Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow

Subject: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: lesley nelson
Date: 14 Sep 98 - 11:06 PM

I'm looking for information on the above tune. I found lyrics - and it's in the ballad index as US - 1927 - however the lyrics I found have gaelic in them - which would indicate an origin other than US...

I have nothing in Lomax, Kennedy or Linscott - so I'm completely frustrated... Is it known by another name?

Thanks.

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Antaine
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 06:08 AM

Original title in Gaeilge :
Cailín Deas Crúite na mBó

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Alice
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 10:20 AM

lesley, it is also know by the first line "It Was On A Fine Summer Morning". I recall that I posted a message about this song in a thread earlier this summer. You can purchase the music in a current songbook by Warner Brothers, called "51 Lucky Irish Classics" from their Great Songs of the Century series. The English lyrics are by Thomas Moore. The tune is "Cailin Deas", and air is in Bunting's Ancient Irish Music (1796). As Antaine noted the original words are gaelic. There are more verses by Thomas Moore in old Irish songbooks that you can get in libraries, such as Irish Street Ballads by Colm O'Lochlainn.

How in the world Warner Bros got a copyright on it, I don't know, but it is published with ©1916(renewed) Warner Bros. INC. There are 51 classics in the book, such as Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms, Molly Malone, Come Back to Erin, The Rose of Tralee, etc. all with the Warner Bros copyright.

alice in montana

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Ian HP
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 10:28 AM

I've been playing the tune to this beauty on the guitar for years, hearing rumours that there were words but not being able to get hold of them. I can't find them in the database. Can anyone point me in the direction of English words (since I don't speak Gaelic) on the web? Alice, can you remember the name of your thread?

Subject: Lyr Add: CAILÍN DEAS CRÚITE NA MBÓ
From: lesley
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 11:03 AM

Thanks for the info! I'll do a search for the old message too. Here are the words I found - there's one line of gaelic yet - they might be garbled because of the HTML code - I mean no offense to any gaels....

It was on a fine summer's morning,
When the birds sweetly tuned on each bough;
I heard a fair maid sing most charming
As she sat a-milking her cow;
Her voice, it was chanting melodious,
She left me scarce able to go;
My heart it is soothed in solace,
My Cailín deas crúite na mbó.

With courtesy I did salute her,
Good-morrow, most amiable maid,
I'm your captive slave for the future.
Kind sir, do not banter, she said,
I'm not such a precious rare jewel,
That I should enamour you so;
I am but a plain country girl,
Says Cailín deas crúite na mbó.

The Indies afford no such jewel,
So precious and transparently fair,
Oh! do not to my flame add fuel,
But consent for to love me, my dear;
Take pity and grant my desire,
And leave me no longer in woe;
Oh! love me or else I'll expire,
Sweet Cailín deas crúite na mbó.

Or had I the wealth of great Damer,
Or all on the African shore,
Or had I great Devonshire treasure,
Or had I ten thousand times more,
Or had I the lamp of Aladdin,
Or had I his genie also,
I'd rather live poor on a mountain,
With Cailín deas crúite na mbó.

I beg you'll withdraw and don't tease me;
I cannot consent unto thee.
I like to live single and airy,
Till more of the world I do see.
New cares they would me embarrass,
Besides, sir, my fortune is low,
Until I get rich I'll not marry,
Says Cailín deas crúite na mbó.

An old maid is like an old almanack,
Quite useless when once out of date;
If her ware is not sold in the morning
At noon it must fall to low rate.
The fragrance of May is soon over,
The rose loses its beauty, you know;
All bloom is consumed in October,
Sweet Cailín deas crúite na mbó.;

A young maid is like a ship sailing,
There's no knowing how long she may steer,
For with every blast she's in danger;
Oh! consent, love, and banish all care.
For riches I care not a farthing,
Your affection I want and no more;
In comfort I'd wish to enjoy you,
My Cailín deas crúite na mbó..

Subject: Lyr Add: COLLEEN DHAS CRUTHEN NA MO
From: Alice
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 11:35 AM

The lyrics you posted are those that are in Colm O'Lochlainn's book. I prefer to sing the shorter and more 'singable' lyrics (the words are not so awkward) attributed to Thomas Moore in the "Irish Classics" songbook. Allan C. has an old songbook of Thomas Moore lyrics, so if you are reading this thread, Allan, maybe you can look them up for us. The version I sing:

It was on a fine summer's morning
The birds sweetly tuned on each bough
And as I walked out for my pleasure
I saw the maid milking her cow.
Her voice, so enchanting, melodious
Left me quite unable to go
My heart it was loaded with sorrow
For 'colleen dhas cruthen na mo'. (phoenetic English)

Then to her I made my advances
'Good morrow, most beauteous maid
Your beauty my heart so entrances.'
'Pray, sir, do not banter,' she said.
'I'm not such a rare precious jewel,
that I should enamor you so.
I am but a poor little milk girl.'
Said colleen dhas cruthen na mo.

