Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo

Subject: Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Mar 04 - 10:00 PM

Traditional Newfoundland song, sung by Anita Best. Also called "In the Pockets of My Old Ragadoo."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo
From: GEST
Date: 21 Mar 04 - 08:12 PM

I've got it as My Old Ragado. :-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Mar 04 - 10:08 PM

Thanks! I should have looked farther, but I just took the spelling used by Anita Best in her cd.

Subject: Lyr Add: MY OLD RAGADOO (from Tamarack)
From: s&r
Date: 22 Mar 04 - 04:37 AM

Memory gives me Tamarack's version from twenty-five years ago - some errors I'm sure, but the gist is right

I'm a hearty Newfoundlander. Michael Chaser is me name.
I was born in Grading's Harbour. A fisherman I became,
Born in the morning at a quarter after two,
With me hands in the pockets of me old ragadoo.

At the age of eleven years, a fisherman I became.
A likely job a-fishing; I wanted to be a man.
A likely job a-fishing, so a man I quickly grew,
With me hands in the pockets of me old ragadoo.

And now that I am forty years, I'm not a bit ashamed
Of the time I loved a girl. Susan Regan was her name.
Susan said that she loved me and I loved Susan too,
With me hands in the pockets of me old ragadoo.

Says I, "Me darling Susan, there is one thing I must say:
I'm really not intending to wed you anyway;
And to take you to the altar is a thing I cannot do,
With me hands in the pocket of me old ragadoo."

So up spoke me darling Susan, says, "I'm not put out by that,
'Cos I really was expecting that you'd try to leave me flat.
There's plenty men in Newfoundland just so good as you,
With their hands in the pocket of their old ragadoo."

So I buttoned up me overcoat, put on me oilskin hat,
'Cos I really wasn't expecting to get off so light as that.
With the back of me hand I wiped me nose and said goodbye to Sue
With me hands in the pockets of me old ragadoo.

And now that I'm a married man and settled down for life,
In me cosy little cottage with me darlin' little wife,
Often times I bring to mind the time I courted Sue
With me hands in the pockets of me old ragadoo.

Stu

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Mar 04 - 12:22 PM

Nice song. Anyone have any idea about its origins?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo
From: Big Tim
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 12:00 PM

Looks like it might be based on the Irish song "Little Beggarman", which also features an "ould ragadoo". BTW, what IS a "ragadoo"?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 01:01 PM

Usually a mackintosh, but in Canada can be any kind of rain-proof overcoat. One Irish version has it "My Old Surtoo," from a type of overcoat called a surtout.
Yes, one of the Beggarman songs.

An Ulster version, "The Oul' Rigadoo," from Sam Henry's "Songs of the People" was posted in thread 54733: Oul Rigadoo

Subject: Lyr Add: MY OLD RAGADO
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Mar 04 - 10:11 PM

Copied from GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador:

MY OLD RAGADO

I am a Newfoundlander, Michael Carter is my name,
I was born in Grey Islands, a fisherman by fame;
Born in the morning, twenty minutes after two,
With my hands in the pockets of my old Ragado.

Now, at the age of thirteen a-fishing I began,
I longed for a trade and I longed to be a man;
My youth it soon exhausted and a man I quickly grew,
With my hands in the pockets of my old Ragado.

Now, at the age of thirty I'll tell you it's no shame,
I courted a pretty maiden, Susie Laden was her name;
Now Susie said she loved me and I love Susie, too,
With my hands in the pockets of my old Ragado.

She was witty, she was pretty,
She was handsome, she was wise;
She had the best of all good nature,
You could see it in her eyes.
I made up my mind to leave her, so I bid goodbye to Sue,
With my hands in the pockets of my old Ragado.

Says I, my pretty Susie, I have something else to say,
Do not think me so unworthy for to leave you in this way;
For to lead you to the altar is more than I can do,
With my hands in the pockets of my old Ragado.

Oh no, says pretty Susie, I'm not a bit put out about that,
I knew the time would come when you'd turn me down right flat;
There's lots of men in Newfoundland just as good as you,
With your hands in the pockets of your old Ragado.

I buttoned up my overcoat, put on my old black hat,
And thought myself quite lucky to get off so fine as that;
With the heel of my hand I wiped my mouth, I bid goodbye to Sue,
With my hands in the pockets of my old Ragado.

Now that I am married and settled down in life,
With a cozy little cottage and a handsome little wife;
I often think upon the days when I was courting Sue,
With my hands in the pockets of my old Ragado.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 10:42 AM

The name in the song is suppose to be MICHAEL CHAYTOR....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo
From: Big Ballad Singer
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 01:28 PM

I've seen and heard it pronounced "rigadoo".

Also heard, as mentioned above, that a rigadoo is a coat. Heard of them sometimes used as a blanket, tent or ground cover for those who are domestically challenged.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 01:10 AM

The ref in Little Beggarman, IIRC, is just in the last two lines, "That's the end of the tale of me ould rigadoo, So goodbye & god be with you, says Ould Donaghue".

But he hasn't mentioned it previously. So what does it mean here? Did the term "Ould Rigadoo, or Ragadoo", from association with above song, the subject of this thread, somehow become the generic term for a begging life? Or what else does it mean here?

~Michael~

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Old Ragadoo
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 01:16 AM

... although someone he meets, the 'little flaxen-headed girl', I now recall, asks him how does he do "With your rags and your tags and your ould rigadoo" ~~ but that scarcely makes the whole song 'the tale of his ould rigadoo', does it? The 'rigadoo' motif does seem at the end to have taken the whole song over by its symbolic power, doesn't it? Is that because the term has expanded, by a sort of metonomy as I suggest above, to symbolise the whole of the begging life?

~M~