it was well known a century earlier is attested by the broadside issued by Henry Disley of London, a political adaptation or parody dealing with Garibaldi’s struggle for Italian unity under the title of The Game of All Fours. At much the same time, the catalogue of the Manchester ballad printer, T. Pearson, included the original Game of All Fours, twinned with The Steam Loom Weaver.
Ewan MacColl sang The Game of ‘All Fours’ in 1968 on his and Peggy Seeger’s Argo album The Wanton Muse. He noted:
All Fours (or High Low Jack and the Game) was still a popular card game as late as the mid-1930s. The song to which the game gave its title has, apparently, been collected in many parts of England but, until Frank Purslow published Gardiner’s version in Marrow Bones, appears never to have got into print. The version here is from the singing of Sam Larner of Winterton, Norfolk.
Phoebe Smith sang Game of All Fours on 8 January 1969 at the King’s Head. This recording was included in 2012 on the Musical Traditions anthology of 1968-70 traditional performers at the King’s Head Folk Club.
Charlie Wills sang Game of Cards to Bill Leader in January 1971. This recording was released in the following year on his eponymous Leader album, Charlie Wills. Bill Leader noted:
It seems that a complete text of Charlie’s Game of Cards has never been collected. The song does not appear with his other 1952 and 1954 recordings in the BBC Sound Archive, and when a transcription from his singing was published in vol. 3 No. 1 of the folk music magazine Sing in 1956 the last two verses were already missing. Complete texts can be found in the versions published in Marrow Bones and The Everlasting Circle. Broadsides were issued by Pearson in Manchester and Waler in Durham.
For sound recordings see Wally Fuller, Loughton, Lewes, Sussex, 11.11.1952 (BBC 18719); Sam Larner (FG 3507); Tom Willett (12T84).
Levi Smith sang The Game of Cards in a recording made by Mike Yates in 1972-75 on the 1975 Topic album gypsies, travellers and country singers, Songs of the Open Road. This was also included in 1998 on the Topic anthology My Father’s the King of the Gypsies (The Voice of the People Series Volume 11).
George Dunn sang All Fours on his eponymous 1975 Leader album, George Dunn Another recording by Roy Palmer from 14 July 1971 was included in 2000 on his Musical Traditions anthology Chainmaker. The accompanying booklet noted:
On the surface we are dealing with card play, and Hoyle’s Rules of Games (1955) indeed lists All Fours. In her edition of Cecil Sharp’s Collection of English Folk Songs (1974), Maud Karpeles places in the section devoted to sports and pastimes The Game of Cards, a version of the song he noted in 1908. Yet this is a transparently erotic piece which had to wait until 1960 to appear in respectable print, in James Reeves’s anthology of English traditional verse, The Everlasting Circle. That it was well known a century earlier is attested by the broadside issued by Henry Disley of London, a political adaptation or parody dealing with Garibaldi’s struggle for Italian unity under the title of The Game of All Fours (British Library, 11621 h 11, Crampton Ballads, vol. 7, fol. 263). At much the same time, the catalogue of the Manchester ballad printer, T Pearson, included the original Game of All Fours, twinned with The Steam Loom Weaver.
George Dunn’s mention of Leominster is merely a localisation: other versions have Leicester, Glasgow, Croydon and Windsor. His two-verse coda is not found elsewhere; he has to vary his languorous tune to accommodate it, and the moralising is at odds with the erotic tone of the rest of the song, in which the apparently naive woman proves the sexual superior of the man.
Maddy Prior and June Tabor sang The Game of Cards in 1976 on their album Silly Sisters. They were accompanied by Nic Jones, guitar; Andy Irvine, mandolin; Johnny Moynihan, whistle; and Danny Thompson, bass.
John Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris sang The Game of All Fours in 1977 on their Topic album Shreds and Patches. Her returned to The Game of All Fours in 2004 on Brass Monkey’s fifth album, Flame of Fire, where he noted:
The Game of All Fours is the name of an old card game, also called Seven Up, whose very title cries out for a saucy song. Enormously popular, you find versions of it everywhere. This tune is the one recorded by Mike Yates from the Surrey gypsy Levi Smith, first published on the Topic LP Songs of the Open Road in 1975.