The Indies afford no such jewels
So bright and transparently clear.
Pray, do not add flame to my fuel,
Consent but to love me, my dear.
If I had the lamp of Alladin,
Or the wealth of the African shore,
I'd rather be poor in a cottage
With colleen dhas cruthen na mo.

alice

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Alice
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 11:42 AM

Here is a CD of Thomas Moore's Irish melodies. I found this page on the internet last year, and it looks like an excellent recording. I have yet to order it, but it is on my wishlist, since I have a soft heart for Thomas Moore songs.
alice

http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/details/66774.html

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Ian HP
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 01:21 PM

Wonderful stuff. Does anyone know what the one remaining line of Gaelic means in English?

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Alice
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 02:47 PM

It means the pretty maid milking her cow.

alice

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Brack&
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 10:48 AM

I think Judy Garland sang this song in the musical "It's A Great Day For The Irish". Can Anyone confirm that?

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 02:59 PM

Hmmm. Now that's interesting, Brack&. I can't find the songs, but I have a book that says Judy Garland starred in the movie musical Little Nelly Kelly in 1940, and the hit songs in the show were "It's a Great Day for the Irish" and "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow," both written by Roger Edens. The story was adapted from a George M. Cohan play. I'd sure like to see Judy's cow-milking song. Anybody able to come up with the lyrics?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Alice
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 03:28 PM

Maybe Roger Edens re-wrote lyrics or rearranged the song... could there be a video available of the old film to listen to it? Listening to the soundtrack is probably the only way to compare and find out if it is the same song as the one we are discussing that came from the gaelic.

alice

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Alice
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 03:29 PM

Just a thought... if it was used in the film, then that could be why Warner Brothers now owns the copyright.

alice

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 03:55 PM

Click here for information about the movie. I love this Judy Garland site.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Alice
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 06:02 PM

Oh, my God, now I've seen everything!! They made a SWING VERSION of "Cailín Deas Crúite na mBó" for the movie Little Nelly Kelly. Joe, I went to the webpage you referred to, and they quoted Judy Garland as saying, "an obscure Irish folk song" that they used in the picture continued to be an obscure Irish folk song. Roger Edens re-arranged it, and she sang one verse in the film.

alice

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Brack&
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 06:39 PM

Yes, now I remember, it was a jazzed up version! Oddly enough though, I don't think I've ever seen that film on English television yet. Someone taped it for me in Ireland many years ago and I've still got it somewhere, but then again it's in a pile of about 50 videos with nothing written on them. I guess I'll get round to it one day.

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Brack&
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 06:58 PM

There's more!
It was also in a Universal musical in 1942. The film was called "Strictly In The Groove".
Joe, that Judy Garland site is lovely! Thanks.

Subject: Lyr Add: PRETTY GIRL MILKING HER COW
From: Brack&
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 07:39 PM

More.

Another set of lyrics I found in song book

PRETTY GIRL MILKING HER COW

Twas on a bright morning in the summer
That I first heard his voice spakin' low
As he said to a collen beside him
"Who's that purty girl milking her cow"
Och! many times often ye met me
And told me that I should be
Your darlin' Acushla, Alana
Mavourneen, Asuilish, Machree

I have not the manner or graces
Of the girls in the world where ye move
I have not their beautiful faces
But, Oh! I've a heart that can love
If it please ye I'll dress in me satin
And jewels I'll put on me brow
But och! don't be after forgettin'
Your pretty girl milking her cow

The summer has yielded to Autumn
And the daisies and clovertops fade
And the cattle come home from the pastures
Then say, do you love me indade (indeed)
Sure your love will not fade like the Summer
But ever your colleen will be
Your darlin' Acushla, Alana
Mavourneen, Asuilish, Machree

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Alice
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 07:56 PM

A great find, Brack&! Antaine, do you have the gaelic version of the lyrics, and can you give us a literal translation into English? I had assumed the version from Colm O'Lochlainn's book of street ballads was pretty close to the gaelic version, and Thomas Moore had 'polished' it up.

alice

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: bigJ
Date: 17 Sep 98 - 07:04 PM

Just to set another hare running; the tune of 'Pretty Maid....' was used for the words of 'Terence's Farewell to Kathleen', written by Lady Dufferin and recorded on several occasions by Count John McCormack.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE PRETTY GIRL MILKING HER COW
From: Brack&
Date: 10 Dec 98 - 08:05 AM

Here's another version!

