''The Barley Mow'' (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

944) is a

cumulative song A cumulative song is a song with a simple verse structure modified by progressive addition so that each verse is longer than the verse before. Cumulative songs are popular for group singing, in part because they require relatively little memoriza ...

celebrated in the traditions of folk music of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. William Chappell transcribed the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

in his two-volume work ''The Ballad Literature and Popular Music of the Olden Time'' (1855). "The Barley Mow" has become a

drinking song A drinking song is a song sung while drinking Alcoholic beverage, alcohol. Most drinking songs are Folk music, folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music. ...

sung while comrades empty their glasses. In one "Barley Mow"

drinking game Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of the existence of drinking games dates back to antiquity. Drinking games have been banned ...

, any participant who fails to sing the song's (progressively expanding) refrain in a single breath must drink. In another, participants drink just after singing the second line in each verse ("Good luck to the barley mow"); if one's glass is not empty by the final verse, one must finish the drink after singing the line. A barley mow is a stack (mow) of

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

, especially barley that was cultivated and then harvested. Barley is a grain that is commonly

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...

ed for brewing

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

Lyrics

The

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...

s of "The Barley Mow" wish good luck to various sizes of vessels of

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

s, and lastly to the barley mow, a venerable reserve of one of beer's key ingredients. Later verses supplement this list with roles and occupations associated with beer, from

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

, to distribution, to serving in

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s, to drinking. Each verse wishes good luck to a new subject, which is then added to the beginning of the litany recited in the second line of the refrain. The song has several variations. The 12 terms between ''landlord'' and ''round bowl'' are

English units English units are the units of measurement used in England up to 1826 (when they were replaced by Imperial units), which evolved as a combination of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman systems of units. Various standards have applied to English units at ...

—particularly units used to measure the volume of alcoholic beverages. These are sung in descending order from largest (barrel) to smallest (round bowl). ''Round bowl'' (sometimes sung ''brown bowl'') indicates either a humble, wooden bowl, or a person's hands cupped together into the shape of a

bowl A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom forming a seamless curve. This makes ...

. It can also refer to the small bowl suspended from the tap in a beer barrel that catches the drips. ''Company'' refers to the party of people gathered together singing the song. A ''slavey'' is a female servant, who assists in the brewing process. A ''drayer'' is a person who transports heavy loads of goods (such as barrels of beer) in a type of horse-drawn cart called a ''dray''.

Lyrics

References

Further reading