Auvergnat

There was a man was half a clown
(It's so my father tells of it).
He saw the church in [Claremont]1 town
And laughed to hear the bells of it.

He laughed to hear the bells that ring
In Claremont Church and round of it;
He heard the verger's daughter sing,
And loved her for the sound of it. 

The verger's daughter said him nay;
She had the right of choice in it.
He left the town at break of day;
He hadn't had a voice in it.

The road went up, the road went down,
And there the matter ended it.
He broke his heart in Claremont town.
At Pontgibaud they mended it.

by (Joseph) Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) , "Auvergnat", from Verses and Sonnets, published 1896

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by H. Temple Abady (1903-1970) , "He broke his heart in Clermont town", published 1926. [voice, piano]
by Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, Sir (1891-1975) , "Auvergnat", 1943, published 1944. [voice, piano]
by Robert James Berkeley Fleming (1921-1976) , "Auvergnat", 1948. [voice, piano]
by Arthur Murray Goodhart (1905-1955) , "The bells of Clermont town", published <<1957. [voice, piano]
by Archie James Potter (1918-) , "Auvergnat", published 1952 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Three Songs of Hilaire Belloc, no. ?

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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