Betsy Renals sang Game of All Fours in a 1978 recording made by Pete Coe that was released in 1990 on the Veteran Tapes cassette and in 2003 on the Veteran/Backshift CD of songs from their Cornish Travellers family, Catch Me If You Can. Mike Yates noted:
Another song of hidden meanings, and one that is especially popular with southern English Gypsy singers, including Levi Smith and Tom Willett. The earliest known text was issued in London by John Pitts sometime during the first quarter of the 19th century, although the song itself may be slightly older. Quoting Hoyle’s Rules of Games, Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger say that All Fours is an ancient card game that is still played in England, though it is not as popular as it was at the turn of the (20th) century. It is one of a large family of card games in which the ace is high and the jack low. The object is to win High, Low, Jack and (therefore) the Game. Although All Fours went to the United States under various titles (Seven-Up, Old Sledge, High-Low-Jack, Pitch), the song does not appear to have followed.
There is, apparently, an epitaph in the church at St. Ives, in Cambridgeshire, which reads
Here lies the body of All Fours
Who spent his money and pawned his clothes
If anyone should ask for his name
Tell them ’tis high, low, jack and game.
A year later, Pete and Chris Coe sang The Game of All Fours as the title track of their 1979 album Game of All Fours. They noted:
We should like to dedicate this record to Betsy and Charlotte Renals and Sophie Legg who live in Bodmin, Cornwall. They have taught us many fine songs, three of which are included here, Game of All Fours, The Beggar and Catch Me If You Can. Hopefully a record of the sisters singing their songs will be available in the near future. Our thanks to Vic Legg for introducing us to his relatives and for his hospitality whilst Pete was recording the ladies.
Tony Rose recorded The Game of All Fours in 1999 for his CD Bare Bones.
Norma Waterson sang Game of All Fours in 2000 on her third solo album Bright Shiny Morning. She noted:
From Queen Caroline Hughes. My very favourite first line in a song.
Patterson Jordan Dipper sang The Game of All Fours in 2002 on their WildGoose album Flat Earth. They noted:
The Game of All Fours was the title track of an album by Pete and Chris Coe. James learned and sang it at the time having as he does a fondness for songs where women get the upper hand. And he’s still plumbing its likely meaning!
Kate Rusby sang The Game of All Fours in 2005 on her CD The Girl Who Couldn’t Fly.
Jim Causley sang The Game of Cards in 2011 on his WildGoose album of Devon songs, Dumnonia. He noted:
The Game of Cards is a well known song throughout the British Isles and is definitely one of the instantly recognisable titles on this album. I have exercised my 21st century liberty here and combined the text from Charlie Wills of Somerset with the tune from Queen Caroline Hughes of Dorset. But before you call me a dissenter I would just like to present that the lyrics do feature Devon place names and the Marshwood Vale area which covers the three counties is well known for having its own sense of identity regardless of the county borders.
Lauren McCormick—former bandmate of Jim Causley in The Devil’s Interval—sang A Game of Cards in 2012 on her WildGoose album On Bluestockings. She noted:
From Betsy Renals. The girl in this song knows what she wants and takes it. Very good advice I think, although she is a bit naughty.
Andy Turner learned The Game of All Fours from the singing of Tom Willett and sang it as the 1 November 2013 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week.
David Stacey sang The Game of All Fours on his 2015 Musical Traditions album Good Luck to the Journeyman.
The Hungarian group Simply English sang The Game of Cards on their 2017 CD Long Grey Beard and a Head That’s Bald.