'Tis a year or more since I listened
To sweet tones I love to recall
As I spied a sweet maid whose eyes glistened
On fine sunny eve in the fall
And the milch cows beside her were lowing
As the birds sweetly tuned on each bough
On the bank of a streamlet fast flowing
Was the pretty girl milking her cow

Her eyes are as bright as the sunshine
That scatters the fog in the sky
And her cheeks far redder than berries
That tempt from the branches on high
Her mouth is more luscious than berries
And her features so bright that I vow
There's no grander maid in the world
Than a pretty girl milking her cow

Unless I am favoured to partner
That handsome, modest, sweet maid
My life will be lonesome and gloomy
Without any purpose or aid
No joy will be mine day or night
Nor contentment of mind anyhow
Until by my fireside I see her
The pretty girl milking her cow

Regards Mick Bracken

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Apr 99 - 08:32 PM

Is there a MIDI?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Bruce O.
Date: 23 Apr 99 - 09:14 PM

For many early copies of the tune see the Irish tune index on my website.

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Barry Taylor
Date: 24 Apr 99 - 10:34 AM

I have a midi of it on my Irish Midi Page. It's a version to which Lady Dufferin set the lyrics of Terence's Farewell.

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Snuffy
Date: 02 Apr 00 - 08:49 PM

Barry's midi of the tune is now here on Lesley's site.

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 08 Sep 00 - 03:46 PM

See "The milkmaid and ploughboy" = "The milk maid and plough boy" on the Bodley Ballads Website (in Mudcat's Links)

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Bud Savoie
Date: 09 Sep 00 - 06:20 AM

The final word of the Irish is "mbo", which also happens to be the handle of a Mudcatter. Does his name mean "cow"?

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Alice
Date: 09 Sep 00 - 11:39 AM

No, it's a nickname and pronounced differently (Em-bo).

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Fiolar
Date: 10 Sep 00 - 05:44 AM

Interesting legend attached to "Cailin Deas Cruite na mBo." It was regarded in Ireland as an unlucky song. The story goes that a priest was called to administer the last rites to a dying man. On his way to the house, he stopped to listen to the singing of a beautiful young woman singing the tune of the above with the result that he was late in arriving at the house and the man had died. The story goes on to say that the "beautiful woman" was in fact the devil in disguise in order to prevent the priest getting to the man in time to hear his confession. Mike

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Peg
Date: 28 Aug 02 - 07:45 PM

I am wondering if there are lyrics entirely in Gaelic to this, or could someone suggest an appropriate gaelic text? I find the melody so haunting i would like to sing it in Gaelic...

thanks in advance, anyone wh had suggestions,

peg

Subject: Lyr Add: THE PRETTY MAID MILKING HER GOAT
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 29 Aug 02 - 02:02 AM

Not an answer to Peg's question, certainly, but in the interest of a complete story on the song and its relations...

In George Korson's (ed.) book, Pennsylvania Songs and Legends (Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1949), page 370-371, he's got the following, listed as from the Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress. Sung by Daniel Walsh at Centralia, Columbia County, 1946. Recorded by George Korson.

THE PRETTY MAID MILKING HER GOAT

It was a cold winter's morning
As I went to work for my grub.
I heard a maid sing most charming
As she sat on the heel of a tub.
Her mouth was both large and commodious.
A small boy might skate down her throat.
Her bullfrog bass voice was melodious,
As she sat there milking her goat.

I stood and I gazed at this cr'ature.
I was smashed in two halves by surprise.
Thinks I, she's some goddess of nature,
Or the queen of Georgetown in disguise.
I says to her aisy and civil,
"Do you warble that poem by note?"
I was towld to inquire of the divil
By the pretty maid milking her goat.

Then I said, "Dearest fairy, have patience,
Till ye hear what I'm going to propose.
Come, leave all your wealthy relations,
And travel with me, O primrose.
Your everyday dress shall be silken,
And to show how much on you I dote,
I'll grab howlt of the tail while you're milking
And help you to pump the ould goat."

