Matthew -

I learned this song from my grandmother who did indeed sing it to us before bed as a good night song - we would cry and beg her not to sing it - but, being a good Irish woman she would sing it anyway and tell my little sister and I that it would "give you a soft heart" - as an adult when I would cry at a sad movie or song she would tell me - "Ah, your bladder's near your eyes!" So much for the value of cultivating a soft heart - boy do I miss her.... (Dead in the Coach Ahead was another one of her favorites - in that one - the father has a crying baby in a train and when someone complains - 'go take it to his mother' he replies 'I wish that I could..but she's dead in the coach ahead' ....boy, just a song kids would love to hear!)

Rois -