What a great song, Alice!



Here's what Michael Fortune says on the notes for the YouTube video:

Hugadda Hugadda Taypot Jack - An Irish Hallowe'en Song

Here is an Irish children's Hallowe’en song for you performed by our girls last night. For a country rich in the tradition of Hallowe’en we had almost no songs about the night, so in 2018 I wrote this for the girls. The song is centered around a rural Irish Hallowe’en experience; the characters, the food, the antics and the sentiment. Some of the figures you will recognise while more are specific to where I grew up in Wexford.

This was filmed in one take last night, no fancy editing - everything just natural, simple and straightforward. It is called ‘Hugadda Hugadda Taypot Jack’ but ‘Taypot Jack’ for short. Where I grew up my mother always spoke of how they never threw out water or emptied the taypot outside on this night without saying these words as they didn’t want to wet the souls. The phrase was a warning to them as many of them believed the souls walked the roads at Hallowe’en; a night “for the living and the dead”.

Aileen works in primary schools sharing traditional songs and this song is a bit hit as the little ones can relate to it from their own experiences and from the stories of their parents and grandparents. Enjoy.

Text: Michael Fortune

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b2nNmdrujU