Joseph Baker
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legacy / ballad
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Pete Coe
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
[C]You sporting [G]men of[F] Chest[C]er
I'd have you [G]all to[C] hear
Of a man called[G] Joseph[F] Bake[C]r
Who lived near [G]Delame[C]re
He ran faster than [F]the old red[C] fox
And further than the [G]hound
And of [C]all the men[G] who [F]challenged [C]him
No equal [G]could be [C]found.
You sporting men of Chester
I'd have you all to hear
Of a man called Joseph Baker
Who lived near Delamere
He ran faster than the old red fox
And further than the hound
And of all the men who challenged him
No equal could be found.
For he rose up every morning
Before the day was clear
And through the shady forest
He pursued the royal deer
And he chased the wind across the field
And the mist right off the hill
And he raced the dust along the road
And the stream down to the mill.
Now sportsmen came from far and near
To challenge Baker's speed
At every place in every race
They swore to do that deed
And a tailor he came from Frodsham
And a soldier came from Hale
And a sailor came from Birkenhead
And a butcher came from Sale.
He was never beaten in a race
Until that fatal day
When death at last defeated him
And took his breath away
But if you should watch on a winter's night
You'll see him running still
As his ghost runs down from Kelsall Church
Right up to Helsby Hill
Yes if you should watch on a winter's night
You'll see him running still
As his ghost runs down from Kelsall Church
Right up to Helsby Hill.
"Joseph Baker" is a modern rewrite of a 19th century broadside ballad about Chester long
distance runner Joseph Baker by Pete Coe. Many people have thought this is a traditional
song and it was listed as such in at least one songbook. Some sources list the tune as the
traditional "The Miller o' Dee", a minor mode tune that Coe shifted to major.
Pete Coe's album notes:
Peter Massey, of Chester, sent me a broadside about a long-distance runner who ran around
Chester in the 1890's and whose ultimate achievements were a mile in five minutes and an early
grave. I didn't like the original words of the broadside, tried to rewrite it, failed
miserably, but eventually succeeded in making a new song about Joseph Baker, taking
considerable liberties with the rather doubtful background information I had about him.
It was recorded by
Pete and Chris Coe on Open the Door and Let Us In (1972),
Pete Coe on The Man in the Red Van (2017),
Barry Skinner on Abroad As I Working (1975),
Legend (as The Ballad of Joseph Baker) on Once a Week's Enough (1977),
Danny Spooner on Brave Bold Boys (2008),
Johnny Coppin on Borderland (2014) and
Mick Maloney on Mick Maloney with Eugene O'Donnell (1978).
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