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John BarleycornHome |
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John Barleycorn Old Velvet, who sang this song in a voice as thin as a gnat's, declared it was "as early as Jesus Christ". Well, perhaps not quite. But Pepys, the 17th century diarist, had a copy of the song and reckoned it was old then. Many people have tinkered with the words - Burns for one - but none have improved on the traditional version, which Old Velvet sang to a variant of the tune Dives and Lazarus tune. It may be the grandest of songs commemorating hard liquor. |
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