Chicken on a Raft - The Young Tradition
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- The Young Tradition:-
Peter Bellamy
Royston Wood
Heather Wood
Song compiled by Cyril Tawney
Chicken on a Raft = Scrambled Egg on Toast
Dabtoes = Able Bodied Seamen
Dustmen = Engineers
Pusser = Chief Petty Officer
You have been on a raft with a chicken for 6 years and 2 days
You have Ben on a raft with a chicken for 8.2billion years and 285 days
+Jahed Choudhury *been
+Jahed Choudhury nice
Still a chicken on a raft. 11 years
12 years now, mate
Heather Wood, Royston Wood, Peter Bellamy, vocals;
Dave Calderhead, Hans Fried, Ken Hamer, Roger and Frances Jones-Ford, Arthur Knevett, Rod and Danny Stradling, chorus
People on recording. Just setting history.
Jimmy = Jimmy-the-One = 1st lieutenant
Comic Cuts = Orders
Dabtoes = seamen
Dustmen = stokers
middle, forenoon = watches
Whalin' crew = Whaler's Crew / Whaler = Ship's boat
pusser = purser
Hope this helps a bit.
Chicken on a raft: egg on toast, common meal on ships.
Forward: front of ship
Aft: rear of ship
"Comic cuts" is Jackspeak for the carbon copies (or "flimsies") given to sailors when reports were made about them, eg. when they earned promotion, or got into trouble, or just when they left a posting. Also for the reports themselves, as collected in their personnel file, which followed them from posting to posting. You were supposed to laugh at them, but in fact they could seriously affect your career. The singer of this song is wryly trying to imagine his boss having a good laugh at his Comic Cuts.
Tawney himself explained that "dabtoes" refered to a plate of butter. It is probably a corruption and contraction of "babies' toes", which was Jackspeak for knobs of butter.
"Dustmen" simply means the salt and pepper shakers. "The dabtoes for'ard and the dustmen aft" means that the butter was in front of the shakers, that is, further away from the singer on the table.
The middle watch runs from midnight to 4 am, and the forenoon from 8 am to midday. So the singer has been working watch-on watch-off (nasty!), and now the poor sod is one of the five sailors having to pull a whaler.
With 'dabtoes' and 'dustmen' you were well wide of the mark. Dabtoes is simply a name for butter; the dustmen were the salt and pepper shakers - as in 'pass the dustmen' a common enough cry at mealtimes aboard ship.
Great song, great performance. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck when I first heard the YT sing it in a folk club.
This was the first 'Traditional' song I ever sang joining in the harmonies with a couple of lads who had obviously learned it from the YT. As it turns out it isn't exactly traditional, but it's a damn fine song and the YTversion is still the best I've ever heard.
I can't listen to this song without thinking of an awesome chicken with blackglasses dancing over a raft.
I picture hei hei from Moana 🤭🤣
The best song there ever was about fried egg on toast.
Originally poached egg. In the olden days, fried food was uncommon on small ships and submarines. Now "chicken on a raft" can be any egg on toast.
3rd Bit:
I had a little girl in 'Donny B', (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
And oh, she made a fool of me, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Her heart was like a Pusser's shower, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
From hot to cold in a quarter of an hour. (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Chorus:
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning, oh what a terrible sight to see,
'Dabtoes' for'd and the Dustmen aft, sitting there picking at a 'chicken on a raft'.
Hey -oh, chicken on a raft, Oy -oh, chicken on a raft.
Hey -oh, chicken on a raft, Oy -oh, chicken on a raft.
Great rendition - Keith and Alex used to sing this together with Roman Gladiator, Pogles Wood, Haul Away for Rosy, the Man who Waters the Workers Beer and many more at the Garribaldi in St Albans in the early '80's.
2nd bit:
They gave me the Middle and the Forenoon too, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
And now I'm pulling in the whaler's crew, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Seagulls wheeling overhead, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
I ought to be 'flogging' in a feather bed. (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Heather Wood is the only member of the Young Tradition still alive and kicking, and still singing this song!
I saw your comment was four years old so I got worried she kicked the bucket, but it looks like she's alive and well currently.
...well, I'm assuming she's well, I don't know her personally. xD
@@SeanNH94 Yes, Heather is still alive and definitely kicking. I just saw her on a zoom meeting from Mystic Seaport last week.
And I do know her personally, though she never remembers my name (or anyone's, for that matter).
@@kathleensturgis8525 Her voice shines through though she only has a drone part here. I'm glad to have made the superficial acquaintance of this group.
