"An Invitation to Lubberland" was a

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

first printed in 1685. Many believe that it inspired the

hobo A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works. E ...

ballad which formed the basis of the song ''

Big Rock Candy Mountain "The Big Rock Candy Mountains", first recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928, is a country folk song about a hobo's idea of paradise, a modern version of the medieval concept of Cockaigne. It is a place where "hens lay soft-boiled eggs" and there ...

'' recorded in 1928 by

Harry McClintock Harry Kirby McClintock (October 8, 1882 – April 24, 1957), also known as "Haywire Mac", was an American railroad man, radio personality, actor, singer, songwriter, and poet, best known for his song "Big Rock Candy Mountain". Life Harry McC ...

. Lubberland is the Swedish name for

Cockaigne Cockaigne or Cockayne () is a land of plenty in medieval myth, an imaginary place of extreme luxury and ease where physical comforts and pleasures are always immediately at hand and where the harshness of medieval peasant life does not exist. ...

, land of plenty in medieval myth.

Lyrics

Sung to the tune of ''Billy and Molly'' or ''The Journey-man Shoemaker'' by Daniel Cooper.

Notes

References

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at YaleThe Roxburghe BalladsNational Library of Australia Catalogue entryEarly English Books Online
(pay site) {{DEFAULTSORT:Invitation To Lubberland, An 17th-century broadside ballads