Jock Stewart (A Man You Don’t Meet Everyday)

Cliff is well known for this one.  Called Jock Stewart but also A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day (nothing to do with the 1994 flick of the same name), and So Be Easy And Free.  The earliest I am aware of his being recorded singing it is for the original Ancient Mariner Album of 1981.  It is a good “quiet evening” song and often enough is utilized as a memorial for a friend just passed.  The origin of the song is difficult to pin down, it seems, with many opinions but most sources agree that it is of Irish origin that quickly found a new home in Scotland along with some changes in the verse.  An Ian McGregor is said to have composed the fourth and fifth verses.  We know a few bawdy reworkings of the song but this won’t be addressed here.

Days of Yore header

 

Now, my name is Jock Stewart
I’m a canny gaun man,
And a roving young fellow, I’ve been.

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So be easy and free
When you’re drinkin wi’ me.
I’m a man you don’t meet every day.

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I have acres of land;
I have men at command;
I’ve always a shilling to lend.

CHORUS:

Now, I took out my gun,
With my dog I did go,
All down by the River Kildare

CHORUS:

I’m a piper by trade
And a roving young blade
And many a tune I do play

CHORUS:

Let us catch well the hours
And the minutes that fly
And we’ll share them together this day

CHORUS:

So, come fill up your glasses
Of brandy and wine,
And whatever the cost, I will pay.
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