Introducing Scrooge
from A Christmas Carol: A Folk Opera by GreenMatthews
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lyrics
A tale of Victorian Yuletide we'll tell
So listen unto us and listen ye well
A tale we'll unfold that we're sure you will know
By Mister Charles Dickens, who lived long ago
Here's a health to the holly and ivy
And a health the Yule log we burn
To the goose and the tree and the glad company
Here's a health to Old Christmas Returned
The month was December, snow lay on the ground
And the wind chilled the busy streets of London Town
The city was bustling with vigour and vim
Save for one lonely office which stood dark and dim.
The office's sign hung forlornly and read:
'Messrs. Scrooge and Marley' though Marley was dead.
They'd buried him deep down and there he would stay
But to change signs costs money, and Scrooge wouldn’t pay.
A mean-tempered grasping old miser was he!
He was so tight with money that he'd skin a flea
For its hide if he thought it would add to his hoard.
For Wealth was his Deity; Profit his Lord.
Such a skinflint you've never encountered
As cold and as hard as a stone
No warmth and no glee and no sweet charity
He's Winter made flesh, skin and bone
One cold Christmas Eve, as Scrooge sat at his desk
Bob Cratchit, his clerk, plucked up courage to ask:
'Kind sir, might I ask since it's Christmas Day soon
If I work Christmas morning, could I leave here at noon?’
'A pox upon Christmas!' the old miser spat
'You know very well that I've no time for that.
I suppose I can cope if you're early away
But mind you work twice as hard on Boxing Day!’
Flushed with success, Bob walked back to his place
A glow of deep pleasure suffused his pinched face
For he'd eat Christmas dinner with his family and wife
And with young Tiny Tim, the delight of his life.
Just then came a knocking - Bob went to the door
There stood a gent crying: 'Alms for the poor!
We provide them with sustenance, clothes and refuge
Would you care to donate to us, dear Mr Scrooge?’
'Alms for the poor, sir? Please give me details.
'Are there no workhouses? Are there no gaols?'
'I regret, sir, there are.' said this friend of the poor
'Then let them go there!' snapped Scrooge, slamming the door.
Scrooge's nephew was next, his face red as a berry
'Happy Christmas, dear uncle! May your Yule be merry!
Cratchit looked up and he smiled at the lad
But one glare from Scrooge sent him back to his pad.
'Uncle, you always spend Yuletide alone.
This year come to dinner with us at our home!
We promise we'll give you a Christmas to treasure!'
But Scrooge merely scowled and bent over his ledger
'Uncle, pray tell me why you look so glum?
The happiest time of the whole year has come
When all through the land folk make merry and feast
From richest to poorest, from greatest to least’.
'If it comes to that, nephew, what brings you such cheer
When you're poor as a church mouse and your prospects are drear?
I'll be too busy working to come round and dine
Keep Christmas in your way - I'll keep it in mine!
Later that day, Scrooge returned to his home
Where – needless to mention – he dwelt all alone.
As he searched for his key, he looked up at the door
And noticed a thing he'd not noticed before.
The knocker – a thing made of solid cast iron -
Was wrought to resemble an African lion
But now it was Marley, his partner of old
Who glowered at Scrooge in the gloom and the cold.
'Beware' cried the knocker: Scrooge started away
In terror and shock, with a cry of dismay.
But when he looked back at the knocker he saw
It looked just the same as it had done before.
'Humbug!' Scrooge muttered 'A trick of the light!
What a weakling I was for to take such a fright.'
His brave words however his actions belied
As he fumbled the lock and then scuttled inside.
But no trick of the light was the spectre
Though Scrooge had dismissed it as naught
Before long he'd see that old Jacob Marley
Was not quite as dead as he'd thought...
So listen unto us and listen ye well
A tale we'll unfold that we're sure you will know
By Mister Charles Dickens, who lived long ago
Here's a health to the holly and ivy
And a health the Yule log we burn
To the goose and the tree and the glad company
Here's a health to Old Christmas Returned
The month was December, snow lay on the ground
And the wind chilled the busy streets of London Town
The city was bustling with vigour and vim
Save for one lonely office which stood dark and dim.