@@kathleensturgis8525 maybe you could ask her if YT's two John Peel sessions including interviews with the band will ever be released next time you're in touch. Thanks
I was told that Dabtoes and Dustmen were cleaning jobs in the Navy. Dabtoes was something like swabbing the deck and Dustmen was cleaning up trash. A "Chicken on a Raft" is just poached eggs on toast. Which was a very common meal in the Navy.
I've had a chicken on a raft before
fried egg
I eat a fried egg on toast every morning now just because of this song!
I hadn't heard of 'dabtoes' either. I got that from a mate who had the commonsense to ask Cyril Tawney. He confirmed my 'dustmen' theory too.
I once heard a group singing it at a folk festival - Chester or Bromyard, I think. They sang "doctors forrard" - a total 'mondegreen' if I ever heard one.
Absolutely fantastic!
I wish that I could find a group to join here in Seattle that does this stuff!
You have been on a raft with a chicken for 36 minutes 27 seconds.
i listen to this most days now.
The late Jonathan Eberhart covered this song on his album Life's Trolley Ride. In his note he stated that dabtoes were deck crew ( Swabbies in the USN) and dustmen referred to the Black Gang or stokers in the engine room. I like the idea of the sailor calling the shakers and butter in his vernacular !
I'm going to throw another spanner into the works.
'Chicken on a raft' was egg on toast. Fried or poached it made no difference. Don't think was ever served scrambled eggs in my days in the RNR/RNVR.
'Pusser' is a corruption of 'Purser' whose duties were to oversee supply and issue of victuals, slops (clothes) and other consumables. In the nineteenth century the rank was made a commissioned rank and another aspect of the Purser's duty appeared - paying the crew became his responsibility.
I love this folks, thanks.
Donnie B was slang for the Royal Naval Air Station at Donniebristle in Fife, Scotland. Long since closed and the town of Dalgety Bay is built over part of it.
Cheers, always good to get some more background information the origins of the song :-)
Yes, RNAS Donibristle (HMS Merlin) - known as Donibee. It was close to the Rosyth naval base, which is probably how Cyril Tawney came to know it.
Thank you. Please post more Young Tradition!
I don't think it really matters so I will bow to your greater knowledge. I just enjoy the song :-)
My brother and I sing this whenever we're in one of our cars.
Not unlike a 'field holler', is it? 'Call and response' songs are a staple of virtually every culture, ever. Surely evidence for music being something crucial to human existence?
It makes work easy. Shanties(Sailor work songs) evolved as a way to get everyone to pull in unison for hard hauling jobs(such as hauling halyards or using a gin pole to rig a boat up) all of which was done with man power and is damn tough and damn tiring
Ian Weston plus it controls breathing, which also helps
skipper's in the wardroom drinking gin, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
I don't mind knocking but I ain't going in, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
'Jimmy's' laughing like a drain, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Been looking at m' 'comic cuts' again. (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Thanks PB for posting these I was starving now feel a little more filled!
Skipper in the wardroom drinkin' gin, Hey yo, chicken on a raft!
This is a rare and wonderful song. Thank you.
I always thought chicken on a raft was a fired or poached egg on toast; but left over from the day beofre, cold and greasy , the last thing you want to see in the morning after you've had a run ashore !
Depends really I suspect given when Cyril Tawney wrote this it may well have been powdered egg
I spoke with Tom Lewis ( the Ancient Submariner) about this song. He indicated that often it was served as a fried or poached egg, on toast, but served cold. Nothing like a cold greasy fried egg on a Monday morning after your run ashore. I guess that's what led to Cyril's other great song, "on a Monday Morning ".
In Cyril Tawney's day, meals were collected from the galley by a messman, and brought back to the messdeck to be served out. Poached eggs, in particular, would be cold by the time you got them, whether the galley served them cold or not! "Oh, what a terrible sight to see!!"
Harmonies are superb but can u imagine a ships crew working at this speed? Try Michael Raffert's rendition at a school in spain. Perez school Oviedo. The kids really get into it!
I want to know exactly how many times they say "chicken on a raft," but i'm also kind of scared to find out.
50 times exactly
Ay, oh... chicken on a raft.
I'm takin' your word for it.
Ay, oh... chicken on a raft.
@@georgecurryhistory Nope - although an understandable error.
each iteration has a verse with 4 mentions, a couplet with two mentions and a final mention four times.
So, there are ten mentions each round, and five rounds of verse/chorus sets. 5 x 10 = 50.
BUT Verse three has only 3 iterations, not four.
So the total is 49, not 50.
@@geoffthomas4611 Well I'll be goddamned....
