Subject: Lyr Add: MRS. MCGRATH (version by Alex Campbell)
From:
McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Aug 01 - 08:31 AM
This came up in a LyrReq thread fro Mrs McGrath - so I thought I'd repost it here, since it might get missed there by everyone who assume sthey know Mrs McGrath already. (Family loyalty; and in memory of Alex as well)
Here's a version of Mrs McGrath that Alex Campbell made up in 1961:
"On this tour the tune of Mrs McGrath was in my mind the whole time, but the only thing I could remember was that he got his two fine legs blown off by a cannonball. I made up this parody."
Mrs McGrath (acc Bottle of Guinness or unacc.
Mrs McGrath tae the sarjeant said:
"Are ye tryin' tae tak the mickey out o' my son Ted?
Tae go back to tae the army he's no willin'
Why don't ye send for the man they call Mister Macmillan?
With my tooralay, faldiriddle a, Toorai-oorai-oorai-ay,
With my tooralay, faldiriddle a, Tootao-oorai-oorai-ay"
The sarjeant said to Mrs McGrath
"He'll have tae go back, fur that's the law,
In a khaki suit he'll look right fine
An' we'll send him off tae the firin' line."
"Goodbye my son, so brave and bold
Tak yer long woollen drawers they say this war is cold,
And when yer off in Germanie
Make sure you send yer allowance tae me."
A year's gone by and Ted's come back,
Sits doon wi' his mither tae hae a crack
She says: "Wur ye stupit or wur ye daft,
Tae get yer two fine legs frae the knees cut aff."
"Oh mither dear I felt so queer,
It must have been some o' that German beer,
Fur when I went tae see the Russian reds,
I fell aff the wa' an' I broke my legs.
"An now I've been rehabilitated
It'd be an awfy hard job if I'd been decapitated
On civvy street I'm doing gie well
Wi' me two tin legs frae the National Health."
(From Frae Glesca Toon, the songs and stories of Alex Campbell)
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