The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #115394   Message #2469751
Posted By: Emma B
19-Oct-08 - 06:27 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Biddy Mulligan, the Pride of the Coombe
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: mrs mulligans the pride of macrome
The version I know is printed in Frank Harte 'Songs of Dublin' (1978) and differs in details from all the above :)

He writes...

'A song of fairly recent origin and made famous by the late Jimmy O'
Dea'

I'm a buxom fine widow, I live in a spot,
In Dublin they call it the Coombe;
My shop and my stall is laid out in the street
And me place consists of one room.
On St. Patrick's Street corner for forty-five years,
I've stood there, I'll tell you no lie,
And while I stood there, sure no body would dare,
To say black was the white of my eye.

You may travel from Clare to the County Kildare,
From Drogheda right back by Macroom;
But where would you see a fine widow like me,
Biddy Mulligan, the pride of the Coombe, me boys,
Biddy Mulligan, the pride of the Coombe.

I sell apples and oranges, nuts and split peas,
Bananas and sugar-sticks sweet;
I sell second-hand clothes on a Saturday night,
And the floor of me stall is the street.
I sell fish on a Friday laid out on a dish,
Fresh mackerel and lovely ray;
I sell lovely herrings, such lovely fresh herrings,
That once swam in dear Dublin Bay.

Now I have a son, Mick, and he plays on the flute,
He belongs to the Longford Street Band;
It would do your heart good for to see him march out,
When the band goes to Dolly Mount Strand.
In the Park every Sunday I cut quite a dash,
All the neighbours look on in surprise;
At my grand paisley shawl, and my bonnet so tall,
Would dazzle the sight of your eyes.

Chorus

Jimmy O'Dea (1899-1965) was a Dublin-born optician who took part in amateur dramatics in his spare time.
In 1927, O'Dea took to the stage full time and formed a partnership with Harry O'Donovan, a scriptwriter who had collaborated with Seamus Kavanagh.
Together O'Donovan and O'Dea created O'Dea's most famous comedic character - Moore Street fruit vendor Biddy Mulligan, the Pride of the Coombe, based on Harry Donovan's original sketches