> The Watersons > Songs > A Stitch in Time
A Stitch in Time
[Mike Waterson]
I don't know of any recording by Mike Waterson himself but there are several recordings by others:
Cover Versions
Martin Carthy live at the Udazkenean Festival, Donostia, Spain, 1986, on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song, 2004
Martin Carthy live in New York City in 1987, on The Carthy Chronicles, 2001
Martin Carthy: Right of Passage, 1988
Martin Carthy commented in the record's sleeve notes:
The sailor's flash of temper at the end [of Eggs in Her Basket] would seem to make him a cousin in spirit to the character finally on the receiving end in A Stitch in Time, a true story put into song by Mike Waterson about four years ago. It happened about 1962 in the Hessle Road area of Hull and the tune is that of a brutal Royal Navy song called On Board of a Man-of-War.
Grace Notes: Down Falls the Day, 1993
Chumbawamba, Showbusiness! (live), 1995
Fi Fraser and Jo Freya: The Fraser Sisters, 1998
Christy Moore: This Is the Day, 2001
Christy Moore commented in the record's sleeve notes:
Mike Waterson from North Yorkshire taught me The Lakes of Ponchartrain in 1967 and now it is part of our National repertoire. Here is another song from Mike which he wrote to describe strange events in a neighbouring parish. I learnt it from the singing of Martin Carthy.
Maddy Prior & The Girls: Bib and Tuck, 2002
Christy Moore: Live in Dublin 2006, 2006
Chumbawamba, Get on With It, 2007
Lucy Ward on BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2009 Finalists, 2009 and on her CD Adelphi Has to Fly, 2011
Lyrics
| Martin Carthy sings A Stitch in Time | Chumbawamba's abridged version |
|---|---|
|
Oh there was a woman and she lived on her own, For her husband he was a hunk of a man, | |
|
For he would come home drunk each night; One night she gathered her tears all round her shame; |
Her husband came home drunk each night |
|
But as he lay and snored in bed |
As he lay and snored in bed |
|
And she started to stitch with a girlish thrill, Oh the top sheet, the bottom sheet too, |
She started to stitch with a girlish thrill, |
|
And when her husband awoke with a pain in his head For in her hand she held the frying pan; |
Husband awoke with a pain in his head, |
|
And then she thrashed him black, she thrashed him blue, And she says, “If you ever come home drunk any more |
She thrashed him black, she thrashed him blue, |
|
Oh isn't it true what small can do |
Isn't it true what small can do |
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the Mudcat Café. A couple of small changes were made by Garry Gillard.
