Play recording: Mrs Mc Grath (1)
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- Teideal (Title): Mrs Mc Grath (1).
- Uimhir Chatalóige Ollscoil Washington (University of Washington Catalogue Number): 853904.
- Uimhir Chnuasach Bhéaloideas Éireann (National Folklore of Ireland Number): none.
- Uimhir Roud (Roud Number): 678.
- Uimhir Laws (Laws Number): none.
- Uimhir Child (Child Number): none.
- Cnuasach (Collection): Joe Heaney Collection, University of Washington, Seattle.
- Teanga na Croímhíre (Core-Item Language): English.
- Catagóir (Category): song.
- Ainm an té a thug (Name of Informant): Joe Heaney.
- Ainm an té a thóg (Name of Collector): Lucy Simpson.
- Dáta an taifeadta (Recording Date): 07/08/1979.
- Suíomh an taifeadta (Recording Location): Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America.
- Ocáid an taifeadta (Recording Occasion): private.
- Daoine eile a bhí i láthair (Others present): unavailable.
- Stádas chóipcheart an taifeadta (Recording copyright status): unavailable.
…[this is] another Crimean War song1, about the sergeant of the army telling Mrs Mc Grath, who had only one son, wouldn’t her son look beautiful if he had a nice fur coat and a big cocked hat? And she said that would be fine, so they gave him the fur coat and the cocked hat and they took him away to the Crimea. And she was down at the shore every day waiting on every boat coming in to see was her son on the boat, and one day he did come. And he had a wooden leg, and the story goes on from there.
‘Oh, Mrs Mc Grath’, the sergeant said,
‘Would you like to make a soldier out of your son Ted?
With a nice fur coat and a big cocked hat
Oh, Mrs Mc Grath, wouldn’t you like that?’
With me too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah
With the too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah.
Love beg the cracker-oh!
Now, Mrs Mc Grath lived on the seashore
For the space of seven long years or more
‘Til she saw a big ship sailing into the quay
‘It’s my son Ted, musha clear the way!’
With me too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah
With the too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah.
Love beg the cracker-oh!
‘Oh captain, dear, where have you been?
Have you been on the Mediterranean Sea?
Or have you any tidings of my son Ted?
Is the poor boy living or is he dead?’
With me too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah
With the too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah.
Love beg the cracker-oh!
Out walked Ted without any legs
In their place were two wooden pegs
She kissed him a dozen times or two
Saying, ‘Holy Moses! It isn’t you!’
With me too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah
With the too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah.
‘Oh, Teddy me boy’, the widow cried,
‘Your poor fine legs were your mammy’s sight!
Those stumps of a tree won’t do at all
Why didn’t you run from the big cannonball?’
With me too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah
With the too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah.
‘Oh, were you drunk or were you blind
That you left your two fine legs behind?
Or was it walking on the sea
Swept your two fine legs from the knees away?’
With me too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah
With the too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah.
Love beg the cracker-oh!
‘Oh, I wasn’t drunk and I wasn’t blind
When I left my two fine legs behind
But a cannonball on the first of May
Stole my two fine legs from the knees away.’
With me too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah
With the too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah.
Love beg the cracker-oh!
‘Now foreign wars do I declare
Between Don John and the King of Spain
And be heaven, I’ll make them rue the day
They took the legs of a child of mine!’
With me too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah
With the too-rye-ah, fol-the-deedle-dah
Too-rya oo-rye oo-rye ah.
Love beg the cracker-oh!
Well it’s not a very good song but I suppose ’twill do!
Notes
1. In fact, this song doesn’t date from the Crimean War but from the Napoleonic period and specifically (going by the last verse) from the time of the Peninsular Campaign. But Joe is correct in calling attention to the similarity between Mrs Mc Grath and the likes of Patrick Sheehan (The Glen of Aherlow) as both were anti-recruitment songs, helping Irish people to understand that, notwithstanding the momentary temptation of The King’s shilling, joining the British Army wasn’t a healthy career choice.
Joe also recorded this song as a duet with Scottish singer Geordie Mac Intyre, singing the verses in alternation. The contrasting styles of the two singers is fascinating.
Joe’s clarification near the start of this recording, prompted by Lucy, is of the spelling but not the pronunciation of the surname Mc Grath. Readers unfamiliar with the name should note that it is pronounced ‘ma-graa’ rather than ‘ma-grath’ or ‘ma-grat’.