The Throckmorton Coat
Coughton Court is a great place to visit. One of the attractions there is the famous Throckmorton Coat. It was made for a bet between sunrise and sunset, starting with the cropping of the sheep and finishing with Sir John Throckmorton wearing the finished coat. Quite an achievement.
As soon as I saw the coat and read about it on the notice by the display stand, I was keen to turn it into a song. Unfortunately I didn’t have any paper with me to take notes. So, I went in the giftshop to buy a Coughton Court ring-back notebook and a genuine Coughton Court retractable ballpoint, when I saw the tea towels on display – giving the whole story. So I bought one and to my knowledge this is the only song which has been inspired by a tea towel.
Chorus
There was the shearer, the spinner and the loom weaver
The dyer and the drier with their hands chapped sore
And then there was the tailor, the tailor with his dummy
And Good Sir John Throckmorton in the coat that he wore
At the dawning of the day two fine sheep were brought
To Francis Druett with his shears sharp and keen
He divested them of wool as the crowd stood all a-gaping
Such a blurring of the shearer's blades they had never seen
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Mr John Coxeter the owner of the mill
Stood hands on his hips, as he surveyed the fun
Then he gathered up the wool and he took it to the mill
There was so much to be done before the setting of the sun
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Well they spun it and they spooled it, they warped it and they wove it
Such a throng of busy women you’ll have never seen
Then they washed it and they dyed it and finally they dried it
Such a roll of better cloth there has never been
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Sir John had earlier been measured by the tailor
Including inside leg, though there had been no need
And when the cloth was brought the whole crowd were all cheering
It was only four o'clock and they had made it in good speed
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Now James White was given the great honour
To cut and sew the cloth according to the plan
Drawn up by his father, Isaac the master tailor
A fine coat for generations of the Throckmorton clan
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Finally it was ready in thirteen hours and twenty minutes
Sir John Throckmorton proudly put the garment on
And paraded like the gentleman he was through noble breeding
Before the cheering crowd which was by now 5,000 strong
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