The Grand Hotel

First collected by Ed McCurdy in the early 1950’s, the short version of The Grand Hotel sung here is by Stan Triggs from his 1961 Folkways recording Bunkhouse and Forecastle Songs of the Northwest. The second, longer version, is sung by the Vancouver folk group Fraser Union who sing the lyrics of the more complete variant collected by Phil Thomas in 1975 from the singing of Bennett King Lesley. The lyrics that follow the music examples are those collected by Phil.

Duration: 1 min. 15 sec.

Duration: 3 min. 10 sec.

The song has been both published in books and recorded a number of times, and its popularity can be seen from the number of times the melody has been adapted to other songs. The tune is a variant of the Scottish song Farewell to Tarwathie, the Irish song Brian O’Linn, and the American song Sweet Betsy from Pike. Here it is sung by the Vancouver folk group Fraser Union led by Barry Truter.

See:
Thomas, Philip J.
1979    Songs of the Pacific Northwest. Saanichton: Hancock House Publishers Ltd. # 34, p.123.
2006    Songs of the Pacific Northwest. Edited by Jon Bartlett. Surrey: Hancock House Publishers Ltd. #43, p.145.

LYRICS:

1. There’s a place in Vancouver you all know so well,
It’s a place where they keep rot-gut whiskey to sell.
They also keep boarders, they keep them like hell,
And the name of that place is the Grand Hotel.

2. In the Grand Hotel when the loggers come in,
It’s amusing to see the proprietor grin.
He knows they’ve got money, he’ll soon have it all;
“Come on, boys, have a drink!” you will hear Tommy call.

3. Oh, the bartender laughs as the money rolls in;
They drink beer and whiskey, champagne, rum and gin,
Til they all get so boozy they can’t drink no more,
And the loggers lay scattered all over the floor.

4. Now in the morning the loggers get up from their bed
Their money’s all gone and, oh Lord, what a head!
They rush for the bar and call for a drink,
And Tommy gets busy a-slinging the ink:

5. “Four bits* for your bed, though you slept on the floor,
And the breakfast you missed that will be four bits more;
And a four-dollar meal ticket, good at the bar,
And a pass back to camp on the old Cassiar.”

6. There’s a place in Vancouver you all know so well,
It’s a place where they keep rot-gut whiskey to sell.
They also keep boarders, they keep them like hell,
And the name of that place is the Grand Hotel.

*four bits=fifty cents