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Yarmouth Town (Great Big Sea)
See also: Jolly Jack (The Punters)
And also: Jack The Jolly Tar (collected by Peacock)

In Yarmouth town there lived a man,
He had a little tavern by the strand;
And the landlord had a daughter fair,
Pretty little thing with golden hair.

Won't you come down?
Won't you come down?
Won't you come down to Yarmouth town?

One night there came a sailor man,
He asked the daughter for her hand;
Well, I won't marry you she said,
I have all I want without being wed.

But if with me you'd like to linger,
I'll tie some string all around my finger;
As you walk by, pull on my string,
I'll come down and let you right in.

Won't you come down?
Won't you come down?
Won't you come down to Yarmouth town?

Won't you come down?
Won't you come down?
Won't you come down to Yarmouth town?

Well the very next day at closing time,
The sailor man goes off to the strand;
And as he walks by pulls on that string,
And she came down and let him right in.

Well, he's never seen such a sight before,
A string on her finger was all she wore.

Won't you come down?
Won't you come down?
Won't you come down to Yarmouth town?

Won't you come down?
Won't you come down?
Won't you come down to Yarmouth town?

So all you men who to Yarmouth town go,
If ya see those girls with their hair hung low;
All ya gotta do is pull their strings,
And they'll come down and let you right in.

Won't you come down?
Won't you come down?
Won't you come down to Yarmouth town?

Won't you come down?
Won't you come down?
Won't you come down to Yarmouth town?

Won't you come down?
Won't you come down?
Won't you come down to Yarmouth town?

Won't you come down?
Won't you come down?
Won't you come down to Yarmouth town?

####.... Author unknown. Variant of a 19th century British broadside ballad, Jack The Jolly Tar (I), [Laws K40] American Balladry From British Broadsides (G. Malcolm Laws, 1957). Also a variant of an old British broadside ballad The Merchant's Courtship To The Brazier's Daughter, published without a publisher's name and without a date, and archived at The Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Harding B 22(169) ....####

This variant arranged and recorded by Great Big Sea (Sea Of No Cares, 2002)

See more songs by Great Big Sea.

Also recorded by Ryan's Fancy (Ryan's Fancy Live ©1975, Audat Records).

See more songs by Ryan's Fancy.

A variant was arranged and recorded as Jolly Jack by The Punters (Said She Couldn't Dance, 1998).

See more songs by The Punters.

A variant was collected with three different tunes by Ken Peacock and published as Jack The Jolly Tar in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, pp.288-290, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

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