> The Watersons > Songs > Mike Waterson: Rumpsy Bumpsy Toralee (Tumble and Cut Me Bum)

Rumpsy Bumpsy Toralee (Tumble and Cut Me Bum)

Mike Waterson sang Rumpsy Bumpsy Toralee on March 14, 1988 live at the Góilin, Dublin, Eire. This recording was included in 2004 on the Watersons' 4 CD anthology Mighty River of Song. Is it Norma singing the chorus with him?

Lyrics

First time I went to courting, why, I didn't do too well.
Anny Mick was skinny malink and [mine were?] Tommy Bell.
Why, her father catched me courting her and after me he run
and he says, “If I catch thee with her again I shall whack thee round the …”

Chorus (after each verse):: Bumpsy tooralee me titty falloora lee me,
Rumpsy bumpsy diddledee umpsy rumpsy tooralee.

So me and the lass, while we chit and we chat, we thought about a plan
And I got meself a ladder, it were twenty rungs and ten.
I put it up at her window sill and says, “Now, me love, I've come,”
And then me foot slipped through the window and I tumbled and cut me …

So they took me to the surgery that been so very near
Well, she says, “Whatever have you done?”, I says, “I've cut me rear.”
Well, she says, “You've cut your [ache?], lad, however was it done?”
I says, “Me foot slipped through the window and I tumbled and cut me …”

So she took me into the doctor, there I told me case.
While he looked so very gloom as he stared me in the face.
Well, he thought I was making a fool of him a fool of him by gum
But he made a far bigger fool of me when he turpentined me …

So they took me home in a wheelbarrow, for that I didn't care
For as we tumbled down the street the people at me stared
And all the kids formed chorus and after me they run
Shouting, “Here comes a man with his leg in a sling and he's only got half a …”

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Wolfgang Hell for the transcription. He comments: It is the same song basically as the Copper Family's Wop She 'ad It-io that is already in the DT. However it is so different that I do not understand all even with the DT lyrics for comparison. This is my attempt at a transcription, full of errors and missing bits. I'd be glad for any corrections.