:)))ive been with the chicken for days now....
I was linked to the site by my friend, and I loved the song. Why do I always like the weird songs?
Interesting how traditions evolve, quite where I got the ideas for dabtoes and dustmen from I'm not quite sure. I do know that I didn't just pull the info out of thin air - I ain't that good :-) so somewhere I must have seen a reference to their slang usage. Just had a look at the RN site and there is no mention of 'dabtoes' but the 'dustman' is a now obsolete reference to a Stoker rating. Certainly Peter Bellamy got me singing unaccompanied songs, though not as well. take care P
This is a great road trip song
love this so much! thanks for posting xx
Skipper's in the wardroom drinking gin, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
I don't mind knocking but I ain't going in, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
'Jimmy's' laughing like a drain, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Been looking at m' 'comic cuts' again. (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning, oh what a terrible sight to see,
'Dabtoes' for'd and the Dustmen aft, sitting there picking at a 'chicken on a raft'.
Hey -oh, chicken on a raft, Oy -oh, chicken on a raft.
Hey -oh, chicken on a raft, Oy -oh, chicken on a raft.
They gave me the Middle and the Forenoon too, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
And now I'm pulling in the whaler's crew, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Seagulls wheeling overhead, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
I ought to be 'flogging' in a feather bed. (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
I had a little girl in 'Donny B', (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
And oh, she made a fool of me, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Her heart was like a Pusser's shower, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
From hot to cold in a quarter of an hour. (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning, oh what a terrible sight to see,
'Dabtoes' for'd and the Dustmen aft, sitting there picking at a 'chicken on a raft'.
We kissed goodbye on the midnight bus, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
She didn't cry, she didn't fuss, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Am I the man that she loves best? (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Or am I just a cuckoo in another man's nest? (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning, oh what a terrible sight to see,
'Dabtoes' for'd and the Dustmen aft, sitting there picking at a 'chicken on a raft'.
An Amazon girl lives in Dumfries, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
She only has kids in twos and threes, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Her sister lives in Maryhill, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
She says she won't but I think she will. (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
So catchy
Every single sailor song ever.
This is going to be the new big thing. It's gotta be.
How'd that turn out?
i was on chickenonaraft last night for 45 minutes or more ahahhahha!
You have been on a raft with a chicken for 11 years
Are you kidding? A greasy breakfast is the best way to treat a hangover!
Chicken on a Raft is apparently a fried egg sandwich. Wonder what is so wrong about seeing it on a monday morning :)
@@musicwombat74 A fried egg sandwich is known in the Royal Navy as an Egg Banjo.
Cheers, thanks for the information, bet it was fun making the recording, it certainly sounds like it
Oh dear, it seems I did get quite a lot wrong with this one :-) Thanks very much for the information, always good to learn something new everyday huh ? I was in the Merchant Navy for 30 years so Royal Navy slang is a bit of a foreign languge to me, Take care P
so... this song is about sea men, and breakfast
+epicjn Sea men need breakfast.
Women and sea men don't mix.
Breakfast and semen don't mix.
@DdlyHeadshot When I was doing my Mate's ticket we all had to learn the International Signal Code, not only single flags but some of the 2 flag hoists. To help remember them we had little tricks - so 'YG' which meant "You appear to be contravening Rule 10 of the Collision Regulations (Conduct of Vessls using a Seperation Scheme) was 'You Greeks'. They always managed to get into trouble, but must have been good seamen 'cos they always nearly always got out of it :-)
This is a catchy ass song!
@smeghead1851 This topic came up at the weekend of singing I was at, and the outright consensus is that yes, it is the cold, greasy egg on toast. A terrible prospect on a Monday or any morning come to that :-)
If you have been drinking for two days solid (as sailors tend to do on weekend leave) something lukewarm and greasy is not what you want to see with a Monday morning hangover.
good drinkin song
+1
Sounds normal enough.
But it needs something.... Ah, I got it.
Chickens.
And one person didn't stay on the raft with the chicken.
Well skippers in the wardroom drinkin' gin,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
I don't mind a'knockin' but I ain't a'goin in,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
The Jimmys laughin' like it'd rain,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
He lookin' at me comic cuts again,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning oh what a terrible sight to see, dabtoes forward and the dustman aft, sitting there pickin' at a chicken on a raft
Hi yo, chicken on a raft!
Hey yo, chicken on a raft!
Hi yo, chicken on a raft!
Hey yo, chicken on a raft!
