Origins: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran/Zozimus)

Subject: Moran's Finding of Moses
From: Mountain Dog
Date: 15 May 98 - 09:37 AM

In a recent re-reading of Mary Murray Delancy's wonderful book "Of Irish Ways", I came across the first two verses of "Finding of Moses", sung by the blind ballad singer Michael Moran. He sang in Dublin under the name of Zozimus in the latter 1790s and early 1800s.

The verses are recorded as follows:

"In Aigypt's land, contagious (sic) to the Nile,

Ould Pharo's daughter went to bathe in style

She took a dip and come onto the land,

And for to dry her royal pelt she ran along the strand.

She tripped upon a bulrush and she saw

An infant lying on a wad of straw,

She gazed upon it, and in accents mild

Said, "Tar an' ages, gerrils, which of yez owns the child?"

Mary Delancy states "Only the first part of Moran's 'Finding of Moses' is remembered, but though we regret the loss of subsequent verses, it is remarkable to think that even this small portion of the song has survived."

Despite Ms. Delancy's assertion that the lyrics are lost, I would love to find the rest of the song and naturally, I thought of my esteemed and beloved colleagues here in the forum.

Any help would be appreciated, as always.

Many thanks.

Subject: RE: Moran's
From: Mountain Dog
Date: 15 May 98 - 03:18 PM

Hmmm, are my cheeks red! The good news? Mudcat came through as usual. The bad news? I hadn't checked the database before posting my request for the rest of "Finding of Moses". Not only is it there in its entirety, Zozimus is credited, along with Fred Harte.

I must now write an hundred times in longhand:

"I will always check the database first, I will always check the database first, I will always check..."

Subject: RE: Moran's missing tune
From: Jon W.
Date: 15 May 98 - 03:51 PM

HEY! I get an error 404 requested URL not found when I click to play or download this tune: FINDMOSE.MID

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FINDING OF MOSES (Moran/Zozimus)
From: McGrath
Date: 15 May 98 - 06:22 PM

THE FINDING OF MOSES
(Michael Moran - 'Zozimus')

On Egypt's banks, contagious to the Nile
The auld Pharaoh's daughter, she went to bathe in style
She took her dip and she came unto the land
And to dry her royal pelt she ran along the strand
A bulrush tripped her whereupon she saw
A smiling baby in a wad of straw
She took him up and says she in accents mild
"Oh tar-an-a-gers, now me girls, which one of yis owns the child?"

She took him up and she gave a little grin
For she and Moses were standing in their skin
"Bedad now" says she "it was someone very rude
Left a little baby by the river in his nude."
She took him to her auld lad sitting on the throne
"Da," says she, "will you give the boy a home?"
"Bedad now," says he, "sure I've often brought in worse.
Go my darling daughter and get the child a nurse."

An auld blackamore woman among the crew
Cried out, "You royal savage, what's that to do with you?
Your royal ladies is too meek and mild
To beget dishonestly this darling little child."
"Ah then," says the Pharaoh, "I'll search every nook
From the Phoenix Park down to Donnybrook
And when I catch a hoult of the bastard's father
I will kick him from the Nile down to the Dodder."

Well they sent a bellman to the market square
To see if he could find a slavey there
But the only one now that he could find
Was the little young one that left the child behind
She came up to the Pharaoh, a stranger, mareyah
Never lettin' on that she was the baby's ma
And so little Moses got his mammy back
Which shows that co-in-ci-dence is a nut to crack.

Written by "Zozimus" (Michael Moran) b. 1794 d. 1846

Frank Harte sings the definitive version of this song and the words were taken from his book "Songs of Dublin" (1976) which is now in reprint. Frank is a Dubliner (like myself) and it is difficult to accurately write the phonetics of the accent as applicable to this song. And it must be said that this song is best suited to the Dublin style of phraseology and pronunciation. I sing this song at every available opportunity when that Harte fella isn't around. I never tire of it but while my friends are sick of me, but not the song. I am delighted others are showing an interest in this marvelous gem of Dublineese.

Frank McGrath
Nenagh Singers Circle

Subject: Tune Add: THE FINDING OF MOSES
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Jun 98 - 01:59 PM

Here's the tune. I used ABCMUS to convert the Digitrad SongWright file. I checked it with the tune printed in "Songs of Dublin," and it seems to be pretty much the same tune.
-Joe Offer-

X:1
T:The Finding of Moses
Z:Author: Zozimus?
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:100
K:D
AD-FA- BA2A-|FDFA3/2B/A3|AB2E EF2D|FAFE FD3|
W: On Ay- gypt's banks con- ta- gious to the Nile, The ould Pha-roh's daugh- ter, she went to bathe in style.
AD-FA- BA2A|FDFA BA4BBE EFFD|FAFE FD3|
W: She took her dip and she came un- to the land, And to dry her roy-al pelt she ran a- long the strand.
Ad2c- BAF3ddc BA4-ABB BB-cd-|BABA GF3|
W: A bull- rush tripped her where-u-pon she saw a smi-ling ba- by in a wad of straw;
ED-EA- BA2A|FDFA BA3|ABBE EF2D-|FA/A/FE FD3|
W: She took him up and says she in ac- cents mild, "Oh ta-ra- na-gers, girls, now Which of yis owns the child?

