The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #135707   Message #3096053
Posted By: GUEST,AR
15-Feb-11 - 07:01 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: The Collier Lad (from Annie Cosgrove)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Collier Lad- Annie Cosgrove
ps- yes Steve, this is what was sung by Annie Cosgrove on the recording as transcribed by me. Some of the words are difficult to discern.
There's a brief interview of Annie by Alan Lomax on the tape during which she says she learned it at the age of 17, in Blantyre, from a Mrs McConville or MacConville. Annie was recorded singing the song at the age of 62, so I suppose it's very likely that she might have forgotten or garbled the lyrics of the song, which of course does seem like a stitching-together of various song fragments, in the intervening period.
Still, Annie's vocal performance of the song is very powerful, regardless of the 'problematic' text.