He was born in Hatfield and grew up in Hampstead, London. After training as an actor he sang in coffee bars. He became a resident at the Troubador folk club in Earls Court in the late 1950s. He joined Redd Sullivan's Thameside Four in 1961. He is a renowned solo performer of traditional songs in a very distinctive style, accompanying himself on his trusty old Martin Guitar; his style is marked by the use of alternate tunings, and a strongly percussive picking style that emphasizes the melody. His debut album, Martin Carthy, was released in 1965, and also featured Dave Swarbrick playing fiddle on some tracks, although he was not mentioned in the album's sleeve notes.
He has also been involved with many musical collaborations. He has sung with The Watersons since 1972, was an early member of the UK folk rock group Steeleye Span, and was part of the innovative Brass Monkey ensemble, which mixed a range of brass instruments with Carthy's guitar and mandolin and John Kirkpatrick's accordion, melodeon and concertina.
For many years Carthy has enjoyed a creative partnership with fiddle player Dave Swarbrick. More recently, Waterson:Carthy has provided the forum for a successful partnership with partner Norma Waterson together with their daughter Eliza Carthy.
In June 1998 he was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002, and again in 2005 when he also won the award for Best Traditional Track for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men'.
Three Cripples
Martin Carthy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They went down to the country
They ate they drank three down or more
And they swore somebody would pay the score
Sing rumpty tumpty tiddly ti do
Diddlety more
They called the waiter into the room
Says one of them Here take charge of my eye
Says the other one Here lay these teeth by
Sing rumpty tumpty tiddly ti do
Diddlety more
The waiter he ran downstairs in a fright
And he told his master with all of his might
Oh Lord if upstairs you had been
And you'd seen the sights that I've just seen
For they're pulling out arms and eyes like fun (?)
And they're screwing their legs off one by one
Sing rumpty tumpty tiddly ti do
Diddlety more
They sent for the parson to come to pray
To try to drive them all away
But nothing wouldn't do till a soldier came
For they didn't value him nor his name
Sing rumpty tumpty tiddly ti do
Diddlety more
Oh the soldier he smiled through all the spree
And he went and told the company
He says if they'd all go away
Their shots were all settled they'd nothing to pay
So they screwed on their legs and they hopped away
Sing rumpty tumpty tiddly ti do
Diddlety more
The lyrics of Martin Carthy's "Three Cripples" describe the drunken and destructive behavior of three handicapped men from London who travel to the countryside for a night of debauchery. The trio gets so drunk that they cannot pay their bill and decide to offer their body parts, such as eyes and teeth, as payment. This crazy scene so terrifies the waiter that he runs to his master to report the situation. The parson was called in to calm the situation, but his attempts were unsuccessful until a soldier came to intervene. The three drunks did not heed the warnings of the parson and the soldier and danced their way out of the pub after realizing they were getting away without paying.
The song portrays the destructive effects of alcohol, the disregard for the consequences of one's actions or the value of human dignity. It also portrays how human beings can adapt and survive terrible situations by banding together.
Line by Line Meaning
Three cripples from London all out on the spree
Three disabled individuals from London decided to have a night out and enjoy themselves
They went down to the country
They decided to leave the city and go to the countryside
They ate they drank three down or more
They ate and drank to their heart's content, and had at least three drinks each
And they swore somebody would pay the score
They promised that someone else would take care of the bill
Sing rumpty tumpty tiddly ti do Diddlety more
A nonsense phrase used to transition between verses
And when the time to pay did come
When the bill arrived
They called the waiter into the room
They summoned the waiter to come to their table
Says one of them Here take charge of my eye
One of them offered their eye as payment for the bill
Says the other one Here lay these teeth by
The other one offered their teeth as payment for the bill
The waiter he ran downstairs in a fright
The waiter ran downstairs scared and concerned
And he told his master with all of his might
He informed the manager with urgency
Oh Lord if upstairs you had been And you'd seen the sights that I've just seen
If you had seen what I saw upstairs
For they're pulling out arms and eyes like fun (?) And they're screwing their legs off one by one
The three men were offering body parts as payment, and taking them off in a grotesque manner
They sent for the parson to come to pray
The manager called a priest to come and resolve the situation
To try to drive them all away
The priest attempted to chase the men out
But nothing wouldn't do till a soldier came
Nothing could be done until a soldier arrived
For they didn't value him nor his name
The three men did not respect the priest, but they respected the soldier
Oh the soldier he smiled through all the spree
The soldier was amused at the situation
And he went and told the company
The soldier informed the other people at the establishment
He says if they'd all go away Their shots were all settled they'd nothing to pay
The soldier promised that if the three men left, their tab would be taken care of
So they screwed on their legs and they hopped away
The three men reattached their prosthetic legs and left
Sing rumpty tumpty tiddly ti do Diddlety more
A nonsense phrase used to close the song
Contributed by Mia T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Daniel
on Lovely Joan
Hello ! The lyrics here art alle wrong. An' it's got tae be a frog-eater a-tellin' thee....