The Widow's Ale | Bardcore Drinking Song by Silas Halfpenny

An original fantasy tavern drinking song: a broke traveller, one last copper, and the ale silver can't buy. Sing the chorus — drink the widow dry! From the songbook of Silas Halfpenny, entry the first. They say the widow brewed one barrel every winter, and that no silver ever bought it. I can tell you the second part's true — I paid with the last copper I owned, and the whole room drank the better for it. Here's the song as it happened, more or less. The "less" is between me and Marta. The man who keeps his silver drinks alone. — Silas Halfpenny ━━━━━━━━━━ LYRICS ━━━━━━━━━━ I came in with one copper… and a throat like a dried-up well The road had chewed my boot-soles The rain had drowned my pride I laid my one last copper down And spun it on its side Old Marta didn't bite it She only rang the bell "Fetch up the widow's barrel, lads — there's one last coin to tell" So drink the widow dry, my friends Come dawn her black is gone One copper bought the barrel So the whole room drinks on Pour it slow! Pour it deep! Drink the widow dry! The widow brewed it bitter Black as the bog-oak beams One barrel every winter For thirty winters clean She willed the house her cellar With one rule on the page: "No silver buys my barrel — the last coin pays the wage" So drink the widow dry, my friends Come dawn her black is gone One copper bought the barrel So the whole room drinks on Pour it slow! Pour it deep! Drink the widow dry! A drover bought me herring A tinker told me lies A soldier taught me swearing No chapel would baptise By the bottom of the barrel I knew each man by name Ten strangers at the tapping Ten brothers all the same I came in worth one copper I'm leaving owing none But the man who kept his silver Drank water, and drank alone So drink the widow dry, my friends Come dawn her black is gone One copper bought the barrel So the whole room drinks on Pour it slow! Pour it deep! Drink the widow dry! so if your purse is empty, friend… you know which door to try… one copper on the bar-top… drink the widow dry