Emily Portman and Rob Harbron sang The Game of Cards on their 2022 album Time Was Away. They noted:
Refreshingly, there are none of the typical tragic folk song endings for this heroine, who walks along the highway without a care and also happens to be an ace card player. Emily’s source for this version is Romany singer Levi Smith who came from a musical family and lived near Epsom, Surrey when Mike Yates recorded him for the 1975 Topic album Songs of the Open Road. Emily decided to add to the ambiguity of the song by taking out any reference to gender of the narrator, who was male in Levi’s version. Additional lines are magpied and (mis)remembered from other versions of this popular song, printed in broadsides widely around England as early as 1780.
Lyrics
Sam Larner sings All Fours
As I walked out on one midsummer’s morning
It happened to be on a sunshiny day
’Twas them I espied a pretty fair damsel
As she was got walking all on the highway.
I stepped up to her and I bid her good morning
Saying, “Where are you going so early this morn?”
She said, “Kind Sir, I’m going to Lisbon
In that little town wherein I was born.”
Said I, “Pretty fair maid, and may I go with you?
And may I accept of your sweet company?”
She said, “Kind Sir, you’re heartily welcome
You’re heartily welcome to walk with me.”
Now, we had not been walking scarcely half an hour,
Before acquainted, acquainted came we
She said, “Kind Sir, come sit down beside me
And there I will play you a sweet civil game.
Said I, “Pretty fair maid, I’m not given to gaming,
But still for all that, I am willing to learn”
“Now the game that we play shall be as all fours
And that I can beat you three to your one.”
Now, she cut the cards, it was my turn to deal them
I dealt her all trumps, I alone had poor Jack
And she had the ace and the deuce for to follow.
Which are the very best cards in the pack.
Now, she led of her ace and she stole poor Jack from me
Which made her both high, low, Jack and game
She said “Kind sir, I freely beat you
Unless you can play the game over again.”
Now, I put on my hat and I bid her good morning
Although she was high, low, Jack and the game
She said “Kind Sir, call this way tomorrow
And we’ll play me game over and over again.”
Tom Willett sings The Game of Cards
Now as I was a-walking one fine summer’s morning
As I was walking along the highway
O and there did I spy such a fair pretty maiden
And unto her then I quicklye did say.
“Now where are you going to my pretty fair maid?
O it’s where are you going along the highway?”
Then she turned herself round and she lookèd upon me
“I’m going to Windsor, kind sir”, she did say.
“May I go along with you it’s my pretty fair maid
To bear up your company along the highway?”
Then she turned herself round and she lookèd upon me
She says, “Kind sir, you can walk if you please.”
As we was a-walking and talking together
Those sweet pleasant banks I set myself down
Then I says, “My pretty fair maid would you sit yourself beside of me?
And then I will show you a sweet pleasant game.”
“I’m not given to gaming, I’m not given to gaming,
I’m not given to gaming, kind sir,” she did say,
“But if I do play you, then it must be All Fours
And then I will gave you two chalks to my one.”
He shufftles up those cards, it was her time to cut them,
He happened to chuck the Jack at the Piece.
O well she throwed the Ace, oh, which took the Jack from him
Which is commonly called the best card in the pack.
Now look how he blushes and see how he trembles
To think that a woman should conquer a man.
But he says. “My pretty fair maid, if you’re this way tomorrow
And then I will play this game over again.”
Caroline Hughes sings The Game of All Fours
O as I were a-walking from Broadway to Glasgow
O a fair pretty damsule come walking my way;
O quicklye I met oh that fair pretty damsule
Quicklye now she took hold my hand.
I said, “Where are you going, my fair purty damsule?
Where are you going so early this way?
For I am a-going my way home to Glasgow.
Can I now make you and walk ‘long with you?”
Well, we walked and we talked on together,
‘Til we come to an old elder tree.
Now she sat down and I sat down beside her,
Then we start playin’ says High Low the Game.
Well, she chucked the cards out and pulled out the pack, love.
She chucked the Jack, oh, and I chucked the Queen.
She chucked the Jack, love, and I chucked the Queen, then.
That’s how I come, now, Jack High Low the Game.
Now, he said, “Will we play a bit longer?
Now I feels weary and tired as well.
