Folk song, “Wrestling at Truro Fair” (1861)

Four friends were bent on a holiday,

A holiday,

A holiday,

So to Truro town they made their way

One early Whit-sun morning,

One early Whit-sun morning.

There was Jim, and Josh, and Ginger Jan,

Three Cornishmen

Jim, Josh and Jan,

With Bill Penelewey to lead the van

So early in the morning,

So early in the morning.

The Fair takes place at Whitsuntide,

At Whitsuntide,

At Whitsuntide,

And is held on the Green by the river side

Quite early in the morning

Quite early in the morning.

Now old Josh Bassett did bowl for a pig,

Bowl for a pig

All in his best rig,

Was the first to join in the whirligig

So early in the morning

So early in the morning.

But Josh had a squint and couldn’t see straight,

Couldn’t see straight-

‘Twas just like fate

For he throw‘d his bowl like a figure of eight

And broke a couple of winders!

And broke a couple of winders!

A wrestling booth did draw them in,

Did draw them in,

Did draw them in:

Here was sum‘mat, surely, they stood to win

So early in the morning,

So early in the morning.

But each of them had a terrible bout,

A dreadful rout,

A sick‘ning clout:

For the wrastler threw the whole lot of them out

So early in the morning,

So early in the morning.

The date is believed to be around 1861, because this was when the Truro Agricultural Fair started. However the song may predate this. Although the song was preserved in 1972, we have archived it on the earlier date.

Anon. “Truro Whitsun Fair”, in Dunstan, R. (1972). Cornish Dialect and Folk Songs, Lodenek Press, Padstow, pp. 34-35.
Quoted in Tripp (2009, 115-116).