Sometimes you know when you’ve raised your kids right.
My daughter Caitlin had just turned six when we bought our house. We had only been in the new house for a few days when she joined me on the porch swing as I was playing guitar. She said, “I don’t think I’m going to like it here.” I asked her why and she told me,” The kids around here don’t know anything about music. They’ve never heard of Three Jolly Coachmen!”
This is an old Celtic folk song. The first time I remember hearing it (well, part of it anyway) was in the old Jimmy Stewart movie “Take Her, She’s Mine”, where Sandra Dee can be heard singing the very last line of the song.
Kevin,
Is the song “Three Jolly Coachmen” public domain?
Some sources list it as “traditional,” and others credit it to Dave guard of The Kingston Trio. I know that they did record a version of it. It is based on an old song, “Landlord fill the Flowing Bowl.”
Thanks,
ludy@shelby.net
The self-titled album, “The Kingston Trio” lists the author as “traditional”, so that’s good enough for me. Thanks for listening!
I just heard “Landlord fill the flowing bowl” sung in a 1941 movie “The Lady Eve” starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. Pretty good evidence that Dave Guard did not write it. Perhaps he added some additional verses or changed the arrangement, but it sounded like the KT version to me.