The January Man
The January man he walks the road
In woollen coat and boots of leather
The February man still shakes the snow
From off his hair and blows his hands
The man of March he sees the Spring and
Wonders what the year will bring
And hopes for better weather
Through April rains the man comes down
To watch the birds come in to share the summer
The man of May stands very still
Watching the children dance away the day
In June the man inside the man is young
And wants to lend a hand
And grins at each new color
And in July the man in cotton shirt
He sits and thinks on being idle
The August man in thousands take the road
To watch the sea and find the sun
September man is standing near
To saddle up another year
And Autumn is his bridle
The man of new October takes the reins
And early frost is on his shoulder
The poor November man sees fire and rain
And snow and mist and wintery gale
December man looks through the snow
To let eleven brothers know
They're all a little older
And the January man comes round again
In woollen coat and boots of leather
To take another turn and walk along
the icy road he knows so well
For the January man is here for
Starting each and every year
Along the road for ever
Commentary
“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is a good carol, and since you mention carols which do not rely upon the tune, I thought I’d send you the following. This is the best version (indeed, the only version) I could find on-line, it being as accurate as any that I could transcribe from memory).
This is a tradional west country carol for the time of year. I had the pleasure of hearing it sung (unaccompanied), by Hearts of Oak in an old church in a Devon Village only two weeks ago.
— Andy
Martin adds
Lovely poem, though I wouldn’t have guessed it was a Christmas carol. I suspect it wasn’t really written as one, but rather adopted into the Christmas tradition later. Andy’s right; it does stand up on its own very well, though I didn’t appreciate how well the delayed rhyme worked until I heard it sung.
Notes and Links:
- There’s an mp3 at
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/8/william_pint_amp_felicia_dale.html
Recommended - this is a beautiful song. Many thanks to Andy for introducing me to it.
- http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/j/januarym.html has a bit about the song
- THE JANUARY MAN
Written by Dave Goulder, a one time foot plate man in the good old days of steam trains, who was also a keen walker and climber. He left his hometown of Nottingham to run a climbing centre in the Torridon Hills in Scotland and it was there, he says, that he saw for the first time through his townie eyes the year passing month by month through the seasons. Dave now runs courses in dry-stone walling but is still singing and writing songs. This I believe is one of the most perfect songs ever written.
– http://www.mikeharding.co.uk/music/bomber.htm#jan
- There are several variants floating around; Andy’s matches the mp3 I
pointed to; however there are some details I think have been altered from the original, particularly the end of the June verse (where ‘new colour’ seems to have replaced ‘newcomer’, though it is the latter that rhymes). For the sake of completeness, here’s the other set of lyrics:
The January man he walks abroad in woollen coat and boots of leather The February man still wipes the snow from off his hair and blows his hands The man of March he sees the spring and wonders what the year will bring And hopes for better weather
Through April rain the man goes down to watch the birds come in to share
the summer
The man of May stands very still watching the children dance away the day
In June the man inside the man is young and wants to lend a hand
And grins at each newcomer
And in July the man in cotton shirt he sits and thinks on being idle The August man in thousands take the road and watch the sea and find the sun September man is standing near to saddle up and leave the year And autumn is his bridle
And the man of new October takes the reins and early frost is on his shoulder The poor November man sees fire and wind and mist and rain and winter air December man looks through the snow to let eleven brothers know They’re all a little older
And the January man comes round again in woollen coat and boots of leather To take another turn and walk along the icy road he knows so well The January man is here for starting off each and every year Along the way forever
– Dave Goulder
- Here’s a brief biography of Goulder:
http://www.fyldefolk.freeserve.co.uk/fyldefolk/d.html
- And look out for tomorrow’s Irresistible Followup.
— Martin
Show 10 commentsHide comments
From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Lizzie Love · 9 May 2001
Before Glen Torridon Dave was warden of the SYHA hostel at Achnashellach. January Man was written in the winter of 1965/66 and I first heard it in February 1966 when Dave was living at The Sheiling in Lochcarron. I agree entirely that it is perfect.
Liz Dyer … (who was Mrs Goulder 1969 to 1981)
Judge · 6 January 2003
I just wanted to say what fond memories i have of this song as my mum sang it to me and my two brothers throughout our childhood and although she sang many folk tunes this was always an all time favourite. Also i have found it useful as i wanted a copy of the lyrics as i plan to work on an illustrated version of the song with an illustration for each month. Isn’t the internet a wonderful resource. Fran Judge
Robin Beech · 4 December 2003
The version of the January Man I learned after hearing Dave Goulder sing it at Nottingham University in the early eighties has a slightly different last verse:
And the January Man comes round again in woolen coat and boots of leather,
To take another turn along the icy road he knows so well. Oh the January Man is here, to welcome each and every year, Along the road forever.
Not too different but the third lines seems to flow more naturally.
Robin
Ev Miller · 19 December 2003
Liz Dyer?
Of Loch Torridon Hostel? Some fine and difficult years I spent around there as an expatriot American. Reply if it suits you. Ev Miller
Lizzie Love · 3 February 2004
Ev!! … Wow!!
Yes … it’s me. When did you post that message on the Jan Man page? I only just found it.
Where are you? Would love to hear from you.
love and hugs … Lizzie
janusz · 15 December 2004
I heard this song in polish radio, it’s quite good to me, although after I red the lyrics I was disappointed January Man was not Jesus.
Grant Coghill · 7 February 2005
New website
www.davegoulder.co.uk
Colinscat · 22 March 2005
Hi Ev,
I used to hang around the hostel at Torridon in the late 60’s & early 70’s, and can remember taking part in a crazy game of Frizbee (first time I’d seen this played) on the very steep slope of the drying area at the rear of Glen Cottage. It was also there that I met a few very unconventional folk who behaved like Hippies, long straggly hair & weird clothes; smoked lots of hash & sang wonderful folk songs. Sitting here in front of this PC I can almost transport myself back to that time. The only people that I remember names from are: Dave Goulder, Liz Dyer & John Churcher, I suppose if I stretch my mind further; there was an expatriate American who lived at Torridon while studiying at Edi Uni & moved back & forth every month or so, which I could not understand although I do know now how it’s done.
Will I get a reply from you?
Regards,
Colin
Bob · 15 April 2006
This is my all time favourite.. The January Man.. Which I have performed for the best part of 27 yrs and I still go back to it when on a glum day of thought to revitalise the zest for living.. It can and does transport me back to my 1950’s childhood.. Enjoying every moment that life brought.. Sorry Dave! The song was driven into my life by Mike Harding and I do admit that it is this version that I dedicate to my singing carreer, in and around The Sheffield Area Folk scene. Thanks dave for a very very loved song by the many that listen and perform… And of Course Mike Harding for the parralel life style that I also lived and understood… Bob Green
lizzie · 7 November 2006
Colin! The ex-pat American was Lurking George. First American to start a cricket team in a Scottish university. Went on to be a psychiatric nurse at Carstairs I believe. Dave became a professional dry-stone waller, and after our divorce, Dave married a schoolteacher and I married a police officer. Life is full of surprises. If anyone was smoking hash it wasn’t where Dave and I could see them. We could not risk being closed down. We had to have police vetting for the mountain rescue drugs . and keep our noses clean. We had a lot of fun though, and met many wonderful people. . Liz