Lyr Req: My Pretty Fair Maid

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Pretty Fair Maid
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Aug 20 - 12:33 PM

Does anyone know what the lyrics “toor-I-ah-fol-de-diddle-ah.
Die-ree-fol-de-diddle-dare-I-o” mean? Are they mere nonsense, or is there some translation which could be provided?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 05 Dec 00 - 10:40 PM

Ah; another link to another copy of the same words.  That's a kind thought, but I can't help but mention that it's redundant; it's always a good plan to read some of the postings on a thread -and look at the links already provided- before adding duplicate information.  I don't mean to sound unkind, but it really is a bit of a waste of time.

Further to Peg's comments:

It can often be difficult to assess the point at which two similar traditional songs become sufficiently distinct to be considered as quite separate; in this case, though, I see little doubt that As I Roved Out (as recorded by Planxty) and 16 Come Next Sunday (as recorded by the Bothy Band) are both variants belonging to the family of songs called by scholars Seventeen Come Sunday.  That family is large, and forms of it have been found in tradition throughout England, Scotland, Ireland (where it seems to be most popular in the North) and America.  While the tunes to which it is sung vary, as do details of the text, most recent versions are recognisably closely related.  Professor Child's #299, The Trooper and the Maid may well be an earlier form.  The version popularised by Planxty, for example, is close in both text and tune to others collected in England by Sharp and Hammond in the early 20th century; equally similar versions were recorded from such as Seamus Ennis (Ireland) and Walter Pardon (England) in the 1950s and '60s.  The tune used by the Bothy Band, though they give no source for it on their original recording, shows a distinct similarity to the tunes given in the DT for The Trooper and the Maid and Burns' Nine Inch Will Please a Lady; the latter, like the first Scottish version linked to below, specifies The Quaker's Wife as prescribed tune.  I'd also refer to  The Traditional Ballad Index:

Seventeen Come Sunday  [Laws O17]

Trooper and the Maid

They consider the Seventeen Come Sunday and Trooper and the Maid groups to be separate, though widely intermingled; by their generalised definition, however, As I Roved Out (as recorded by Planxty) would belong to the latter group, and the Bothy Band's 16 Come Next Sunday to the former.  If, however, we look at text and tune together, it seems clear that, if they do indeed belong to different groups, it is the Planxty song which is a Seventeen Come Sunday variant.  For myself, until I see more evidence, I'm sticking with Peter Kennedy, Frank Purslow etc. in considering the two strands as essentially the same song, and these two examples as related variants, the one carrying a tune variant from the Anglo-Irish tradition, the other from the Scottish.  Here are links to related entries in the DT:

Whaur are ye gaun, ma bonnie wee lass  -[a] Scottish version from Glasgow, [2] children's ring game.

A Waukrife Minnie  -the version collected (and likely modified) by Robert Burns.  With tune.

As I Roved Out  from Folksongs and Ballads Popular in Ireland, Ossian Publications.  This is the version recorded by Christy Moore with Planxty.  With tune.

The Trooper and the Maid  Scottish version, original source not specified.  With tune.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: GUEST,John
Date: 05 Dec 00 - 02:34 PM

who are you my pretty fair maid http://ingeb.org/songs/andwhoru.html

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Robby
Date: 05 Dec 00 - 10:57 AM

Thanks Malcolm,
But, being html challenged, it was actually faster and easier for me to simply copy the lyrics from one of my diskettes than to try to figure out how to do that little blue clicky thing. I may get the hang of it someday.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Peg
Date: 05 Dec 00 - 10:50 AM

I have sung both "As I Roved Out" and "Sixteen Come Sunday" (Triona Ni Dhomnail's version) and while similar I wouldn't call them the same song at all...

Different melodies and quite different lyrics...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Brendy
Date: 05 Dec 00 - 12:22 AM

Without being too pedantic, here, the name of the album that Tanner refers to is called The Well below the Valley

Cracker of a song, also.

B.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 09:10 PM

It was kind of Robby to post those lyrics, but it's worth mentioning that a little judicious use of the "Digitrad and Forum Search" on the main Forum page would have revealed that they've already been posted several times before, so he could have saved himself the effort of typing them out again.  Here are a few examples (two of the version recorded by Christy Moore/Planxty, and some other variants):

As I Roved Out

Lith a doodle, As I Rode Out ?

The night visit by christy moore  Yes, it's "As I Roved Out" again...

Sixteen come next Sunday or so  -One Irish version, one English.

There are probably others kicking about here, too, but these will do for now.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Snuffy
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 07:27 PM

The English version is known as "(I'm) Seventeen Come Sunday" and has been recorded by Steeleye, and orchestrated by both Percy Grainger and Ralph Vaughan-Williams.

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: GUEST,Tanner
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 06:26 PM

More common name for this song is 'As I roved out'. Actualy there are dosen of songs with such name. Planxty did two of them on 'Water from the Well'.

There is an entry in local database 'As I roved out' that matches your request.