I say, young girl, I’ll allow that you beat me
If you will play the game over again.”
“O now, will you be this way tomorrow?
Tell me if you’ll be on this highway again?
Yes, I will promise you I’ll be this way tomorrow
Then we will play the game over again.”
Sarah Porter sings The Game of All Fours
(As) I was a-walking one bright summer’s morning,
Dark was the night, sure, and [dark] was the morn,
Who should I meet but a fair pretty creature
As I was a-walking all on the highway.
Sure we walked and we talked just a few miles together
’Til we did came to some green shady tree
My love he sat down and I sat beside of him,
And the game that we played, love, was one, two and three.
“O I dealed ’em last time, it’s your time to shuffle,
I’ll deal you the three worst cards into the pack”.
He chucked down the ace and deuce of all sorrow,
That’ll leave me to play High Low Jack in the game.
For I picked up my hat and I bid him good morning,
He picked up his coat and he bid me farewell.
Said, “Kind sir, if you’re this way tomorrow,
We’ll play the game over and over again.”
Hyram Brazil sings The Game of All Fours
As I were a-walking one fine summer’s morning,
O it happened to be on a sunshiny day;
And there I behold most a beautiful damsel,
As she was a-walking all on the highway.
For I says, “My pretty fair maid, oh where are you going?
And may I fall bear with your sweet company?”
For she turned herself round a and she gazèd down on me,
Saying, “Yes, then kind sir, you may walk if you please.”
For we had not a-walked but a few miles together,
Before she begun with her wanton ways;
She come set herself down and I sat by the side of her,
Saying, “The game I shall play you shall be at All Fours;
For the game I will play you will be at All Fours,
And then love I’ll beat you down two hands to one.”
For I shuffled the cards it was her time to deal them,
For I did not hold but one trump but the Jack;
For she had the Ace and the Deuce for to play with,
You commonly call the best cards in the pack.
For she led off the Ace and she stole the Jack from me,
And that made her High Low Jack and the Game;
She says, “Then kind sir, so fairly I beat you,
As you cannot play the game over again.”
For I picked up my hat, wished that fair maid good morning,
As since she got High Low Jack and the Game;
I says, “My pretty fair maid, I’ll be this way tomorrow,
And then love we’ll play the game over again.”
Phoebe Smith sings Game of All Fours
As I were a-walking one bright summer’s morning,
I were all alone on the King’s highway,
And who should I meet but a fair pretty damsel,
And (to) the sweet town of Glasgow were making her way.
So we walked, and we talked, just a few miles together
Until we did came to that shady green tree;
Where she sot herself down, and I sot down beside her,
And the games that we played were One Two and Three.
So it’s she cut the cards, and were his turn to deal them,
Were feeling hisself just one trump in his hand.
Then she chucked down the ace, and she stole the jack from him,
And that were high low, Jack and the game.
So he picked up his hat and he bid her good morning.
And he bid her good morning again and again.
For he said, “O fair maid, will you own I have beat you?
Or else the same game we’ll play over again.”
So she picked herself up and she bid him good morning
And she bid him good morning again and again.
“O”, she said, “there, young man, I’ll be this way tomorrow,
And then that same game we’ll play over again.”
Charlie Wills sings Game of Cards
As I were a-walking one midsummer’s morning
I heard the birds whistle and the nightingale play
And there did I spy a beautiful maiden
As I were a-walking all on the highway
And there did I spy a beautiful maiden
As I were a-walking all on the highway
I said, where are you going to miss
Where are you going so early this morn
She said, I’m going to Leicestershire
To that pleasant place where I was born
She said, I’m going to Leicestershire
To that pleasant place where I was born
I said, may I come with you my darling
And walk in your sweet company
She turned her head and smiling all at me
Saying, you may come with me kind sir if you please
She turned her head and smiling all at me
Saying, you may come with me kind sir if you please
We’d not been far but two miles or three
Before this young damsel began to show free
She sat herself down saying, sit you down by me
And the game we will play shall be One, Two and Three
She sat herself down saying, sit you down by me
And the game we will play shall be One, Two and Three
She cut the cards and I fell a-dealing
I dealed her myself in the trump of four jack
She dealed out her ace and stole my jack from me
Saying, which do you call the best card in the pack
She dealed out her ace and stole my jack from me
Saying, which do you call the best card in the pack
Spoken: I could never pick up the last verse. I know there’s another one. I’ve tried for nearly 20 years, but I can’t get it back.
