"I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day" (Roud 975) is a traditional Scottish or Irish music hall song[1] written from the point of view of a rich landowner telling the story of his day while buying drinks at a public house. According to Archie Fisher, the song is "an Irish narrative ballad that has been shortened to an Aberdeenshire drinking song".[1]
It is also known under the titles Jock Stuart, Jock Stewart[1] or Jock Steward.
Various versions of the song exist.[1] A "boastful Irish ditty" of that title is recorded as early as the 1880s.[2] It was also passed on from Frederick “Cauliflower” Crossman, who had worked with Cecil Sharp, to Crossman's granddaughter.[1] Its most famous version is Jeannie Robertson's from 1960.[citation needed] A popular version was recorded in 1985 by the Pogues, with bass player Cait O'Riordan on vocals. In both Robertson's and O'Riordan's versions, the song's first-person narrator is presented by a woman, despite the song's masculine narrative.[3]
