The Jolly Toper is a very merry, funny 10-verse song on the advantages of being married to the glass or bottle rather than to a wife. It can be found as song IV in Joseph Ritson's
A Select Collection of English Songs Vol. 2: Drinking Songs (1783). Obviously popular, it is also in Chappell's
Popular Music of the Olden Time (1859) and the monumental
Madden Collection of Ballads, Cambridge. A crisp, easy to read and perform version is given in Andrew Gant's
Folk Songs of the British Isles.
This song is included in
We're Only Here For The Beer! - Light by
Dr. Rosteck and myself