THE BALLAD OF WILLIAM BLOAT<br>
The Ballad of William Bloat<br>
By Raymond Calvert (1906 - 1959 )<br>
One verse: .mp3 (289K) | .mp3 (46K)<br>
"The Ballad of William Bloat" is<br>
performed by Jolly Rogers.<br>
Please refer to Cantaria's href="copyright.htm">Copyright information<br>
Notes: alternate words are contained in [ ].<br>
"This is a Belfast<br>
song. We could even call it an early commercial 'jingle' promoting the<br>
Belfast linen<br>
industry. "To Hell with the Pope," "No Surrender,"<br>
"Hang King Billy," are familiar slogans in Belfast, a city where Protestants<br>
and<br>
Catholics manage to live together (William Bloat is a good Protestant)."<br>
(from the href="songbooklist.htm#songbook">Irish Songbook).<br>
Raymond Colville Calvert, the only son and second child of William Henderson<br>
Calvert (1865-1952) and Barbara (nee Williamson) (1865-1938). Raymond was<br>
born<br>
at Banchory House, Helen's Bay, County Down, on Oct.30, 1906 and was<br>
educated at<br>
Bangor Grammar School and Queen's University, Belfast, where he took his<br>
degree<br>
in English in 1927 at the age of 20. He was a leading member of the<br>
University<br>
Dramatic Society, and it was for a cast party in 1926 that he composed "The<br>
Ballad of William Bloat'.'<br>
It was first published as a poem in a collection called Brave Crack in 1950<br>
and more recently in an illustrated edition by the Blackstaff Press; as a<br>
song<br>
it has been recorded in the United States by the Clancy Brothers.<br>
Shankill Road in Belfast is the center of militant Protestantism.<br>
In a mean abode on the Shankill Road<br>
Lived a man named William Bloat;<br>
He had a wife, the curse [bane] of his life,<br>
Who always "got his goat."<br>
So one day at dawn, with her nightdress on--<br>
He cut her bloody throat.<br>
With a razor-gash, he settled her hash,<br>
O, never was crime so quick;<br>
But the steady drip, on the pillow-slip,<br>
Of her life-blood made him sick,<br>
And the pool of gore, on the bedroom floor,<br>
Grew clotted, cold, and thick.<br>
And yet--he was glad that he'd done what he had,<br>
When she lay there stiff and still;<br>
But a sudden awe of the angry law<br>
Struck his soul [heart] with an icy chill.<br>
So, to finish the fun so well begun,<br>
He resolved [decided] himself to kill.<br>
He took the sheet off his wife's cold feet,<br>
And twisted it into a rope,<br>
And he hanged himself from the pantry shelf--<br>
T'was an easy end, let's hope --<br>
In the face of death, with his latest breath,<br>
He solemnly cursed the Pope!<br>
But the strangest turn to the whole concern<br>
Is only just beginnin'! --<br>
He went to Hell, but his wife got well,<br>
And she's still alive and sinnin' --<br>
For the razor blade was German [foreign] made,<br>
But the sheet was--Irish [Belfast] linen!<br>