Frank Mansell 1969
Set to “Swaggering Boney” by Charley Yarwood in 1984
Melrose Quartet: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/hedging-song
https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/hedging-song
I’d sooner go hedging than build a stone wall, All pick up and place it and hope it don’t fall; When the east wind blows bitter and keen through the trees, I’d sooner lay blackthorn than dry-wall and freeze. Chorus: I’d sooner lay blackthorn, (x3) all the rest of my days. I’d sooner go hedging-the best thing I know For anger and anguish and sorrow and woe. No matter how hurt or insulted I feel, A tussle with blackthorn will help it to heal. I’d sooner go hedging than read in a book, For the more you get thinking the darker things look; Since study and weeping are hard on the eyes, I’d sooner lay blackthorn than learn to be wise. I’d sooner go hedging than seek all my days For wealth or position or other men’s praise; Plain bill-hook and axe are the tools of my trade, Six shillings a chain is the rate I am paid. I’d sooner go hedging, but come the next spring, I’ll be up and be gone like a bird on the wing, And all I shall miss when I reach my new home Will be hedges to slash at and blackthorn in bloom.