Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper

Subject: Lyr Add: THE COW ATE THE PIPER (Traditional Irish)
From:
Date: 08 Mar 97 - 10:13 AM

This one should be in the DT.
Bye bye

Ezio, Italy
------------------------------
THE COW ATE THE PIPER
(Traditional Irish)

In the year of ninety-eight, when our troubles were great,
'Twas treason to be a Milesian.
I will never forget the big black-whiskered set
That the history books will tell us were Hessians.
In these troublesome times, there was all sort of crimes,
For murder it was never rifer.
At the hill of Glencree, not an acre from me,
Lived the old bold Denny Byrnes, the piper.

Neither wedding nor wake was worth an old shake,
Unless Denny was first invited,
For at squeezing the bags or emptying kegs
He astonished as well as delighted.
In these days, poor Denny could not earn a penny.
The law had a sting like a viper,
And it kept him within till his bones and his skin
Were a-grin through the rags of the piper.

One heavenly night with the moon shining bright,
Comin' back from the fair of Rathangan,
What should he see, from the branch of a tree
But the corpse of a Hessian there hanging.
Says Denny, "These rogues have fine boots. I've no brogues",
And he laid on the heels such a griper.
They were so gallus-tight, and he pulled with such might,
Legs and boots came away with the piper.

He picked up the legs and he took to his pegs,
Then he got to Tim Kavanagh's cabin.
"Be the powers," says Tim, "sure I can't let you in.
You'll be shot if you're caught out there rappin'."
He went round to the shed, where the cow was in bed,
With a wisp he began for to wipe her,
And they lay down together on the seven-foot heather,
And the cow fell a-hugging the piper.

Next morning soon dawned. Denny got up and yawned,
Then pulled up the boots of the Hessian.
The legs, be the law! he flung in the straw,
And he gave them leg-bail on his mission.
The breakfast being done, Tim sent out his son
To get Denny up, like a lamplighter.
When the legs there he saw, he roared like a daw:
"Ah Daddy! The cow ate the Piper!"

"Sweet bad luck to the baste! She'd a musical taste
To eat such wonderful chanter.
Here Padraic, avic, take this lump of a stick.
Take her of to Glenealy. We'll cant her."
The neighbours were called. Mrs Kavanagh bawled.
They began for to humbug and jibe her.
To the graveyard she walks with the legs in a box,
Crying out, "We'll be hanged for the piper!"

The cow was then drove just a mile or two off,
Till they got to the fair of Glenealy.
There the craythur was sold for four guineas in gold
To the clerk of the parish, Tim Daly.
They went into a tent and the luck-penny spent,
(For the clerk was a woeful old swiper).
Who the devil was there, playing "The rakes of Kildare"?
The bold Denny Byrnes, the piper!

Tim gave a bolt like a half-broken colt.
At the piper he stared like a gommach.
Says he, "Be the powers, sure I thought these eight hours
You were playing in old dhrimindhu's stomach."
And Danny observed how the Hessian he'd served,
And they all wished Nick's cure to the viper,
And for grà that they met and their whistles they wet,
And like devils they danced round the piper.

[Recorded by Oisin on "Bealoideas", Ossian Publications, Cork, Ireland, 1995 - previously issued on Tara label.]

---

Note: This post was added to the Digital Tradition in April, 1997.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: THE COW ATE THE PIPER
From: Tim Rossiter
Date: 20 Mar 97 - 10:50 AM

This is a great song. Andy Steward also does a version which has a little better meter. I have researched some of the words and have found the following;

cant - auction

humbug - flattery

jibe - conjole

wisp - bundle of straw

wipe - rag

swiper - from swipe (cheap beer)

luck penny - small return from sale given for luck

Please, does anyone know what a gommach is?

Tim

Subject: RE: THE COW ATE THE PIPER
From: John O'Keefe
Date: 09 Apr 97 - 01:43 AM

A "Gommach" or a "gommack" is a word my Grandmother and Mother use for "Fool". As in "Put that wheelbarrow down, ya gommack, you don't know how to work machinery!" John

Subject: RE: THE COW ATE THE PIPER
From: Rob Greene
Date: 13 Apr 97 - 12:33 PM

I Believe the reference above to Andy Steward should in fact be Andy M Stewart (as opposed to Andy Stewart the crooner).