She said, "Don't stand there givin' me taffy
Or think I'm a foolish galoot.
I know I could ne'er be happy
With you and your No. 9 boots.
You're nothin' but a common railroader.
I can tell by the mud on your coat,
And to none but a red-ash coal loader
Will my pappy give me and the goat."

A treasure, in my opinion!

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan
Date: 29 Aug 02 - 07:36 AM

Peg

Yes, there are (Irish) Gaelic words. I'll try to find a set.

Betty
Think I'll learn that version!

Regards.

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Alice
Date: 29 Aug 02 - 09:20 PM

Becky, fun version. Thanks for posting.

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan
Date: 30 Aug 02 - 04:33 AM

Becky, not Betty! Sorrya about that...

Regards

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Peg
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 10:26 AM

Still would love to have the Gaelic lyrics to this! irish or Scots Gaelic, doesn't mattter.... anyone? The tune I know is from O' Carolan, I believe....I have a tape of an instrumental guitar version from my old band Brigid's Brood...

many thanks for help with this,
Peg

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Brían
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 10:23 PM

I have a version of the words from the CD Amhría ar an Sean-Nós. I'll post them later when I have a chance, Peg.

Brían

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Peg
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 11:26 PM

thanks so much Brian!!!! I appreciate it.
Peg

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 12:25 AM

Gee, there's not much in the Traditional Ballad Index, but I think I'll post it here anyhow.
-Joe Offer-Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow, The DESCRIPTION: "O 'twas on a bright mornin' in summer When I first heard her voice singin' low As he said to a colleen beside him, 'Who's the pretty girl milkin' the cow?'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1835 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(457))
KEYWORDS: love work
FOUND IN: US(MW) Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
O'Conor, pp. 58-59, "The Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow" (1 text)
OLochlainn 57, "Cailin Deas Cruite Na MBo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 40, "Who's the Pretty Girl Milkin' the Cow?" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #3139
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(457), "The Pretty Maid Milking her Cow," G. Walker (Durham), 1797-1834; also Harding B 25(1563), Firth c.18(163), Harding B 11(2386), Harding B 11(2846), "[The] Pretty Maid Milking her Cow"; 2806 b.11(99), "Colleen Dhas Crutha Na Mho" ("It was on a fine summer's morning"), W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.15(127), Harding B 19(79), "Colleen Dhas Crutha Na Mho"
Murray, Mu23-y1:029, "Colleen Dhas Crutha na Mho," James Lindsay Jr (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Peistie Glen" (tune)
Notes: O'Conor seems more complete than Sandburg. He hears her singing and professes to be "your captive slave for the future." She is not taken in by his profession, nor by his claim that "The Indies afford no such jewel" or that he would trade "the wealth of great Omar... Devonshire's treasure ... the lamp of Aladdin" to "live poor on a mountain With colleen dhas cruthin amoe." He warns "a young maid is like a ship sailing, She don't know how long she may steer" and he asks her to marry.
Samuel Lover in Rory O'More (1836) quotes this fragment: "I saw a young damsel--'twas Noreen; Her ringlets did carelessly flow Oh: how I adore you, ma voureen Ma Colleen dhas crutheen na mbho." - BS
File: San040

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Subject: ADD: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 12:51 AM

Not much in Sandburg's American Songbag (1927), either:

O 'twas on a bright mornin' in summer
When I first heard her voice singin' low
As he said to a colleen beside him,
'Who's the pretty girl milkin' the cow?'"

Sandburg's notes:
The fragment here is probably a make-over, a distillation, from an Irish song of lesser grace and melody. Bob Lee sang this for me, but wasn't sure he had the words right; he would see the traffic policeman, Tom Burke, and be sure; and Burke said, "Why should ye be wantin' that little song? It's old. Everybody knows it."

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SONG OF O'RUARK, PRINCE OF BREFFNI
From: masato sakurai
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 05:50 AM

"The Valley Lay Smiling Before Me (The Song Of O'Ruark, Prince Of Breffni)" is on Thomas Moore's Irish Melodies (hyperion CD; track 12; with sound lip). This CD also contains "The Pretty Girl Milking The Cows" (harp; track 23) from Bunting.

From
Thomas Moore's Irish Melodies:

THE SONG OF O'RUARK, PRINCE OF BREFFNI*
(Melody - "The Pretty Girl milking her Cow")
Thomas Moore, from Irish Melodies, vol. 5

The valley lay smiling before me,
Where lately I left her behind;
Yet I trembled, and something hung o'er me,
That sadden'd the joy of my mind.
I look'd for the lamp which, she told me,
Should shine when her Pilgrim return'd;
But, though darkness began to infold me,
No lamp from the battlements burn'd!