Tanner

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Stewie
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 06:06 PM

This appears in the DT under the title 'As I Roved Out' where it is identified as an Irish variant of 'The Trooper and the Maid'. In their 'The Scottish Folksinger', Buchan and Hall give a Scots dialect version of 'Trooper' that is similar to the Redpath/Bikel version given in the DT. Child has 3 texts at #299.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Brendy
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 04:35 PM

And (Em)who are you, my (D)pretty fair maid,
And (Em)who are you my (D)honey?
Oh, (Em)who are you, my (D)pretty fair maid,
And (Em)who are you my (D)honey?
She (Em)answered me right modestly
I (D)am my mommy's darlin'.
With me (Em)toor-I-(A)ah-(D)fol-de-diddle-ah.
(D)Die-ree-fol-de-diddle-(Bm)dare-ri-(Em)O.

B.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Cara
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 04:07 PM

Thanks so much! That's exactly it. A cute boy sang it to me in Ireland last week, and one of my favorite locals does it too. Mudcat comes through again!!

Subject: Chords Add: NIGHT VISIT / AS I ROVED OUT
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 03:58 PM

We know this as "Night Visit" or "As I Roved Out" and play it with Em and D.

(Em)And who are you, (D)my pretty fair maid,
(Em)And who are you my (D)bonnie?
(Em)Oh, who are you, (D)my pretty fair maid,
(Em)And who are you my (D)bonnie?
(Em)She answered me right (D)modestly:
(Em)I am my mommy's (D)darlin'.
(Em)With me toor-I-ah-(D)fol-de-diddle-ah.
(Em)Die-ree-fol-(D)de-diddle-dare-(Em)I-o.

However I've heard others with a different structure for "I am my mommy's darlin".

Christy Moore does it: http://www.christymoore.net/lyrics/night.html

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 03:45 PM

Somebody was looking to the chords for this. Anybody got 'em? Is this the same song performed by the Infamous Duo known as Foster & Alison?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Lyr Add: MY PRETTY FAIR MAID (from The Bards)
From: Robby
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 03:38 PM

Hi, Cara,

A friend of mine gave me an old audio cassette he had made from some LPs. This was on it. He indicated that the group who recorded it was known as The Bards. Anyway, here are the words, as I learned them:

MY PRETTY FAIR MAID

1 And who are you, my pretty fair maid,
And who are you my bonnie?
Oh, who are you, my pretty fair maid,
And who are you my bonnie?
She answered me right modestly:
I am my mommy's darlin'.
With me toor-I-ah-fol-de-diddle-ah.
Die-ree-fol-de-diddle-dare-I-o.

2 And will you come to me mommy's house,
When the moon is shinning clearly?
Oh, will you come to me mommy's house,
When the moon is shinning clearly?
I'll open the door and I'll let you in,
The divil the one will hear us.
With me toor-I-ah-fol-de-diddle-ah.
Die-ree-fol-de-diddle-dare-I-o.

3 So, I went to her house, in the middle of the night,
When the moon was shinning clearly.
Oh, I went to her house, in the middle of the night,
When the moon was shinning clearly.
She opened the door, and she let me in,
The divil the one did hear us.
With me toor-I-ah-fol-de-diddle-ah.
Die-ree-fol-de-diddle-dare-I-o.

4 Well, she took my horse by the bridle and the bit,
And she led him to the stable.
Oh, she took my horse by the bridle and the bit,
And she led him to the stable.
There's plenty of oats for the soldier's horse
To eat them, if he's able
With me toor-I-ah-fol-de-diddle-ah.
Die-ree-fol-de-diddle-dare-I-o.

5 Then she took me by the lily white hand,
And she led me to the table.
Oh, she took me by the lily white hand,
And she led me to the table.
There's plenty of wine for the soldier boy
So drink it, if you're able.
With me toor-I-ah-fol-de-diddle-ah.
Die-ree-fol-de-diddle-dare-I-o.

6 Then I got up and I made the bed,
And I made it nice and easy.
Oh, I got up and I made the bed,
And I made it nice and easy.
Then I got up and I laid her down
Sayin': Lassie, are you able?
With me toor-I-ah-fol-de-diddle-ah.
Die-ree-fol-de-diddle-dare-I-o.

7 Well, there we lay till the break of the day,
And the divil the one did hear us.
Oh, there we lay till the break of the day,
And the divil the one did hear us.
Then I arose and I put on me clothes
Sayin': Lassie, I must leave you.
With me toor-I-ah-fol-de-diddle-ah.
Die-ree-fol-de-diddle-dare-I-o.

8 Well, when will you return again,
And when will we get married?
Oh, when will you return again,
And when will we get married?
When broken shells make Christmas bells,
We might well get married.
With me toor-I-ah-fol-de-diddle-ah.
Die-ree-fol-de-diddle-dare-I-o.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Subject: who are you my pretty fine dear...
From: Cara
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 03:03 PM

...and who are you me honey who are you my pretty fine dear and who are you me honey she answered me quite suddenly i am me mother's darlin'

Too ra la fol der dol der la...

Anyone know this? I can't find it in the Digitrad. It's a very catchy little song. Thanks.