The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #35946 Message #3614279
Posted By: Lighter
01-Apr-14 - 11:47 AM
Thread Name: Origins: Arthur McBride - What's the background?
Subject: RE: Origins: Arthur McBride
The OED can't find "shillelagh" before the 1770s, which makes an 18th century date for the broadside a little less likely. Nor so the 180,000 books and pamphlets of "Eighteenth Century Collections Online" yield any text or reference to the song.