2. I flew to her chamber - 'twas lonely,
As if the loved tenant lay dead;
Ah, would it were death, and death only!
But no, the young false one had fled.
And there hung the lute that could soften
My very worst pains into bliss;
While the hand that had waked it so often
Now throbb'd to a proud rival's kiss.

3. There was a time, falsest of women,
When Breffni's good sword would have sought
That man, through a million of foemen,
Who dared but to wrong thee in thought!
While now - oh degenerate daughter
Of Erin, how fallen is thy fame!
And through ages of bondage and slaughter,
Our country shall bleed for thy shame.

4. Already the curse is upon her,
And strangers her valleys profane;
They come to divide, to dishonour,
And tyrants they long will remain.
But onward! - the green banner rearing,
Go, flesh every sword to the hilt;
On our side is Virtue and Erin,
On theirs is the Saxon and Guilt.

* [Moore's original note] These stanzas are founded upon an event of most melancholy importance for Ireland, if, as we are told by our Irish historians, it gave England the first opportunity of profiting by our divisions and subduing us. The following are the circumstances, as related by O'Halloran: - "The king of Leinster had long conceived a violent affection for Bearbhorgil, daughter to the king of Meath, and though she had been for some time married to O'Ruark, prince of Breffni, yet it could not restrain his passion. They carried on a private correspondence, and she informed him that O'Ruark intended soon to go on a pilgrimage (an act of piety frequent in those days), and conjured him to embrace that opportunity of conveying her from her husband she detested to a lover she adored. Mac Murchad too puntually obeyed the summons, and had the lady conveyed to his capital of Ferns." - The monarch Roderick espoused the cause of O'Ruark, while Mac Murchad fled to England, and obtained the assistance of Henry II.
"Such," adds Giraldus Cambrensis (as I find him in an old translation), "is the variable and fickle nature of woman, by whom all mischief in the world (for the most part) do happen and come, as may appear by Marcus Antonius, and by the destruction of Troy." - from Irish Melodies.

From The Fiddler's Companion:

PRETTY GIRL MILKIN' HER COW [1] (An Cailin Deas Cruidte na m-Bo). AKA and see "Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow," "The Valley Lay Smiling Before Me," "I Would I Were But That Sweet Linnet," "The Flower of All Maidens." Irish, Slow Air (3/4 time). A Dorian (O'Neill): G Minor (Kerr). Standard. AB (O'Neill): AABB (Kerr). As can be seen by the alternate titles above, this popular and large Irish tune family is the vehicle for numerous folk songs, and can be heard in slip jig and even reel form in dance tunes (see, for example, a polka version of the tune under "Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow."). Norman Cazden (et al, 1982) collected it in the Catskill Mountains (New York) as "The Green Mossy Bands by the Lea.," and discusses it extensively in his "Folk Songs of the Catskills." Other songs sometimes sung to it, he finds, are the lumbercamp favorite "Erin's Green Shores," "The Banks of the Little Eau Pleine." In Pennsylvania, it has been collected as "The Pretty Girl Milking Her Goat." Cazden also notes that the melody was used for "Llanarmon" (a Welsh hymn), a Newfoundland song called "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle," an 1888 London music hall song written by Lady Dufferin entitled "Terence's Farewell," and many others. Thomas Moore set his text "The Valley Lay Smiling Before Me" to it. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 4; No. 243, pg. 26 (set as a jig). O'Neill (1850), 1979; No. 102, pg. 19. Maggie's Music MM107, "Music in the Great Hall" (1992).

PRETTY GIRL MILKIN' HER COW [2] (An Cailin Deas Cruidte na m-Bo). AKA and see "Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow." Irish, Jig (6/8 time) or Slow Air (3/4 time). A Dorian. Standard. AB. The tune is rendered in 9/8 time in the Roche Collection (appears as "Pretty Maid ...")./ Very similar to version #1. Hardings All-Round, 1905; No. 188, pg. 59. O'Neill (1850), 1979; No. 103, pg. 19.

PRETTY MAID MILKIN' HER COW [1]. Irish, American; Polka. C Major. Standard. See note for "Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow." AABB (Ford): AA'B (Carlin). Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; No. 281, pg. 158. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 110.

