After learning to play the guitar, the fiddle, and the piano, as well as to sing, Rusby played at many local folk festivals as a child and adolescent. She came to wider attention through her duets with her friend and fellow Barnsley folk singer Kathryn Roberts on the 1995 album Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts.
At about this time she joined, and became the lead vocalist of, the all-female Celtic folk band The Poozies. This led to her becoming a founding member of the group Equation, which included Kathryn Roberts and Seth Lakeman. Rusby left Equation (being replaced by Cara Dillon) to follow a more traditional direction and, in 1997, released her debut solo album Hourglass produced by Scottish fiddler John McCusker (to whom Rusby was married for some time).
In 1999 Rusby recorded Sleepless which earned her a Mercury Music Prize nomination and the BBC Folk Award for Best Album and Best Folk Singer.
Rusby continues to release albums mixing traditional and self-penned songs on her own Pure Records, winning fans as diverse as Graham Coxon (who provided the illustration for her album The Girl Who Couldn't Fly) and collaborator Ronan Keating.
2008 saw the release of Sweet Bells, an album of traditional Christmas songs interpreted by Rusby.
In 2010, Rusby released the album Make the Light, a collection of self-penned songs, and in 2011 issued a second collection of Christmas songs titled While Mortals Sleep.
www.katerusby.com
The Goodman
Kate Rusby Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The good man, home came he
There he spied an old saddle horse
Where no horse should there be
It's a cow, it's a cow, cried the good man's wife
A cow, just a cow, can't you see?
Far have I ridden, and much I've seen
But a saddle on a cow there's never been
The good man he came home one night
The good man, home came he
There he spied a powdered wig
Where no wig should there be
It's a hen, it's a hen, cried the good man's wife
A hen, just a hen, can't you see?
Far have I ridden, and much I've seen
But powder on a hen there's never been
The good man he came home one night
The good man, home came he
There he spied a riding coat
Where no coat should there be
It's sheets, just sheets, cried the good man's wife
Sheets, just sheets, can't you see?
Far have I ridden, and much I've seen
But buttons on a sheet there's never been
The good man he came home one night
When the good man home came he
There he spied a handsome man
Where no man should there be
It's the maid, it's the maid, cried the good man's wife
The milking maid, can't you see?
Far have I ridden, and much I've seen
But a beard on a maid there's never been
The good man he came home one night
The good man, home came he
There he spied an old saddle horse
Where no horse should there be
It's a cow, it's a cow, cried the good man's wife
A cow, just a cow, can't you see?
Far have I ridden, and much I've seen
But a saddle on a cow there's never been
Far have I ridden, and much I've seen
But a saddle on a cow there's never been
The Goodman is a song by Kate Rusby that tells a story of a good man coming home and finding unusual things around his house. The good man's wife tries to explain each of the oddities, but her explanations are not convincing. The first strange thing the good man sees is a saddle on an old horse, which should not be there. The wife tries to convince him that it is a cow, but the good man is not fooled. The second unusual thing the good man sees is a powdered wig on a hen. The wife again tries to explain that it is just a hen, but the good man is skeptical. The third thing is a riding coat on sheets. The wife tries to explain that they are just sheets, but the good man is not convinced. Finally, the good man sees a handsome man, which the wife claims is just the milking maid. The good man knows better and realizes that his wife has been unfaithful.
Line by Line Meaning
The good man he came home one night
A man that is considered good came back home one night
The good man, home came he
The man who is considered good came home
There he spied an old saddle horse where no horse should there be
He saw a saddle horse in a place where they should not ordinarily be
It's a cow, it's a cow, cried the good man's wife
The good man's wife claimed that it was a cow
A cow, just a cow, can't you see?
The wife wants the good man to acknowledge that it is a cow and not a horse
Far have I ridden, and much I've seen
The man speaking has traveled extensively and seen many things
But a saddle on a cow there's never been
In all his experience of traveling, the good man has never seen a saddle on a cow
There he spied a powdered wig where no wig should there be
He saw a wig in an unexpected place
It's a hen, it's a hen, cried the good man's wife
The good man's wife believes that the wig is actually a hen
A hen, just a hen, can't you see?
The wife wants the good man to see that it is a hen and not a wig
Far have I ridden, and much I've seen
The man speaking has traveled extensively and seen many things
But powder on a hen there's never been
In all his experience of traveling, the good man has never seen powder on a hen
There he spied a riding coat where no coat should there be
He saw a riding coat in a place where it shouldn't ordinarily be
It's sheets, just sheets, cried the good man's wife
The good man's wife believes that the coat is actually sheets
Sheets, just sheets, can't you see?
The wife wants the good man to acknowledge that it is sheets and not a coat
Far have I ridden, and much I've seen
The man speaking has traveled extensively and seen many things
But buttons on a sheet there's never been
In all his experience of traveling, the good man has never seen buttons on sheets
The good man he came home one night
A man that is considered good came back home one night
When the good man home came he
When the good man arrived home
There he spied a handsome man where no man should there be
He saw a man where he should not ordinarily be
It's the maid, it's the maid, cried the good man's wife
The good man's wife insists that it is the maid
The milking maid, can't you see?
The wife thinks that the maid is the milking maid and wants the good man to see it too
Far have I ridden, and much I've seen
The man speaking has traveled extensively and seen many things
But a beard on a maid there's never been
In all his experience of traveling, the good man has never seen a maid with a beard
Contributed by Isaiah C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Little Rock
I really wish this album was on spotify - one of my favourite albums ever <3
Joe Page
Agreed. It's a lovely arrangement and performance.
Will Draws & What Not
This is my childhood song right here✨
Deep Dive Gaming
Love it!
djdaforce22
very good song. the version on 20 is also great. it is Like a very clean version of 7 drunken nights.
thegallifreyrose
This is a lovely song, guess I'm a folky at heart.
Jim Falbo
Heard this for the first time on 88.5 Jazz FM strings theory in Minnesota.
keiran docherty
Brilliant variation of the seven drunken nights
djdaforce22
My reaction as well! It's written so old fashioned that I started questioning the dubliners! I thought this might have been the original...but I don't think so
Ella Senior
Listened to it in English while working on Ballads