From Irish Traveller, Bill Bryan; recorded in London in 1973
It can be heard on the Musical Traditions CD, 'From Puck to Appleby (available for download)
Jim Carroll

8 - Marie (Maureen) from Gippursland (Roud 7269)   Bill Bryan

Oh the first come up was a blacksmith
With a hammer and anvil in his hand,
He said he'd hammer a new foundation
In Maureen from Gippursland.
He hammered her, he hammered her
Until his sides was sick and sore,
And after all his labour she leaked
In the place where she leaked before.

Oh the next come up was a saddler
With a needle and thread all in his hand,
He said he'd sew a new foundation
In Maureen from Gippursland.
He awled her, he sewed her
Until his sides was sick and sore,
And after all his labour she leaked
In the place where she leaked before.

Oh the next come up was a baker
With the flour and soda in his hand,
He said he'd bake a new foundation
In Marie from Gippursland.
He baked her, he roasted her
Until his sides was sick and sore,
And after all his labour she leaked
In the place where she leaked before.

Oh the next come up was a tailor
With the cloth and scissors in his hand,
He said he'd cut a new foundation
In Marie from Gippursland.
He scissored her, he sewed her
Until his sides was sick and sore,
And after all his labour she leaked
In the place where she leaked before.

And the next come up was a big ploughman
With a horse and plough all in his hands,
He said he'd plough a new foundation
In Marie from Gippursland.
He ploughed her, he harrowed her
Until his sides was sick and sore,
And after all his labour she leaked
In the place where she leaked before.

Oh the next come up was a timberman
With the axe all in his hand,
He said he'd axe a new foundation
Into Marie from Gippursland.
He chopped her, he sawed her
Until his sides was sick and sore,
And after all his labour she leaked
In the place where she leaked before.

Ah, but now the next come up was a big tinkerman
With a soldering iron in his hand,
He said he'd solder a new foundation
In Marie from Gippursland.
He rosined her, he soldered her
Until his sides were sick and sore,
But after all his labour she never leaked
In the place where she leaked before.

The only other full text of this song recorded from a traditional singer seems to have been a macaronic one (Irish and English) found in Co Mayo in 1936 entitled Mairín Ní Ghiobhalaín, which begins Bhí mise lá ag baint mónach (I was cutting turn one day).

A version entitled The Jolly Weaver, described as an old Ulster weaving song, is to be found in The Journal of The Irish Folk Song Society of 1906 as follows:

In comes the jolly weaver to weave the orange and the blue,
To weave a sink on Morney’s loom his shuttles went so quim
And merrily flew from hand to hand, his jacks they were all a trimlin’
Why don’t you shift your temples man.
Ti-de-i-e-do-e-dan said old Morney Gibberland

Next came in a sailor who often ploughed the raging main;
To take a trip with Morney, he thought it neither sin nor shame.
He viewed his compass clearly, and feared neither rock nor sand,
He steered him to the harbour with old Morney Gibberland

There next came in a mason, with hammer, trowel, in his hand
To lay a strong foundation for old Morney Gibberland,
The mortar it was soft, the stones they wouldn’t steady stand.
‘Clap your plumb-line to the gable,’ said old Morney Gibberland.

Next came in a ploughman, with two ploughshares in his hand,
To plough a furr for Morney, for old Morney Gibberland

Collector’s note: ‘The word ‘quim’ in the first verse means quickly. I have also heard the same word used in conversation in the Co Monaghan’.

This is a collation of verses ‘from natives of Belfast, Newtonards (sic) and Downpatrick’, all in the Co Down. They were collected by Edith Wheeler with the music taken down by Mrs C Milligan Fox. The words in italics are hand loom terms. Either the writer was unaware of the erotic nature of the song, or the social restrictions of the time prevented her from referring to it. The word quim in the first verse is a slang term usually referring to the female pudendum!

There is also a fragment entitled Mairins Gibberlan, described as ‘decidedly objectionable’, included in the Greig Duncan Collection. Bill Bryan got the song from his father, Martin.

Ref: The Journal of The Irish Folk Song Society, 1906; The Greig Duncan Folk Song Collection, vol 7, Mercat Press, 1997