August Sing: Small, But Mighty

We started out with four people today, and ended with six - but still we had a wonderful time.

Louise sang "The King of Ballyhooley." I don't know how she can sing those long songs without a cheat sheet. For those of us without such a remarkable memory, here are the lyrics.

Sharon sang a great Robbie O'Connell song, You're Not Irish. Here are the lyrics. 
and a recording. 

Allan sang A Serving Girl's Holiday
The tune sounded like a hymn to me. Turns out it's a hymn called "Orientis Partibus" (eastern parts?). I know it as "The Friendly Beasts." Here's a recording of Orientis Partibus

Another one Allan sang was something he called "Johnny Is a Fair Young Man." It's often known as "P Stands for Paddy" or T Stands for Thomas 

Louise sang The Light Dragoon 
The Digital Tradition Folk Song Database at Mudcat says that this is Child Ballad #297, but the "Dearly, so dearly" version is a far cry from what's printed in Child. The Digital Tradition says the version Louise sang came from the Watersons.

I'm glad Sharon sang Pony Boy today. I had forgotten that I had found and posted the original lyrics back in 1999.

I said that I thought I learned the song from a yellow, unbreakable, 78 RPM record. I found the record on Spotify. If you have Spotify, you can find it here.

And the Wikipedia entry on Golden Records

I'm listening to them now - they're pretty good.

Now I'm trying to find the sanitized version of "Big Rock Candy Mountain" that I learned as a kid. I'm sure I didn't hear about the cigarette trees....

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Oh, in honor of having to clear some poison oak, I sang a version of Springfield Mountain 
Springfield Mountain is near Springfield, Massachusetts. I highly doubt that there are many "pizen" snakes in Massachusetts any more.

Larry sang Rambling Boy by Tom Paxton, which is one of my favorite songs.

Rich sang Woody Guthrie's I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore 
This is Woody's version of a Carter Family song, "I Can't Feel at Home in this World Anymore." This is also known as "This world Is Not My Home." 

To my mind, the most beautiful song sung today was Allan's rendition of Ae Fond Kiss

Louise sang another classic, "Two Little Girls in Blue" - but then, Louise always sings classics. Here are the lyrics:

TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE
written & composed by Charles Graham

An old man gazed on a photograph, in the locket he'd worn for years; 
His nephew then asked him the reason, Why that picture had cost him tears.
"Come listen," he said, "I will tell you, my lad, A story that's strange but true;
Your Father & I, at the school one day, met two little girls in blue.

Chorus
Two little girls in blue, lad, 
two little girls in blue,
They were sisters, we were brothers, 
and learned to love the two; 
And one little girls in blue, lad, 
who won your Father's heart, 
became your Mother, I married the other, 
but now we have drifted apart.

"That picture is one of those girls," he said, "And to me she once was a wife, 
thought her unfaithful, we quarreled, lad, And we parted that night for life. 
My fancy of jealousy wronged a heart, A heart that was good & true, 
For two better girls never lived than they, those two little girls in blue."

Copyright by Francis, Day & Hunter.
Francis & Day's Popular & Community Song Book for all Occasions. Sydney, Albert & Son.

All in all, it was a wonderful Sunday afternoon.

-Joe Offer, Historian