PRETTY MAID MILKING HER COW, THE [2] (An Cailin Deas Cruidte na m-Bo). AKA and see "Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow." Irish, Air (9/8 time). A Dorian. Standard. AAB. The tune is rendered in 6/8 time in Harding's Collection (appears as "Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow"). Roche Collection, 1982, Vol. 1; No. 40, pg. 20.

The earliest record of the tune is probably "Calin deas scruidadh na mbo" [Cailín deas crúite ba mbó] in Edward Bunting, ed., A General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music, Vol. 1 (1796) [p. 54; the credit is to Arthur O'Neill]; the score is in Aloys Fleischmann, ed., Sources of Irish Traditional Music c.1600-1855, Vol. 1 (Garland, 1998, p. 619 [no. 3379]). The tune is not in The Ancient Music of Ireland (1840) by Bunting (Dover's reprint edition, 2000; and Fleischmann, Vol. 2, pp. 1055-1106).

~Masato

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: masato sakurai
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 06:35 AM

"The Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow" ("It was on a fine summer's morning") is sometimes said to have been written by Moore (for example, in The Celtic Fake Book, Hal Leonard, p. 185), but the song to that tune in Irish Melodies is "The valley lay smiling before me." The sheet music of "The Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow" in Florence Leniston, Popular Irish Songs (Dover, 1992, pp. 104-109) does not give Moore credit for the song: "Words & Music: Anon. (arr. George Alexander Lee). Pub.: Goe. Shade, London, n.d. [1851?] (Orig. pub.: London: Preston, 1796)." Colm O Lochlainn does not mention the name of Moore (Irish Street Ballads, 1939, 1967, pp. 114-115, 224) either.

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: masato sakurai
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 07:43 AM

From the Levy Collection:

Title: The Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow. Irish Ballad. ("The Valley Lay Smiling Before Me"). [Also includes "The Song of O'Ruark, Prince of Breffni," to the same air].
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: na
Publication: New York: John J. Daly, 419 Grand St., 1860.
Form of Composition: strophic
Instrumentation: piano and voice
First Line: 'Twas on a bright mornin' in summer I first heard his voice spakin' low
Performer: As Sung by Miss Agnes Robertson and Mrs. John Wood in Bourcicalt's Drama of the "Colleen Bawn."
Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: Stackpole, Sc.
Plate Number: 99
Subject: Courtship & love
Subject: Country life
Subject: Campaigns & battles
Subject: Deceit
Subject: War
Subject: Emotion--pain
Call No.: Box: 053 Item: 047

From American Memory:

The dead beat. Air: Pretty maid milking her cow. H. De Marsan, Publlisher, No. 60 Chatham Street, N. Y. [n. d.]

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: masato sakurai
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 08:01 AM

From the Bodleian Library collection:

Printer: Povey, L. (Berkeley)
Date: 18--
Imprint: Lewis Povey, Printer, Berkeley
Illus. Ballads on sheet: 2
Copies: Firth b.26(130)
Ballads: 1. The pretty girl milking her cow ("It was a fine summers morning ...")
Subject: Rural society
2. A life on the ocean wave ("A life on the ocean wave ...")
Author: Serjeant, E.
Subject: Sailing

Printer: Bathgate, J. (Liverpool)
Date: c.1847
Imprint: J. Bathgate, Printer, Park Lane, L'pool
Illus. Ballads on sheet: 1
Note: Holed
Copies: Firth c.16(122)
Ballads: 1. Lament for the brave. A dream ("At rest from all care, gently sleeping ...")
Author: Hill, R.D.
To the tune of: The pretty girl milking her cow
Subject: Franco-Prussian war

Printer: Walker, G. (Durham)
Date: between 1797 and 1834
Imprint: George Walker, Printer, Durham. Printer's Series: (65).
Illus. Ballads on sheet: 2
Copies: Firth b.26(457)
Ballads: 1. The fair maid in Bedlam ("It was down in Moorfields, as I walked one day ...")
Subject: Courtship - difference in social status; Cruel parents; Insanity; Bethlehem Royal Hospital (London, England)
2. The pretty maid milking her cow ("It was on a fine summer's morning ...")
Subject: Rural society

Printer: [s.n.] ([s.l.])
Date: [s.a.]
Ballads on sheet: 1
Copies: Harding B 25(1563)
Ballads: 1. Pretty maid milking her cow ("It was on a fine summer's morning ...")
Note: Slip

