The Crabfish
Language: English
There was a little man, and he had a little wife, And he loved her as much as he loved his life; Refrain: Mash a row dow dow dow diddle all the day, Mash a row dow dow dow diddle all the day. One hour in the night, his wife grew sick, And all that she wanted was a little crab fish; (Refrain) So up he arose and put on his clothes, And down to the seaside he followed his nose; (Refrain) “O fisherman. O fisherman, can you tell me Have you a little crabfish you could sell to me?" (Refrain) “O yes, O yes. I have one two and three, And the best of them I will sell to thee.” (Refrain) So he caught him and bought him and put him in a dish, And he said “Oh wife, put your nose to this.” (Refrain) Then his wife just to smell him popped up from her clothes, And the crabfish popped up and grabbed her by the nose; (Refrain) “Oh help, dear husband; come hither, do you hear?” But the crabfish had already grabbed him by the ear; (Refrain) And so my friends, if for a crabfish you thirst; Please try to remember to cook him first… (Refrain)
Authorship:
- from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "The Crabfish" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Imogen Clare Holst (1907 - 1984), "The Crabfish", 1934, published 1934, first performed 1936 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], from Four Somerset Folk Songs, no. 4, Novello [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-06-15
Line count: 29
Word count: 209