Pace Egging

Happy Easter! To celebrate this Sunday I decided to put together a version of a traditional English song which was used as a calling on song for the mumming plays of the season; these plays celebrate the cycle of life, death and rebirth with a variety of stock characters that took on different guises from year to year and occur at particular points in the year; Christmas, Easter and All Hallows.

Pace egging itself is a custom from the North East where eggs would be boiled in onion skins on Easter Sunday and then used for a variety of games or given to the local players as payment as well as money and food to pay for the play to begin.

Pace itself as a term is a corruption of the old English word "pasch" which means literally "Easter" so here is a literal Easter Egg song for you all, enjoy and have a lovely holiday!

Tim

Ch: Here's one, two, three jolly lads all in one mind
We have come a pace egging and we hope you'll prove kind
We hope you'll prove kind with your eggs and strong beer
For we'll come no more nigh you until the next year

And the first that comes in is Lord Nelson you'll see
With a bunch of blue ribbons tied round by his knee
And a star on his beast that like silver do shine
And I hope he remembers it's pace egging time

And the next that comes in, it is Lord Collingwood
He fought with Lord Nelson till he shed his blood
And he's come from the sea old England to view
And he's come a pace egging with all of his crew

The next that comes in is our Jolly Jack Tar
He sailed with Lord Nelson all through the last war
He's arrived from the sea, old England to view
And he's come a pace egging with our jovial crew

The next that comes in is old miser Brownbags
For fear of her money she wears her old rags
She's gold and she's silver all laid up in store
And she's come a pace egging in hopes to get more

And the last to come in is old Tosspot, you see
He's a valiant old man and in every degree
He's a valiant old man and he wears a pigtail
And all his delight is a drinking mulled ale

Come ladies and gentlemen, sit by the fire
Put your hands in your pockets and give us our desire
Put your hands in your pockets and treat us all right
If you give nought, we'll take nought, farewell and goodnight