Lyr Req: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter

Subject: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter!
From: GUEST,Louigi
Date: 13 Aug 00 - 06:43 PM

Kast weej U heard an Irish band play a song that had this chorus:

Give the woman in the bed more porter, Give the woman in the bed more porter, Give the woman in the bed more porter, Before she wrecks the house!

Does anyone know the rest of the words to this song?

It's such a sweet sentimental Irish song! 8D Louigi

Subject: Lyr Add: GIVE THE WOMAN IN THE BED MORE PORTER^^
From: Quincy
Date: 13 Aug 00 - 09:15 PM

Louigi, here goes!! This is Foster & Allen's more traditional version.

GIVE THE WOMAN IN THE BED MORE PORTER

O'Brien was a friend of mine and he had a mighty wife,
She bore him eighteen children, through years of joy and strife,
When her temper started rising, she would turn a brilliant red
And she'd maybe break a bowl or two, as she thundered off to bed.

Give the woman in the bed more porter,
Give the woman in the bed more porter,
Give the woman in the bed more porter, before she wrecks the house!

When she'd drunk her fill of porter, then she'd begin to snore,
And the bed would shake and rattle, as it pounded round the floor,
O'Brien manned the kitchen while the blankets flew about
And he'd run like hell to buy more drink and she'd begin to shout.

The doctors tried for years and years, to cool her temper down,
They fed her herbs and potions, and powders by the pound,
But the man who found the cure for her, a scudger* Paddy Mallon,
Said to keep her calm you've got to give her porter by the gallon!

Well the porter kept her cool and calm, and porter made her sing,
And sometimes when she'd had enough she'd dance a Highland Fling,
When O'Brien took a drop himself, he'd join her in a song,
And a happier pair you'd never see, and they'd sing the whole night long!

(*gaelic = sgiogair translates as mocker, buffoon... not 100% this is in the original.)

best wishes, Yvonne

Subject: RE: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter!
From: GUEST,Louigi
Date: 13 Aug 00 - 11:33 PM

Oh, wow! Thank you! this is really for my sister, who had the song played for her at a surprise birthday party last week. She only knew the chorus, and we sang it while the band played, but she really wanted the words, all of them! Thamk you! Thank you! Lou aka Louigi

Subject: RE: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter!
From: Quincy
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 05:51 AM

If you like I could send you a tape with it on??
Yvonne

Subject: RE: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter!
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 06:30 PM

I thought Tommy Makem wrote this? He explained that a "Scortcher" was a man who does something with yarn as it is in the process of being made. Dont remember what.

Subject: RE: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter!
From: Quincy
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 07:05 PM

Thanks a million Kendall!!
I'm so glad you sorted out that word. We listened to Mick Foster singing it over and over again and still couldn't come up with anything other than a gaelic word!!
I'll need to ask my granny about the "scorcher" as she and her brothers and sisters worked in the Belfast linen mills.
Probably something like burning the ends or ironing the yarn as I've heard ironing referred to as scorching before.

The only other version of the song I've heard is by a County Longford band called "Porter Row" but it's their own arrangement with only the chorus being the same.

All the best,

Yvonne

Subject: RE: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter!
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 08:34 PM

just checked the lyrics on makems lonesome waters album and its written as scutcher .the dictionary says a scutcher is someone who seperates the valuable fibers of, flax for example, from the woody parts by beating. hope this helps

Subject: RE: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter!
From: The Lighthouse
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 09:20 PM

TOMMY MAKEM wrote this song and it appears on his CD "Lonesome Waters".

Subject: RE: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 08:21 PM

Anybody got a tune they can post? -Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter!
From: kendall
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 08:51 PM

I dont know how to do tunes, but, if you call me, I'll sing it for you

Subject: RE: Give the Woman in the Bed More Porter!
From: Jimmy C
Date: 16 Aug 00 - 07:59 PM

Joe, I don't have the tune for the verses but the chorus is the same tune as "So early in the morning
So Early in the morning
So early in the morning
Before the break of day.

"Early in the morning" is on the Clancy Brothers Carnegie Hall recording when they sang some childrens songs. I dont think the tune for the verses fit the Porter song."