Subject: RE: Moran's
From: Barry Finn
Date: 06 Jun 98 - 02:15 PM

Frank, don't know if you might know the fellow yourself, he's been here (Boston) for some time now, I only mention this because he's also a Dubliner & great singer of, not only Irish, but in particular of Dublin songs. Seamus Walker is the fellow & if you know him I'll pass along a hi from you when I see him (once every 4 months or so). Barry

Subject: RE: Moran's
From: Frank McGrath
Date: 06 Jun 98 - 03:11 PM

Barry,
I'm sorry to say that I don't know Seamus Walker but I have (had) an Uncle-in-Law called Bob Walker who was born, bred and buttered in Dublin so maybe there is a connection back through the generations.

But, if he is a Dubliner who loves to sing Dublin songs, well, he can't be too bad a bloke. So, give him my regards anyway.

Also; I enjoy your contributions to the Mudcat. Keep postin', keep singin' an' stay healthy.

Slán.

Frank McGrath
Nenagh Singers Circle

Subject: RE: Moran's
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 06 Jun 98 - 09:20 PM

An apology- The MIDI files we have are missing a larg number of referenced tunes; I've just sent Max 383 of the missing ones, which should pretty musch get us up to date.

If you have a downloaded version, you'll have all the tunes. abjectly, dick

Subject: RE: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran)
From: harpgirl
Date: 22 Mar 04 - 10:49 PM

where can I hear this sung, kevin?

Subject: RE: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran)
From: Big Mick
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 10:00 AM

Thanks for pulling up this old gem, Harpgirl. Shay Walker, for those that don't know, was a member of the seminal Irish band from the revival period, known as The Battering Ram. I had the great privilege to sing with him, as well as Dan Milner, in Boston on several occasions. He does a wonderful version of this song, as well as De Night before Larry Was Stretched. Both of these songs, IMO, require singing in dialect. If you cannot do that, do not attempt these songs. Singing in dialect is OK, only if you care enough about the dialect and the song to get it right. Otherwise it comes off as disrespectful, again IMO.

Harpgirl, if you want a wonderful version of it that you can get from a Florida singer, look up BRENDAN NOLAN'S FAMILIAR BREW. Brendan is Dublin born and raised, and currently lives in St. Petersburg, Fla and performs a great deal around Florida. His website is http://brendannolan.com.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran)
From: harpgirl
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 10:15 AM

thanks Mickster!!!!!

Subject: RE: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran)
From: Kevin Sheils
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 11:32 AM

If you can track down a copy of the Vinyl there was an excellent version on Topic Records that I recall hearing in my youth

12T172 Dublin Street Songs. Frank Harte with Alf Edwards, concertina:

The full track listing from the Topic records discography at the mustrad website is

Traveller all over the World / Shamrock Shore / The Rag Man's Ball / Henry My Son / The Bold Belfast Shoemaker / The Night that Larry was Stretched / The Twang man / The finding of Moses / Father Murphy

Not reissued on CD to the best of my knowledge. The only track from it that seems to have got to CD is "Traveller all over the World" on Irish Voices TSCD 702

Subject: RE: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran)
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 05:26 PM

I used to have a recording of Dominic Behan singing this song in his own style. A guy clled Cormac robbed the LP. I pushed him into the swimming pool. He lived in Vernon Avenue at the time. I have never been able to replace it and I hope I will come accross it . Great to see all the messages.

Subject: RE: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran)
From: MartinRyan
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 05:55 PM

Frank's early Topic recordings have, in fact, been reissued on CD. Details later, if I can find 'em!

Regards

Subject: RE: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran)
From: Leadfingers
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 07:12 PM

Missed this thread the first couple of times round ! I learned this from The Dubliners , Ronnie Drew on vocals , back in the late sixties !!

Subject: RE: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran)
From: Singing Referee
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 01:23 PM

Bloody hell!

I didn't even know she was lost!

Moses and The Ref

Subject: RE: Origins: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran/Zozimus)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 04:06 PM

Any recordings of this song that anyone would recommend? I can't find the Frank Harte recordings in the US. I found it on on a Gerald Smith album with the interesting title, Hamtramck: Heaven.

