The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #132986   Message #3019481
Posted By: Joe Offer
30-Oct-10 - 04:34 PM
Thread Name: ADD: The Tipperary Christening
Subject: ADD: The Tipperary Christening
It's been established that "The Tipperary Christening" is not the song requested in the original post in the Day I Was Christened thread. However, since "Tipperary Christening was mentioned (and since I went to quite some trouble to find it before I realized it wasn't the requested song), I thought I'd post it.
It's in a 1901 book called Irish Com All Ye's (by Manus O'Conor) - the complete text of the book is available at Google Books.

THE TIPPERARY CHRISTENING.

It was down in that place, Tipperary,
Where they're so airy, and so contrary,
Where they kick up the devil's figarie,
    When they christened the beautiful boy.
In comes the piper, sot thinking,
And a-winking, and a-blinking,
And a noggin of punch he was drinking,
    And wishing the parents great joy.

When home from the church they came,
Father Tom and old Mikey Branigan,
And scores of as pretty boys and girls
    As ever you'd wish for to see;
When in through the door,
Hogan, the tinker, Lather and Lanagan,
Kicked up a row, and wanted to know,
    Why they wasn't asked to the spree.

Then the boy set up such a-bawling,
And such a-squalling, and caterwauling,
For he got such a mauling,
    Oh, that was the day of great joy.
Then the piper set up such a-moaning,
And such a-droning, and such a-croning,
In the corner his comether was turning,
    When they christened sweet Dennis, the boy.

The aristocracy came to the party,
There was McCarty, light and hearty,
With Florence Berdelia Fogarty,
    Who said that was French for a name;
Dionysius Alphonso Mulrooney,
Oh, so spooney and so looney,
With the charming Evangeline Mooney,
    Of society she was the cream.

Cora Teresa Maud McCann,
Angelina Rocke, and Julia McCafferty,
Rignold Mormon Duke, Morris McGan,
    And Clarence Ignatius McGurk;
Cornelius Horatio Flaherty's wife,
Adolphus Grace, and Dr. O'Rafferty,
Eva McLaughlin, and Cora Muldoon,
    And Brigadier-General Burke;

They were dancing the polka-mazurka,
'Twas a worker, not a shirker,
And a voice of Vienna, la Turker,
    And the polka-redowa divine;
After dancing, they went in to lunching,
Oh, such munching, and such crunching,
They were busy as bees at a lunching,
    With their coffee, tea, whisky, and wine.

They had all kinds of tea, they had Shosong,
They had Ningnong, and Drinkdong,
With Oolong, and Boolong, and Toolong,
    And teas that were made in Japan;
They had sweetmeats, imported from Java,
And from Youver and from Havre,
In the four-masted steamer "Manarver,"
    That sails from beyond Hindoostan."

Cold ice-cream, and cream that was hot,
Romeo punch, snowball, and sparrowgrass,
Patty D. Foy, whatever that means,
    Made out of goose-liver and grease;
Red-headed duck, salmon, and peas,
Bandy-legged frogs, Peruvian ostriches,
Bottled noix, woodcock, and snipe,
    And everything that would please.

After dinner, of course, there was speaking,
And hand-shaking, and leave-taking,
In the corners, old mothers match-making,
    And other such innocent sins;
Then they bid a good-by to each other,
To each mother, and each brother;
When the last rose, I thought I would smother,
    When they wished the next would be twins.