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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Sandy Paton Best 100 folk words ever (77* d) There Was an Old Piper ^^^ 18 Aug 99


Hey, Leej: Ya can't have all that "ramblin'" without it's word-mate: "gamblin'" - add "Freight-train" (or is that two words?). "Tracks" or its singular counterpart.

For Chris:

Seamus Ennis used to sing:

There was an old piper, old and hoary,
Who lived in the town of (?) Ballaboree.
This old piper, he played before Moses,
And this the only tune that he could play:
     Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!
     Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!

Now, this old piper, old and hoary,
Who lived in the town of Ballaboree,
He died one day and he went down below,
And this the only tune that he could play:
     Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!
     Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!

When the devil saw this old man,
He said, "Put him down in the frying pan!
For this is another old piper, I vow,
Put him down with the others for to play!
     Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!
     Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!

(The final note sung in a descending groan, like the old pipe running out of air.)

Hey, y'all! Welcome Kath, the little gal we wicked folkies of the east rescued, lo, those many years ago, from a dreary life in Grand Rapids! Glad you're with us, dear heart! See you at the Getaway, where we might invite all of the mob to sing with us the above slur on the noble art of piping.

Grandpa Paton (thanking his lucky stars that folk music isn't a youth-cult!)^^^


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