Here's the not-very-satisfactory Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Finding of Moses, The

DESCRIPTION: "In Agypt's land, contaygious to the Nile, Old Pharo's daughter ... saw a smiling babby in a wad of straw ...'Tare-an-ages, girls, which o' yees owns the child?'"
AUTHOR: probably Michael J. Moran (Zozimus)
EARLIEST DATE: 1871 (Gulielmus Dubliniensis Humoriensis)
KEYWORDS: Bible humorous baby
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
OLochlainn, p. 230, "The Finding of Moses" (1 fragment)
ADDITIONAL: Gulielmus Dubliniensis Humoriensis [Joseph Tully?], Memoir of the Great Original Zozimus (Michael Moran) (Dublin,1976 (reprint of the 1871 edition)), pp. 20-22, "The Finding of Moses" or "Finding of Moses in the Nile"
H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 514, in a note to "Night Before Larry Was Stretched"
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 26-27, "The Finding of Moses" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Moses" (plot)
NOTES: OLochlainn: "...Zozimus, who was in life Michael Moran, born ... Dublin, about the year 1794 ... composed a notable ballad on The Finding of Moses in the Bulrushes, which begins On Egypt's plains where flows the ancient Nile, Where Ibix stalks and swims the Crockadile.... It underwent many changes ... and a number of versions are extant. A fragment of one [is presented here]."
Sparling's text, exactly as complete or incomplete as OLochlainn, is in not quite as broad a slang. Sparling also attributes it to "the celebrated blind 'Zozimus' who sang his own songs." A more complete version is Frank Harte's Songs of Dublin: Moses' mother is picked up, by coincidence, to be his nurse.
"Memoir of the Great Original Zozimus (Michael Moran)" has two versions; the first "would appear to be all his own composition" and the second "appears to have been an early effort [by Moran]." In the first, which has two verses, King Pharoah's daughter "tuk it [Moses] to Pharo', who madly wild, Said, 'You foolish girl have you got with child?"; in spite of the efforts of one of the daughter's entourage to dissuade Pharoah he says he'll "search every hole and nook" for the father "and likely I'll find him at Donnybrook." The second, rescued "from the uncertainty of tradition," is much longer (26 rhymed couplets), has no statements at all by Pharoah, and ends with a moral drawn from the life of the boy "which rescued from their bondage the Israel of God": "A conquered nation, though down-trod, it still is never crushed, A Liberator always comes when Freedom's voice is hushed; And so our own dear land, in time we all shall see The Saxon rulers gone - Old Ireland shall be free!" - BS
According to Frank Harte, Moran/Zozimus went blind at the age of two weeks, forcing him into a career in entertainment. He took his stage name from an abbot Zozimus who lived in Egypt. This Zosimus (note the variant spelling) was rather obscure, but there was also a Pope Zozimus, who was involved in the Pelagian Controversy (see Henry Chadwick, The Early Church (being volume I of The Pelican History of the Church), Pelican, 1967, pp. 230-231. Zozimus was pontiff from 417 to 419), as well as a pagan historian Zosimus (see Paul Johnson, A History of Christianity, 1976 (I use the 2005 Borders reprint), pp. 97, 112)
Moran died in 1846.
The story of Moses being abandoned by his parents (who had to hide him to prevent him from being killed) is told in Exodus 2:1-10. The picking of his mother, in the Bible, is no coincidence. His sister (presumably Miriam, but the girl is not named at this time) has followed the baby along the Nile, and when the time comes, offers to find a nurse for the baby. Naturally she chose Moses's own mother (Exodus 2:7-8). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: OLOc230

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Subject: RE: Origins: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran/Zozimus)
From: GUEST,madge doyle
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 06:59 PM

i have in my poession 6 Zozimus newspapers dated 15th june 1870 ---3rd june 1870 i have had them valued and i am willing to sell them, so if any one could point me in the right direction i would be very greatful
thanking you
madge

Subject: RE: Origins: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran/Zozimus)
From: MartinRyan
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 07:35 PM

Joe

I'll PM you about this.

Regards

Subject: RE: Origins: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran/Zozimus)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 09:16 PM

State the valuation here. There might be a chance of a buyer, and no commission fee except a few pence to Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Origins: Finding of Moses (Michael Moran/Zozimus)
From: MartinRyan
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 05:05 AM

GUESTMadge

What exactly are we talking about here? If you're in Ireland, can I recommend you contact the Irish Traditonal Music Archive - they may be able to confirm the importance and/or the the valuation of the material - and may be interested in purchase. Much as I love to collect material like this myself, I would always check whether ITMA has a copy first.

Regards