Subject: That carnivorous bovine
From: GUEST,RWM
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 04:39 PM

Greetings folks,

I was hoping to tap the collective wisdom regarding the song
"The Cow That Ate The Piper". I know it is about the times of the 1798 Rebellion, but does anyone know if it was actually written around
that time ( or more likely shortly after.. say 1805-15?). The language
seems pretty archaic, but it might just be the translation I have.
I am looking to see if this is a reasonably contemporary piece or
is it one of those that SOUNDS old, but in reality: "Ahh now
______ __________ wrote that one back in 1957 when he was coming home late one night..."
Thanks in advance, now back to shovelling snow.

Robert Mouland
www.wireharp.com

Subject: ADD Version: Dinny Burns the Piper
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 04:43 PM

DINNY BURNS THE PIPER

In the year 'ninety-eight when our troubles were great
It was treason to be a militian
And the Black-Whiskers said we'd never forget
And our history showed there were Hessians
In these troubled times oh it was a great crime
And murder it never was riper
Near the town of Glensheed, not an acre from Meath
Lived one Dinny Byrnes, a piper

Neither wedding nor wake would be worth a shake
If Dinny was first not invited
For at squeezin' the bags or emptyin' the kegs
He astonished as well as delighted
But in these times Dinny could not earn a penny
Martial Law had him stung like a viper
And it kept him within till the bones of his skin
Grinned through the rags of the piper

Well one day it did dawn as Dinny crept home
Back from a fair at Lafangen
When what should he see from the branch of a tree
But the corpse of a Hessian there hangin'
Says Dinny, These rogues have got boots - I've no brogues
He took hold of the boots with a gryper
And the boots were so tight and he pulled with such might
Legs and all came away with the piper

Ah then Dinny did run for fear of bein' hung
Till he came to Tim Halley's cabin
Says Tim from within, I can't let you in
You'll be shot if you're caught out there rappin'
So he went to the shed where the cow was in bed
He began with a wisp for to wipe her
And they lay down together in seven foot of heather
And the cow took to huggin' the piper

Well the day it wore on and Dinny did yawn
Then he stripped off the boots from the Hessian
And the legs, by the law, he just left in the straw
Then he slipped home with his new possessions
Now breakfast bein' done, Tim sent his young son
To get Dinny up like a lamplighter
When the legs there he saw he flew up like a jackdaw
And said, Daddy, the cow's ate the piper

Ah bad luck to that baste, she'd no musical taste
To eat such a jolly ould chanter
A pha'd raig a mhic, take a lump of a stick
Drive her off down the road and we'll canter
Well the neighbours were called, Mrs. Kennedy bawled
She began for to humbug and gyper
And in sorrow they met and their whistles they wet
And like divvils lamented the piper

Then the cow she was drove a mile or two off
Till they came to a fair at Killaly
And there she was sold for four guineas in gold
To the clerk of the parish, Sean Daly
Then they went to the tent where the pennies were spent
(Tim bein' a jolly ould swiper)
And who should be there playin' The Rakes of Kildare
Just your bold Dinny Byrnes, the piper

Ah then Tim gave a jolt like a half-drunken colt
And he stares at the piper like a gamuck
I thought, by The Powers, for the last eight hours
You were playin' in the ould cow's stomach
Well when Dinny observed that the Hessians bein' served
Began just to humbug and gyper
Oh in grandeur they met and their whistles they wet
And like divvils they danced round the piper

Listed as Trad in my book, I suppose somebody must have written it.

Subject: RE: That carnivorous bovine
From: MartinRyan
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 04:50 PM

Colm O'Lochlainn, in More Irish Street Ballads (from where most people will have learned it) mentions a ballad sheet origin, no date given. He also mentions that O'Neill's Irish Minstrels "gives a long story and some verses". I don't have a copy - so can't check details.

Regards

Subject: RE: That carnivorous bovine
From: MartinRyan
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 04:52 PM

BTW - some curious lines in that version, John? DO we have O'Lochlainns set around here?

Regards

Subject: RE: That carnivorous bovine
From: GUEST,Charles Kratz
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 04:53 PM

I love it! What's the tune?

