The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #72013   Message #1237972
Posted By: Jim Dixon
31-Jul-04 - 03:52 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: 'Tid Re I' or 'Paddy's Wedding'
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: 'Tid Re I' or 'Paddy's Wedding'
Further evidence that PADDY'S WEDDING was once a very popular song:

It is mentioned in THE FATHER OF ALL SONGS which Masato posted in the thread called Lyr Add: Patchwork Song (1860s Pop).

It is mentioned in WIDOW MULROONY'S BALL which I posted in the thread called Lyr Add: Irish songs about balls, wakes, soirees.

There are 11 variants at Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads. Since reproducing them here would be mostly redundant as well as very tedious, I will summarize the variations:

NONE of these have a spoken narrative.
1-4: "From the church unto the..."
1-4: "From the churching to the..."
1-5 and 5-5: "...old Father Gripes"
1-6: "daddy" rather than "dadda"
1-7: "While all the way to church, the pipes..."
1-8: "Struck up a lilt..."
1-8: "Play'd up the lilt..."
2-3: "And Muirlips Megs, and Scurlips Scegs"
2-4: "...Dicky Durfey..."
2-5: "And then the girls dress'd out in swipes"
2-5: "And then the girls dress'd out in white"
2-5: "And then the girls dress'd out in whites"
2-5: "And then the girls drest in their stripes"
2-6: "Led on by Tad O'Reilly O,
2-7: "All jigging as the merry pipes"
3-1: "When Pat was asked if his love would last"
3-1: "When Pat was asked would his love last"
3-3: "Arrah! Faith, cries Pat"
3-5: "...her hand he grips"
3-7: "While all in tune the merry pipes"
4-2: "With spirits so gay and frisky, O"
4-3: "...a scroggan or more"
4-3: "...a skirrages or more"
4-3: "...A skirraik or more"
4-4: "...bladder of whiskey O"
4-5: "To the bride's dear health, round went the swipes"
4-6: "That her joy might be nightly & daily O"
4-7: "And as they guttled, the merry pipes"
4-7: "And still has he guzzled, the merry pipes"
5-2: "To see them all footing and..."
5-3: "An opera or ball was..."
6-1: "And now the knot so tipsey had got"
6-1: "And now the lot so tipsy are got"
6-4: "For the throwing of the stocking, O"
6-5: "And round to be sure did not go the swipes"
6-6: "At the bride's expence so freely, O"
CHORUS: "Didderum hi, &c."
CHORUS: (none)

Dang! I thought making a detailed comparison of all the versions would be an interesting project, but I got sick of it long before being finished. The above list is incomplete, but I hope someone will find it enlightening.