The Silly Sisters sing The Game of Cards
As I was a-walking one midsummer’s morning
I heard the birds whistle and the nightingales play.
And there did I spy a beautiful maiden
As I was a-walking all on the highway.
“O where are you going, my fair pretty lady?
O where are you going so early this morn?”
She said: “I’m going down to visit my neighbours;
I’m going down to Warwick, the place I was born.”
It’s “May I come with you, my sweet pretty darling?
May I go along in your sweet company?”
Then she turned her head and smiling all at me
Saying: “You may come with me, kind sir, if you please.”
We hadn’t been walking but a few miles together
Before this young damsel began to show free.
She sat herself down, saying: “Sit down beside me,
And the games we shall play shall be one, two and three.”
I said: “My dear lady, if you’re fond of the gaming
There’s one game I know I would like you to learn.
The game it is called: The Game of All Fours.”
So I took out my pack and began the first turn.
She cut the cards first and I fell a-dealing.
I dealt her a trump and myself the poor jack.
She led off her ace and stole my jack from me,
Saying: “Jack is the card I like best in your pack.”
“Since I dealt them last time, it’s your turn to shuffle
And my turn to show the best card in the pack.”
Once more she’d the ace and the deuce for to beat me,
Once again I had lost when I laid down poor jack.
So I took up my hat and I bid her: “Good morning,”
I said: “You’re the best that I know at this game.”
She answered: “Young man, if you’ll come back to-morrow
We’ll play the game over and over again.”
Betsy Renals sings Game of All Fours
As I went a-walking one midsummer’s morning,
One midsummer’s morning just at break of day;
And who should I meet but a fair pretty lady,
A fair pretty lady all on the highway.
I took hold of her hand and I bids her good morning,
Saying, “Where are you going so early this way?”
“O kind sir,” she said, “I’m a-going to Lisburn,
A beautiful city, that’s where I was born.”
We both travelled on, and we travelled together,
Until we came to an old shady tree;
She sat herself down, and I sat myself by her,
No one could we hear, or no one could we see.
We both then played cards, we played there together,
She throwed down her ace,
And she stole the jack from me;
And that made her high a low jack in the game.
I puts on my hat, and I bid her, “Good morning,”
She said, “Sir, when will you be coming this way again?
For if you are coming this way tomorrow,
Then we will play the game over again.”
Spoken: And thus where a woman can conquer a man.
Tony Rose sings The Game of All Fours
Now as I was a-walking one fine summer’s morning,
O the fields and the meadows were pleasant and gay.
Who should I spy but a handsome young fair maid
As she was a-walking along the highway.
O I stepped up to her and wished her a good morning,
“Where are you going so soon in the morn?”
She answered, “Kind sir, I’m a-going to Windsor,
“To that pleasant place where I was born.”
“Well said, my fair maiden, and shall I go with you
For to keep your sweet company?”
She turned herself round and a-smiling so sweetly,
Said “Sir, you may do just as you please.”
O we hadn’t been walking past one mile together
Before that we better acquainted became,
And I said, “My fair maid, come and sit you down by me
And I will show to you a sweet pleasant game.”
She said, “My kind sir, I’m not given to gaming,
But nevertheless so I’m willing to learn.
But the game that we play it must be all fours
And then I will hold you three to one.”
So she cut the cards, but ’t was my turn to deal them,
And I dealt myself one trump, it was only poor jack.
She had the ace and the deuce for to beat me
And they are the very best cards in the pack.
So she played off her ace and she took the jack from me,
’t left her the high low jack in the game.