The office's sign hung forlornly and read:
'Messrs. Scrooge and Marley' though Marley was dead.
They'd buried him deep down and there he would stay
But to change signs costs money, and Scrooge wouldn’t pay.
A mean-tempered grasping old miser was he!
He was so tight with money that he'd skin a flea
For its hide if he thought it would add to his hoard.
For Wealth was his Deity; Profit his Lord.
Such a skinflint you've never encountered
As cold and as hard as a stone
No warmth and no glee and no sweet charity
He's Winter made flesh, skin and bone
One cold Christmas Eve, as Scrooge sat at his desk
Bob Cratchit, his clerk, plucked up courage to ask:
'Kind sir, might I ask since it's Christmas Day soon
If I work Christmas morning, could I leave here at noon?’
'A pox upon Christmas!' the old miser spat
'You know very well that I've no time for that.
I suppose I can cope if you're early away
But mind you work twice as hard on Boxing Day!’
Flushed with success, Bob walked back to his place
A glow of deep pleasure suffused his pinched face
For he'd eat Christmas dinner with his family and wife
And with young Tiny Tim, the delight of his life.
Just then came a knocking - Bob went to the door
There stood a gent crying: 'Alms for the poor!
We provide them with sustenance, clothes and refuge
Would you care to donate to us, dear Mr Scrooge?’
'Alms for the poor, sir? Please give me details.
'Are there no workhouses? Are there no gaols?'
'I regret, sir, there are.' said this friend of the poor
'Then let them go there!' snapped Scrooge, slamming the door.
Scrooge's nephew was next, his face red as a berry
'Happy Christmas, dear uncle! May your Yule be merry!
Cratchit looked up and he smiled at the lad
But one glare from Scrooge sent him back to his pad.
'Uncle, you always spend Yuletide alone.
This year come to dinner with us at our home!
We promise we'll give you a Christmas to treasure!'
But Scrooge merely scowled and bent over his ledger
'Uncle, pray tell me why you look so glum?
The happiest time of the whole year has come
When all through the land folk make merry and feast
From richest to poorest, from greatest to least’.
'If it comes to that, nephew, what brings you such cheer
When you're poor as a church mouse and your prospects are drear?
I'll be too busy working to come round and dine
Keep Christmas in your way - I'll keep it in mine!
Later that day, Scrooge returned to his home
Where – needless to mention – he dwelt all alone.
As he searched for his key, he looked up at the door
And noticed a thing he'd not noticed before.
The knocker – a thing made of solid cast iron -
Was wrought to resemble an African lion
But now it was Marley, his partner of old
Who glowered at Scrooge in the gloom and the cold.
'Beware' cried the knocker: Scrooge started away
In terror and shock, with a cry of dismay.
But when he looked back at the knocker he saw
It looked just the same as it had done before.
'Humbug!' Scrooge muttered 'A trick of the light!
What a weakling I was for to take such a fright.'
His brave words however his actions belied
As he fumbled the lock and then scuttled inside.
But no trick of the light was the spectre
Though Scrooge had dismissed it as naught
Before long he'd see that old Jacob Marley
Was not quite as dead as he'd thought...
credits
from A Christmas Carol: A Folk Opera,
released November 13, 2017
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
GreenMatthews Coventry, UK
Chris Green and Sophie Matthews play English traditional songs and tunes in a thoroughly 21st-century kick-ass style. Using a blend of ancient instruments such as cittern, English bagpipes and shawm as well as modern folk instruments such as guitar, flute and piano accordion, they breathe new life into material from hundreds of years ago, making it fresh and relevant for a modern audience. ... more
shows
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Jun 19Hoddesdon, UK
discography
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Jul 2023 -
Dec 2022 -
Jun 2021 -
Dec 2020
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