Well he gave me the middle and the the forenoon too,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
And now I'm pullin' in a whalin crew,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
There's a seagull wailin' overhead,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
Thought I oughta be sleepin' Ina featherbed,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning oh what a terrible sight to see, dabtoes forward and the dustman aft, sitting there pickin' at a chicken on a raft!
Hi yo, chicken on a raft
Hey yo, chicken on a raft
Hi yo, chicken on a raft
Hey yo, chicken on a raft
Well I had a little girl in donny-b,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
And did she make a fool of me,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
Her heart was like a pussers shower,
Run a'hot to cold in a quarter of an hour,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning oh what a terrible sight to see, dabtoes forward and the dustman aft, sitting there pickin' at a chicken on a raft!
Hi yo, chicken on a raft!
Hey yo, chicken on a raft!
Hi yo, chicken on a raft!
Hey yo, chicken on a raft!
So we kissed goodbye on the midnight bus,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
But she didn't cry and she didn't fuss,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
So am I the man what she loves best,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
Or am I just a cuckoo in another man's nest?
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning oh what a terrible sight to see, dabtoes forward and the dustman aft, sitting there pickin' at a chicken on a raft
Hi yo, chicken on a raft
Hey yo, chicken on a raft
Hi yo, chicken on a raft
Hey yo, chicken on a raft
Well am amazon girl lived in dumfries,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
She only had her kids in twos and threes,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
And her sister lives in maryhill,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
She says she won't but I think she will,
Hi yo chicken on a raft!
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning oh what a terrible sight to see, dabtoes forward and the dustman aft, sitting there pickin' at a chicken on a raft
Hi yo, chicken on a raft
Hey yo, chicken on a raft
Hi yo, chicken on a raft
Hey yo, chicken on a raft
The Jimmy's laughing like a drain, ie gurgling
4th Bit:
We kissed goodbye on the midnight bus, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
She didn't cry, she didn't fuss, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Am I the man that she loves best? (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Or am I just a cuckoo in another man's nest? (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
best thing beatles has produced.
As I said in an earlier reply I was in the real navy not the Royal Navy, so some of the RN slang is lost on me. I will concede thatI got pusser wrong - my apologies. However searches through Mudcat Cafe and several other sites do seem to indicate the dabtoes were indeed seaman (not necessarily AB's though). There alos seem to be quite a conflict as to how the bread was served, i.e. fried or toasted, again my mistake. The overall opinion is that the egg was fried. Peter
@zillyzachary Really? Just an hour? We've done a contest, who could listen to it the longest. I clocked 79 hours and a few minutes.
@gaspode18 Cheers - never knew the meaning of 'Comic Cuts' but it makes sense :-)
4th Bit:
An Amazon girl lives in Dumfries, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
She only has kids in twos and threes, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
Her sister lives in Maryhill, (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
She says she won't but I think she will. (Hey -oh, chicken on a raft)
" ...I was in the real navy not the Royal Navy" ??!
Which Navy was that then?
Perhaps it's Spanish? Real is Spanish for Royal.
Merchant Navy obviously
@weegeeluv3r Please don't challange me. I don't want to be addicted. Ahh crap I just logged on to the site.... Here we go.
Chicken on a raft: 10 hours.
A Pusser is a Paymaster Officer (supply officer), not a Chief.
Hi-ho, 136 chickens on a raft!
I need to find the lyrics. ASAP.
epic!!!
AAAAYAAA CHICKEN ON A RAFT EEEYEEE CHICKEN ON A RAFT AAYAAAA
AYO CHICKEN ON A RAFT.
..."Doctor!" to you too!
Sad to say Peter is sadly some years dead. Took his own life. Sad loss to the world.
finally it all makes sense
Alestorm should cover this.
So gonna go around the Ren Faire singing this
CHICKEN ON A RAFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Am I only the one that wants to hear some accordion in the background?
Pirates would love this
and again
anyone else get this on stumble?
only 1 is a chicken on a araft
🙂
@zillyzachary 5 hours, my brain is mush :|
@justthemailman sounds reasonable to me
I suppose we all know this was written by Cyril Tawney.
This song is too short
found that shit on the most pointless websites site
LOL
@pugwashsecond
... the /real/ navy??? The RN isn't real?
You can find the text here:
tomlewis. net / lyrics / chicken_raft . htm
Does someone can translate it in a more moder english? I'm having some trouble understanding it.
try Google
try mudcat.org
My girlfriend showed me this FUCK
chickenonaraft . com I lasted about 45 mins.
@gamefreek41795 get out
theuselessweb. com ;)
Cyril Tawney did it better. Much catchier too.