She said, “My kind sir, well I fairly beat you,
Or else we will play the game over again?”
Well I picked up my hat and I wished a good morning
And I left her high low jack and the game.
Then I said, “My fair maid, I’ll be back in the morning,
And then we will play the game over again.”
Norma Waterson sings Game of All Fours
As I was a-walking from Broadway to Glasgow,
As I was a-walking one fine summer’s day,
Who should I meet but a fair pretty damsel
As we were walking all on the highway.
I said, “Where are you going, my fair pretty damsel,
Where are you going all on the highway?”
She said, “I’m a-going away up to Glasgow.
Can I walk with you along the highway?”
Well, we walked and we talked on together
Till we came to an old elder tree.
There we sat down and I sat down beside her
And that’s how I come now Jack I love the game.
I said, “My young lady, are you fond of gaming?
For I know a game I am sure you could learn?
The game it is called, well, the game of all fours now.”
I took out my pack and I played the first turn.
Well, she cut the cards and she dealt out the pack then.
I threw the deuce and then she threw the queen.
She led off her ace and she stole me jack from me
And that’s how she come now Jack I love the game.
She says, “Will you play a bit longer?
O no, I am weary and tired as well.”
But I said, “Young lady, well I’ll let you beat me
If we can play that game over again.”
“O will you be this way tomorrow?
O will you be here, love, all on the highway?”
“I promise you that I will be here tomorrow
And so we can play the game over again.”
As I was a-walking from Broadway to Glasgow,
As I was a-walking one fine summer’s day,
’Twas there that I met with a fair pretty damsel
As we were walking all on the highway.
Brass Monkey sing The Game of All Fours
O as I was out walking one fine summer’s morning,
O as I was out walking all on the highway,
Who should I meet but a fair pretty creature
And unto her then I quickly did say:
“O it’s where are you going to, my pretty fair maid,
O where are you going so soon in the morn?”
“Well I’m going to Windsor, kind sir,” the maid answered,
“A sweet little town, it’s where I was born.”
Well I says, “My fair maiden, and shall I go with you
All for to bear your sweet company?”
And she turned herself round and smiling so sweetly,
“Kind sir,” she says, “You may do just as you please.”
So we both walked, we both talked a few miles together.
By a shady beech tree we sat down.
“O if I sit down first, won’t you sit down here beside me?
Then I will show you a sweet pleasant game.”
“O sir,” she said, “sir, I’m not given to gaming,
But nevertheless I’m willing to learn.
But if I do play you it must be all fours
For then I shall hold you three to one.”
So as she cut the cards, it was my turn to deal them.
I dealt me one trump, it was only poor jack.
And she had the ace and the deuce for to beat me
And they are the very best cards in the pack.
So, and she played her ace and she stole my jack from me
That made a high low jack in the game
And she says, “My kind sir, well I fairly beat you,
Or else shall we play the game over again?”
Well I picked up my tip for I wished a good morning
I left her high low jack and the game.
But I says, “My fair girl, if you’re this way tomorrow,
We’ll play the game over and over again.”
David Stacey sings The Game of All Fours
As I went a-walking one midsummer’s morning,
As I went a-walking all on the highway
Now who should I spy but a sweet pretty damsel
And she was a-walking all on my way.
“O where are you going my fair pretty damsel,
O where are you going so earlye this morn?”
“Well, I’m going to a place, it’s a town they call Glasgow
That’s the sweet pretty town where I was born.”
So they walked and they talked for a long while together
They walked and they talked ‘til they came to a shady green tree
Now she sat herself down and I sat down beside her
And the game that we played was One, Two and Three.
“Now it’s your turn to deal then, it’s my turn to shuffle.
I’ll show you the best card there is in the pack.”
Now she laid the ace down, I put the jack down beside it.
Which left me to play High, Low, Jack and the Game.
So I took off my hat and I bid her good morning
Saying, “You are the best that I’ve met at this game.”
She said, “Thank you, kind sir, if you come this way in the morning
We’ll play that game over and over again.”