Cyril Tawney Cyril Tawney ( 12 October 1930 , Gosport , Hampshire – 21 April 2005 , Exeter ) was an English singer - songwriter and a proponent of the traditional songs of the West of England , as well as traditional and modern maritime songs . Biography and notable works . Perhaps because of the family tradition of maritime service , Tawney joined the Royal Navy at the age of sixteen , serving for thirteen years , several of which were spent in submarines . During this period he developed his lifelong interest in English traditional music . While still in the Navy in 1957 , he performed on an Alan Lomax radio show broadcast on Christmas Day , " Sing Christmas and the Turn of the Year . " He appeared on television on the following Easter Sunday . It went well and soon he had a weekly television spot and a networked show , " Watch Aboard . " Encouraged by these successes , Cyril left the Navy early in 1959 to become a full - time professional musician and broadcaster . He earned his living in this way for 44 years , making him Britain ' s longest - standing professional folksinger . Tawney continued to work in broadcasting and had a weekly radio show , " Folkspin . " Meanwhile , he researched the traditional songs of southwest England and 20th Century Royal Navy songs . In the early 1960s he established his first folk club in Plymouth , where he met his wife Rosemary . He founded the West of England Folk Centre and was instrumental in setting up folk clubs in other places in the region . He is often referred to as the Founding Father of the West Country folk revival . His song " The Oggie Man " written in 1959 , appeared on the album " A Cold Wind Blows " on the Elektra ’ 66 label . It reappeared in 1971 on the Decca Record Company Ltd album The World of Folk . The song tells the story of the demise of the ' Oggie Man ' from the Devonport Naval Dockyard , at a time when old - fashioned " fast food " was being replaced by the more modern purveyors of hot dogs ( and all ) ( the " big boys " of the song ) . The Oggie Man had until that time offered his oggies ( pasties ) to sailors returning from sea , or from shore leave , from a box at the Albert Gate of the dock . It has been suggested that the sale of oggies here dated back to the 1700s . The first verse of " Oggie Man " runs " And the rain ' s softly falling and the Oggie man ' s no more . " < br > " I can ’ t hear him calling like I used to before < br > " I came through the gateway and I heard the sergeant say " < br > " " The big boys are a coming , see their stands across the way " " < br > " And the rains softly falling and the Oggie man ' s no more . . . " In addition to presenting traditional ditties , Tawney composed a number of his own songs , the majority being written when he was in the Royal Navy and relating to that period - for example " Chicken on a Raft " , which belongs to the call and response style of sea shanties . The song makes reference to an unpopular dish served in the Royal Navy , consisting of fried egg on fried bread and called " chicken on a raft . " The chorus is as follows : " Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning , " < br > " Oh , what a terrible sight to see , " < br > " The Dabtoes forrard and the dustmen aft , " < br > " Sittin ' there a ' pickin ' at a chicken on a raft ! " The song was recorded by The Young Tradition , on their 1967 EP also titled " Chicken on a Raft " . Tawney ' s song , " Sally Free And Easy " , written in the late 1950s , was covered by numerous folk artists , including Carolyn Hester , Dorris Henderson and John Renbourn , Davey Graham , Pentangle , The Corries , Marianne Faithfull and Bob Dylan . The song is about an affair Tawney had with a girl who cheated on him . " . . . and when he was out in Gibraltar during the war , he was in the submarine service and he had rather an unfortunate affair with a girl , who two - timed him and her name was Sally and he wrote a song about it called " Sally Free and Easy " . - " Roy Williamson , introducing the song on the album " The Corries in Concert " " Beginning in 1972 , Tawney studied English and History at Lancaster University . After he graduated , he admitted to a master ' s degree from the Leeds University Institute of Dialect and Folklife Studies . In 1987 , Tawney ' s book " Grey Funnel Lines : Traditional Song and Verse of the Royal Navy 1900 to 1970 " , was published by Routledge . Tawney ' s last public performance was at Easter 2004 , at the Lancaster Maritime Festival . He died of a bacterial infection in 2005 after a long illness . Shortly after his death , Rachel Unthank and the Winterset covered Tawney ' s song " On a Monday Morning " for their 2005 debut album , " Cruel Sister " . Songs . Songs written by Cyril Tawney include :