Welcome to the Mudcat, Mo.

A fun song is The Leprechaun, by Patrick Weston Joyce (1827-1914). The only recording I know of it is by Mary O'Hara. The words and music are in Vol. 3 of Herbert Hughes, 'Irish Country Songs'.

THE LEPRECHAUN
lyrics, Patrick Weston Joyce (1827-1914)
tune, taken down by Joyce from a Limerick ballad singer, 1853

In a shady nook one moonlit night, a leprechaun I spied,
With scarlet cap and coat of green, a cruiskeen by his side,
'Twas tick, tack, tick, his hammer went, upon a weeny shoe,
And I laughed to think of a purse of gold, but the fairy was laughing, too!

With tip-toe step and beating heart, quite softly I drew nigh,
There was mischief in his merry face, a twinkle in his eye.
He hammered and sang with tiny voice, and drank his mountain dew,
And I laughed to think he was caught at last, but the fairy was laughing, too! As quick as thought I seized the elf, "Your fairy purse." I cried.
"The purse", he said, "Tis in her hand, that lady at your side."
I turned to look, the elf was off! Then what was I to do?
O, I laughed to think what a fool I'd been, and the fairy was laughing, too!

(I change the lyrics a little when I sing it. In the last verse, I sing "What's that?" he said, "A handsome lad, a-sittin' by your side?" I turned to look.... etc.)

Hughes adds this editorial note: "When Dr. Joyce published his collection of old Irish airs in 1872 he was unable to remember more than one line of the ballad to which the air had been sung both in Dublin and Limerick, and wrote the words here given. In his 'Ancient Irish Music' (1901 edition) he made the following remarks about the leprehaun: (sic) 'It may be necessary to state, for the information of those not acquainted with Irish fairies, that the leprehaun (sic) is a very tricky little fellow, usually dressed in a green coat, red cap, and knee breeches, and silver shoe buckles, whom you may sometimes see in the shades of evening, or by moonlight under a bush, and he is generally making or mending a shoe....' "

Another fun song is The Cork Leg. A more light-hearted approach to lost love are the songs Blarney Roses, and Let Him Go Let Him Tarry.

Alice in Montana