It was neither the Bear nor the Bere O'Shea . It was the Pear . He had a head shaped like a pear .
My dad who died last year aged 94 was related to the MacNicholas clan ,he knew all the people mentioned in the song . He showed me once how the pincher knot was tied . I asked him how the name came about .He thought it derived from the word "pensioner " , so it would be a way of saying an old timer . He wasn't quite sure on that though .
Pincher Mac used to sit on a high stool in the saloon of the Crown in Cricklewood holding court. One day my dad was in Camden Town and met a cousin of his -and also a cousin of MacNicholas - who had a terrible reputation for fighting. My father asked him why he was carrying an axe and was told that he was on his way to the Crown to sort MacNicholas out .My father refused to go with him . On the way in the door Picher Mac's brother put a glass into his face.