Kloshe Man Jim

[Theodore Kloba]

Have you heard the story of Gentleman Jim

Somebody threw a tomato at him

Now tomatoes are soft and come in a skin

But this here tomato it came in a tin

 

Too-ra loo, too-ra lai ....(can't remember the rest)

Sounds like it could be sung to the tune I know as "Sweet Betsy From Pike". The tune itself is probably older than the song, which dates to the mid 19th century in the American West.

 

One version of the lyrics (15 verses) is here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/reso.../SWEETBETSY.pdf

(It doesn't include the "too-ra-lai too-ra-lai too-ra-lai ay" refrain)

 

There's also a great version, "Klootzman kopa Wayhut", sung in Chinook Jargon (a trade language of the Pacific Northwest US whose influence can still be heard in regional dialects) by Duane Pasco, a.k.a. Chickamin Charlie: http://tenaswawa.home.att.net/sj11.htm#klootzman (He's accompanying on a 2-row button accordion).

[Theodore Kloba]

"Sweet Betsy From Pike"

Sorry-- I didn't realize just how ancient that thread was and that Betsy was already mentioned. Have a listen to "Klootzman kopa wayhut" anyway.

[JimLucas]

Have you heard the story of Gentleman Jim

Somebody threw a tomato at him

Now tomatoes are soft and come in a skin

But this here tomato it came in a tin

 

Too-ra loo, too-ra lai ....(can't remember the rest)

Sounds like it could be sung to the tune I know as "Sweet Betsy From Pike".

It certainly could. Luckily for me, I have no tinned tomatoes in the flat , but my first balcony-grown tomato of the season looks like it should be perfectly ripe come morning.

 

The tune itself is probably older than the song, which dates to the mid 19th century in the American West.

A number of sources refer to the tune as being that of "Vilikins [or Villikens] and his Dinah!", a broadsheet ballad popular in the mid-19th century. (Some sources say that tunes derives from the much older Scottish ballad "Lord Randall", but that has so many versions and variants that I don't know how I would verify the claim.)

 

I thought I had previously seen references claiming that "Vilikins and his Dinah" was English in origin, but to my surprise the Google search I just tried didn't show up anything mentioning that. No references attributing authorship, either. (In fact, surprisingly few references in all.) One reference suggests a date for it of 1849, but doesn't say where that number came from. The 1847 date suggested for "Sweet Betsy..." in the copy Theodore linked to is almost certainly too early, since it's a Gold Rush song, and the big rush was in '49. (Those who travelled to California to look for gold became known as "Forty-Niners".) As I noted elsewhere, some sources indicate that "Sweet Betsy..." was first published in 1858 by John A. Stone, who claimed to be its author.

 

One version of the lyrics (15 verses) is here

Thanks, Theodore. The longest version I had up until then was 11 verses, though I think I should be able to get up to 15 or more by combining versions. I suspect that's how this 15-verse one came about, too.