What a load of cobblers - my paternal grandmother(1898 - 1973) sang this song and she got it from her mother who said she had learnt it when she ws young. The words were slightly different from the so called original 1930 collected one. There was no Father, it was her mother's cottage and she had the kettle boiling when they arrived. they then sat down and "drank a drop of the foggy dew" Now if anybody understands Irish hospitality you know that inviting strangers in to drink tea is almost a religion in itself - that's it. Oh and I think, but am not certain but usually a Galway shawl is black and worn by widows.