The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #58775 Message #932253
Posted By: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
13-Apr-03 - 04:54 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Auntie Mary Had a Canary
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Auntie Mary Had A Canary
This song occupied a chapter of my thesis for the School of Scottish Studies a few years ago. I identified over 40 variants of the rhyme - each with substantial differences of narrative, not just a word or two - yet Mary Garvey's version is new to me. The probable [polite] original has been performed by our Balding Prince Charlie, who perhaps learned it from his Scots grannie. It goes back to the Boer War, although a dodgy claim has been made for an earlier origin in the Second Afghan War.