Printer: Such, H. (London)
Date: between 1863 and 1885
Imprint: London: H. Such, Printer and Publisher, 177, Union Street, Boro'. S.E. Printer's Series: (334).
Illus. Ballads on sheet: 2
Copies: Firth b.26(317)
Firth c.18(163)
Ballads: 1. The pretty maid milking her cow ("'Twas on a fine summer's morning when birds sweetly tuned from each bower ...")
Subject: Rural society; Agricultural laborers
2. Spanking Jack ("Spanking Jack was so comely, so pleasant, so jolly ...")
Author: Dibdin, Charles
Subject: Naval

Printer: Catnach, J. (London)
Date: between 1813 and 1838
Imprint: J. Catnach, Printer, 2 & 3, Monmouth Court, Seven Dials
Illus. Ballads on sheet: 2
Copies: Harding B 11(2386)
Ballads: 1. May day morning early ("To the fields I carried my milking cow ...")
2. Pretty maid milking her cow ("'Twas on a fine summer's morning when birds sweetly tuned from each bower ...")

Printer: Pitts, J. (London)
Date: between 1819 and 1844
Imprint: Pitts, Printer, wholesale Toy and Marble warehouse, 6, Gt. St. Andrew Street, Seven Dials
Illus. Ballads on sheet: 2
Copies: Harding B 11(2846)
Ballads: 1. On board of the Victory ("I am a young girl whose fortune is great ...")
Subject: Press-gangs
2. Pretty maid milking her cow ("Twas on a fine summer's morning when birds sweetly tuned from each bower ...")

Subject: Lyr Add: CAILÍN DEAS CRÚITE NA MBÓ
From: Brían
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 08:32 AM

CAILÍN DEAS CRÚITE NA MBÓ

Lá gréine is mé ag aoireacht i gcom cnoic
Thainig éiclips agus luathramh ró mhór,
Is mé ag feicaint ins na spéaraibh go hiontach
'Sé taobh liom gur thuirlic bean óg.
Ach nuair a d'fhiafraíos cad é an chiall duit theacht chugham ann
Is gan éinne dá trúpaibh 'ná treo'
Nó arbh í an bhean uasal a bhí go huaigneach i gcom cnoic
Nó cailín deas crúite na mbó.

Is baolach nach chun saol fada a thabhairt dom
Gur thaobhaigh an chúileann san im 'threo,
Nó arbh í an bhean uasal a bhí go huaigneach i gcom cnoic
Nó cailín deas crúite na mbó.

Agus reacaireacht mhagaidh ní chumfainn,
Ba bheag orm lúbadh os ord,
Ach    ? an teanga air do thabharfainn,
Go bhfacasa asúd an bhean óg,
Mar do mheasas dul tamall dá tionlac
Is ná scarfainn le mo rún searc go deo,
Lena geasa ? do bhuail cleasa ar mo shúilibh
Is gearr é gur iompaigh 'na cló.

Sí an chiúin tréitheach chiúin réitheach ? is stuaime í,
Meidhréiseach ? uasal go leor,
Is gur ghile í na an eala ar na dúthchaibh,
Is gearr gur dhein clúmh dí os mo chomhair.

Is éadrom 's aerach do shiúlóinn,
Ar taobh cnoic lá smúite gan cheo,
Is gur ghile í ná an eala ar na dúthchaibh,
Is is gearr ná gur iompaigh 'na cló?
Do bhí a claonrosc ar aon dath an drúchta,
Is a mala ró-dheas chumtha go leor,
Is go raibh an gil-phéacaigh seo taobh liom do ghluais sí,
Teact ag éisteacht le buachaill na mbó.

This was recorded in 1965 by Ciarán Mac Mathúna. The singer is Seán Ó Donghaile, An Coireán, Co. Chiarraí. There are more complete versions available. The singer apparently learned it orally and there seems to be errors. I can't make out the missing words from listening to the recording.

Brían

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Brían
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 11:19 AM

I've found another version in Cas Amhrán which I could add later. This one might fit the music you have, Peg. If I'm real adventurous, I might even make a midi...

Brían

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Peg
Date: 13 Oct 02 - 01:34 AM

thanks for that version Brian! It does not fit the tune I have (too many lyrics!) However I like the words and maybe I can find another tune to suit. In the meantime, if you do have another Gaelic/Irish version that would be helpful too...this is great!!!!

I am giving a paper at Harvard in the morning on Gaelic milking songs...I have always loved this air but the English lyrics have always seemed a bit insipid to me...

again many thanks! I patiently await the other bits...
and will post whatever else I can find...

also thanks to Joe and masato for that very thorough information!

