The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #9930   Message #151994
Posted By: McGrath of Harlow
20-Dec-99 - 01:28 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Night that O'Rafferty's Pig Ran Away
Subject: Lyr Add: NIGHT THAT O'RAFFERTY'S PIG RAN AWAY^^
Got it. I emailed Frank Harte, who has every Irish song ever sung I reckon, and he came back with this:

I recorded this song about twenty years ago in Tallaght but with the echo of the room it was very difficult to decipher it . However Glenn Commiskey filled in the words for me that were missing from the version which I recorded.


THE NIGHT THAT O'RAFFERTY'S PIG RAN AWAY.

O'Rafferty's pig was a wonderful animal,
Built like a battleship solid and stout,
His ignorance it would have disgraced any cannibal,
Impudence written all over his snout.
The night he got loose there was such a commotion,
That women were screaming and men turned pale,
They were running and jumping, colliding and bumping,
And everyone making a grab at his tail.

Then Mickey Malone the heavyweight champion,
Ran at the pig wit a big rolling pin,
He struck it a blow but caught Mrs.Mulroe,
Her bustle was shifted up under her chin.
Widow Malone fell through a shop window,
In pickles and jam and red herrings she lay,
She had salmon and skippers all over he knickers,
The night that O'Rafferty's pig ran away.

It ran into the police court and looked at each prisoner,
It swallowed the bible, said the judge infra dig,
And because of your actions I'll postpone the case
But the local solicitor said they must all try the pig.
The pig looked at Reilly the principle witness,
Then ran into the grocers next door to McCanns,
He rolled in the butter, then dashed in the gutter,
And that's how he kept slipping right out of their hands.

Fat Mrs. Doyle she ran like an elephant,
Puffing and blowing with Mrs.Maguire,
She fell on the ground and begorra the sound,
Was just like the burst of a pneumatic tyre.
Flanagan he then got the pig in a corner,
He jumped on his back and ran into a drain,
At twenty to seven his home was in heaven,
The night that O'Rafferty's pig ran away.

A bloodthirsty crowd led by old Denis Cassidy,
Chased it with vengeance from Derry to Cork,
And didn't he swear when the pig with audacity,
Jumped on a tram while he had to walk.
It ran through the legs of old Councillor Duffy,
A man of great standing and lofty ideas,
When they collided old Duffy backslided,
And down went the standing of twenty-five years.

Burke's wooden leg it was broken and shattered,
Her lay on his back shouting for Doctor Lamont,
Barney O'Toole says don't be a fool,
It's a hammer and saw and a joiner you want.
Then came the news that the pig had been captured,
The town had a thanksgiving supper they say,
And cabbage and bacon were lawfully taken,
The night that O'Rafferty's pig ran away.

^^

As for the tune I'm not sure - it'd go well to Liliburlero. Thank you Vibeke for putting us on to the song. It's a cracker. Should be in the DT. Probably will be.