Origins: Thribendeau? / Drimin Dhu

Subject: Origins: Thribendeau (SP?) Irish folksong
From:
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 11:37 AM

My Mother's uncle, Matt Curren from Holyoke, MA, used to sing this to us some 50 years ago:
"There was an old Irishman had but one cow,
And how he could keep him, nobody knew how.
Then one Sunday mornin he came out of Mass,
And there was poor Thribendeau, dead on the grass."

Matt spoke with a brogue, so we assume the song was Irish in origin, but we know nothing about it or what the rest of the words are-there are five of us who remember the song well. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Bob

Subject: RE: Origins: Thribendeau (SP?) Irish folksong
From: MartinRyan
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 12:46 PM

Thribendeau.. drimminndoo.... droimeann donn... There's a bell ringing faintly.

Regards

Subject: RE: Origins: Thribendeau (SP?) Irish folksong
From: MartinRyan
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 12:50 PM

Heere's a start anyway!

Regards

Subject: Tune Add: DRIMIN DHU / DRIMINDOWN
From: Noreen
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 12:56 PM

Drimin Dhu, possibly? (brown cow) mentioned here
and from here:

X:54
T:Drimindown
S:Digital Tradition, drimindn
N:[1] Bucken Bon was the name of his wife; Pat was his son.
N:
N:The chorus is Irish Gaelic and has been written down as it sounds.
N:Seeger (Pete) tells us this is the basis for Kisses Sweeter than Wine.
B:From Maritime Folk Songs, Creighton
D:Sung by Mr. Emest Sellick, Charlottetown, P.E.I., 1956.
O:Irish
Z:dt:drimindn
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=100
W:There was an old man and he had but one cow,
W:And how that he lost her he couldn't tell how,
W:For white was her forehead and slick was her tail
W:And I thought my poor Drimindown never would fail
W:
W: Chorus:
W: E-go so ro Drimindown ho ro ha.
W: So ro Drimindown nealy you gra,
W: So ro Drimindown or ha ma dow
W: Me poor Drimindown nea le sko che a go slanigash
W: So ro Drimindown horo ha.
W:
W:Bad luck to ye Drimin and why did you die?
W:Why did ye leave me, for what and for why?
W:For I 'd sooner lose Pat and my own Bucken Bon [1]
W:Than you, my poor Drimindown, now you are gone.
W:
W:As I went to mass one fine morning in May
W:I saw my poor Drimindown sunk by the way,
W:I rolled and I bawled and my neighbours I called
W:To see my poor Drimindown, she being my all.
W:
W:My poor Drimon's sunk and I saw her no more,
W:She sunk on an island close down by the shore,
W:And after she sunk down she rose up again
W:Like a bunch of black wild berries grown in the glen


Hmmmm: Derivation of 'Kisses Sweeter than Wine' ?

Subject: RE: Origins: Thribendeau (SP?) Irish folksong
From: Noreen
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 12:57 PM

:0)

Subject: RE: Origins: Thribendeau (SP?) Irish folksong
From:
Date: 23 Mar 05 - 12:34 PM

Thank you, Martin and Noreen-Good stuff. i especially lke the Pete Seeger connection. I sang my kids to sleep everynight with Seeger, the Weavers and Holly Near. One neat thing is that my 14 year old daughter, as she learns more history, has started to put the songs into context and has been looking up the lyrics in my songbooks, giving them a relevance that she realizes her music will never have. Thanks again, Bob