Traditional versions A version of the song was collected by the folklorist Ken Stubbs from Eddie Collins and Hazel Collins in 1964. The recording he made can be heard on the
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website. There are several variations to the song, but the following lyrics seem to have been a popular variant:
“We come a Cob-coaling for Bonfire time, Your coal and your money we hope to enjoy. Fal-a-dee, fal-a-die, fal-a-diddly-i-do-day. For down in yon’ cellar there’s an owd umberella And up on yon’ corner there’s an owd pepperpot. Pepperpot! Pepperpot! Morning ’till night. If you give us nowt, we’ll steal nowt and bid you good night. Up a ladder, down a wall, a cob o’coal would save us all. If you don’t have a penny a ha’penny will do. If you don’t have a ha’penny, then God bless you. We knock at your knocker and ring at your bell To see what you’ll give us for singing so well.” The two lines beginning "If you don't have a penny..." are taken from the Christmas rhyme and folk song "
Christmas is Coming", which was also used for door-to-door money-collecting traditions, but at Christmas time. The tune could be related to popular
wassailing songs, which were used for a similar purpose.
Popular versions The Watersons sang "Cob-a-Coaling" for their first album
Frost and Fire (1965), but it wasn't included in the final cut. They did, however, release a 1991 re-recording on their album "Mighty River of Song". The
Oldham Tinkers sang the song on their album ''Best O 'T' Bunch'' (1974).
Oldham was one of the locations with the strongest cob coaling tradition. ==References==