Subject: Lyr Add: CAILÍN DEÁS CRÚIDHTE NA MBÓ
From: masato sakurai
Date: 13 Oct 02 - 06:57 AM

There's a different set of words in Heinrich Möller's Keltische Volkslieder (Schott [ED 554], pp. 72-73; with German translation):

CAILÍN DEÁS CRÚIDHTE NA MBÓ
(aus "Minstrelsy of Ireland")

1. Tá bliain nú níos mó 'gam ag eisteacht,
Le cogar doilghéasach mo mhéoinn,
Ó casadh liom grúdh geal mo chléibhe,
Tráthnóna breágh gréinne sa bhfoghmhar
Bhí an bhóbhainne chumhrtha ag géimnigh,
A's na héanlaith go meidhreach le ceól,
A's ar bhruach an tsrotháin ar leathtaobh díom,
Bhí cailín deás crúidhte na mbó.

2. Tá a súile mar lonnradh na gréine
Ag scaipeadh tré spéarthaibh an cheoigh:
'S is deirge a gruadh 'ná na caora
Ar lasadh 'measg craobha na gcnó:
Tá a béilin nios milse 'na sméara,
'S is gile 'ná leamhnacht a snódh:
Ní'l óigbhean níos deise' san tsaoghal seo
'Na cailín deás crúidhte na mbó.

3. Dá bhfaghainn-se árd-thighearnas na hÉireann
Agus éideacha síoda 'gus sróil:
Dá bhfaghainn-se an bhainríoghan is aeirde
Dá bhfuil ar an dtalaimh so beó:
Dá bhfaghainn-se céad loingeas mar spré dham
Pioláití, caisleáin, agus or:
Do b'fearr liom bheith bocht ar druim sléibhe
Le cailín deás crúidhte na mbó.

4. Muna bhfuil sé am' chomhair bheith i n-éinfheacht
Leis an spéir-bhean ro-dhílis úd fós,
Is daoirseacht dobrónach mo saoghal-sa
Gan suairceas, gan éifeacht, gan treó:
Ni bhéidh sólás am' chroidhe, 'ná am' íntinn,
'Ná suaimhneas orm oidhche ná ló,
Chun go bhfeicfead lem' thaoibh ó n-a muíntir
Mo cailín deás crúidhte na mbó.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Peg
Date: 13 Oct 02 - 03:43 PM

another great set of lyrics! The one I am lookng for would most likely have verse lengths similar to the lines given, and a set of 8 as given above. But there is a chorus/curfa which would probably have 4 lines...dunno if that is helpful. It maybe the version I have heard an instrumental of does not correspond to any known lyric and I will just have to adpat them myself! (Now there's a project).

thanks all!
peg

Subject: RE: Info: Pretty Maid (Girl) Milking a Cow
From: Brían
Date: 13 Oct 02 - 04:02 PM

Masato has provided the same version that is in Cas Amhrán. I think I can make a midi of it if you email me here. just title it Cailin Deas or something so I know what it is in regards to.

Brían

Subject: Tune Add: CAILÍN DEÁS CRÚIDHTE NA MBÓ
From: MMario
Date: 12 Nov 02 - 10:33 AM

X:1
T:Cailin Deas Cruite Na mBo
I:abc2nwc
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:G
z4(E F)|G2B2G2|F2A2F2|E2D2(E F)|G2B2G2|
w:Tá_ bliain nú níos mó 'gam ag eis-teacht,Le_ cog-ar doil-
F2A2F2|E4(E F)|G2B2G2|F2A2F2|
w:ghéa-sach mo mhéoinn,Ó_ cas-adh liom grúdh geal mo
E2D2(B3/2 A/2)|G3F E2|B,2E2(E3/2 F/2)|E4E F|
w:chléibh-e,Tráth_-nó-na breágh gréinn-e sa_ bhfoghmhar Bhí an
G2(G A) (B c)|d2B2d d|e2E2(E F)|G2(G A) (B c)|
w: bhó-bhain_-ne_ chumh-rtha ag géim-nigh,A's na_ héan-laith_ go_
d2B2d2|e4(f e)|d2(B3/2 c/2) d2|G2A2F2|
w:meidh-reach le ceól,A's ar bhruach an_ tsroth-áin ar leath-
E2D2(B3/2 A/2)|G3F E2|B,2E3F|E4
taobh díom,Bhí_ cail-ín deás crúidht-e na mbó.