by John Skelton (1460 - 1529)
Rutterkin
Language: English
Rutterkin is come unto our town In a cloak without coat or gown save ragged hood to cover his crown Like a Rutterkin Hoyda, hoyda, jolly Rutterkin! Rutterkin can speak no English, His tongue runneth all on butter'd fish, Besmear'd with grease about his dish, Like a Rutterkin Hoyda, hoyda, jolly Rutterkin! Rutterkin shall bring you all good luck, A stoup of beer up at a pluck Till his brain be as wise as a duck, Like a Rutterkin Hoyda, hoyda, jolly Rutterkin! When Rutterkin from board shall rise, He will piss a gallon pot full at twice, And the overplus under the table of the new guise, Like a Rutterkin Hoyda, hoyda, jolly Rutterkin!
G. Bush sets stanzas 1-3
Text Authorship:
- by John Skelton (1460 - 1529) [author's text not yet checked 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 Geoffrey Bush (1920 - 1998), "Rutterkin", 1970, stanzas 1-3 [ baritone and piano ], from Five Medieval Lyrics, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "Rutterkin", 1922, published 1923, from Peterisms: first set, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Set in a modified version by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 115