Lyr Add: The Wee Duck (The Duck from Drummuck)

Subject: Lyr Add: The Wee Duck
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Apr 16 - 06:25 PM

Jim Carroll posted this in another thread, and I'm afraid it might get lost there.

Thread #159570   Message #3783096
Posted By: Jim Carroll
03-Apr-16 - 01:02 PM
Thread Name: BS: An Easter Question
Subject: RE: BS: An Easter Question

Could ask this feller
Jim CARROLL

The Wee Duck


THE WEE DUCK

I had a wee duck when I lived in Drummuck,
And I ne'er had good luck since I parted the land,
For some hungry thief took a longing for beef,
And to steal my wee duck he invented a plan.
At the head of my bed, where my swaddy she fed,
And one morning in May, and it long before day,
When I looked where she lay, alas she was stole!

CHORUS
Och, och! and a naddy, my darling big swaddy!
Och, och! and a naddy, anuck and anee!

My duck was true blood as she waddled through mud
She was fat as a crud and her wings she did shake;
She was blue in the neck, ay, and broad in the back
And double related to Flaherty's drake.
Her eggs they were blue, most charming to view,
Some night she laid two! Oh, and relate it with grief,
May the curse of the dumb and orphan that's blind
Be together combined and light down on the thief!

CHORUS
Och, och! and a naddy, my darling big swaddy!
Och, och! and a naddy, anuck and anee!

I curse him again (I cannot refrain)
and you'll all say "Amen" when I finish my prayer
May the bee and the wasp and the ape and the asp
Be his daily companion through the market and the fair!
May the weasel and the rat build their nests in his hat!
May the eel ever bite him, and everything fright him,
The monster that murdered my beautiful duck.

CHORUS
Och, och! and a naddy, my darling big swaddy!
Och, och! and a naddy, anuck and anee!

In searching Mudcat to see if this song had been posted before, I came across I Had a Wee Cock. Not the same song, not at all....but it could be an interesting topic of discussion in another thread.

Subject: Origins: The Wee Duck (The Duck from Drummuck)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Apr 16 - 06:28 PM

The Traditional Ballad Index doesn't have much on this song, just an entry from Sam Henry:

Wee Duck, The (The Duck from Drummuck)

DESCRIPTION: "I once had a duck when I lived in Drummuck, I was quite in luck when I lived in that land." The duck, said to be related to (Nell) Flaherty's drake, is said to be very productive -- but now has been stolen. The singer will keep better guard hereafter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: animal bird curse thief theft
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H228a, pp. 19-20, "The Duck from Drummuck" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5075
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Nell Flaherty's Drake" (plot, subject?)
NOTES: If "Nell Flaherty's Drake" is about Robert Emmet, then this song presumably is about some later freedom fighter. The song mentions "the year forty-nine," so presumably 1849 (i.e. the aftermath of the 1848 revolt) -- but the leaders of that revolt, such as John Mitchel (for whom see "John Mitchel"), William Smith O'Brien (for whom see "The Shan Van Voght (1848") and Thomas Meagher (for whom see "The Escape of Meagher") , were transported rather than imprisoned. - RBW
File: HHH228a

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A little from Peter Kennedy's Folktrax Website

:

DUCK OF DUNMUCK, THE - "I had a fat duck when I lived in D" - ROUD#5075 - BSs "The Wonderful Duck" - Possibly a parody on NELL FLAHERTY'S DRAKE - HENRY SOP #228 -- Peter GRIMLEY rec by PK, Armagh 12/7/52: RPL 18479 (5 v)/ FTX-431 "The Wee Duck (of Drummuck)"