Charles

Subject: RE: That carnivorous bovine
From: MartinRyan
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 04:55 PM

I've revived an old thread on "The Cow ate the Piper" which is pretty exactly as in More Irish Street Ballads, partly for reference and partly because it probably sets the record for recall, at 12 years!

Regards

Subject: RE: That carnivorous bovine
From: MartinRyan
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 04:59 PM

in fact This Thread probably has the best info.
Best guess on age is mid 19 C., I reckon.
Regards

Subject: RE: Origins:Cow Ate the Piper -That carnivorous bovine
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 11:22 PM

I combined the 2009 thread with the original one from 1997, so the discussion doesn't get split any further. Here's what the Traditional Ballad Index has to say about the song:

Cow Ate the Piper, The

DESCRIPTION: In the troubles of '98, piper Denny Byrne cannot find work. Needing shoes, he tries to take boots from an executed soldier -- but pulls down legs as well. He sleeps that night in a cowshed; in the morning the farmer assumes the cow has eaten the piper
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: humorous Ireland rebellion animal poverty murder escape clothes corpse
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1798 - Irish rebellion causes Britain to place Ireland under martial law
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (6 citations):
SHenry H29, pp. 53-54, "Denny Byrne, the Piper" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 29, "The Cow That Ate the Piper" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More 37, "The Cow Ate the Piper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 60, "The Cow that Ate the Piper" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 91, "The Cow Ate the Piper" (1 text)
DT, COWPIPER*
Roud #8147
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2916), "The Cow Eat the Piper", unknown, n.d.
Notes: The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Terry Timmins, "The Cow Ate the Piper" (on "The Croppy's Complaint," Craft Recordings CRCD03 (1998); Terry Moylan notes) - BS
File: PBB091

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Bibiography
Go to the Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2007 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

Subject: RE: Origins:Cow Ate the Piper -That carnivorous bovine
From: MartinRyan
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 03:11 AM

"gommach", BTW, comes from the Irish word gamach a simpleton, clown. (Dineen's Irish-English Dictionary).

Regards

Subject: RE: Origins:Cow Ate the Piper -That carnivorous bovine
From: MartinRyan
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 03:55 AM

cant , (as mentioned earlier in the thread) meaning auction also derives from an Irish word ceannt. Must say I'd never come across this one in either language.

Regards

Subject: RE: Origins:Cow Ate the Piper -That carnivorous bovine
From: MartinRyan
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 04:07 AM

In "The Age of Revolution in the Irish Song Tradition", Terry Moylan says:

"Colm O'Lochlainn included this entertaining piece in his second collection of ballads. His text was from a broadside by the Dublin printer Brereton and O Lochlainn dates it to around 1815."

I don't actually see that date in O'Lochlainn.

Regards

Subject: RE: Origins:Cow Ate the Piper -That carnivorous bovine
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 05:01 AM

The folklorist Kevin Danaher heard this as a folktale when he was growing up in Co. Limerick. He published it in Folktales of the Irish Countryside, Mercier Press.

Subject: RE: Origins:Cow Ate the Piper -That carnivorous bovine
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 05:20 AM

Bodleian, Harding B 11(2916) - The Cow Eat the Piper

I first came across this in the every invaluable The Faber Book of Popular Verse (1971), and first heard it sung by Geoff Burton who was a student in Durham in the early 1990s. The melody he used has echoes of The Limerick Rake, and though I never did ask him where he got it from this is the melody I use today. The story of The Cow that Ate the Piper is a common one in the storytelling community (where there is a greater sense of comeuppance by way of a conclusion) though I've never come across a collected source.

So what came first I wonder? The story or the ballad?

Subject: RE: Origins:Cow Ate the Piper -That carnivorous bovine
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 05:39 AM

I think we cross posted, Fred. Thanks for the info on Kevin Danaher. Folktales from the Irish Countryside (Dublin, Mercier Press, 1967) could well be the main source for the story as told today. I think I first heard it told by Robin Williamson around 1982.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Mar 09 - 09:47 AM

Lyrics for THE COW THAT ATE THE PIPER can be found in Irish Come-all-ye's by Manus O'Conor (New York: The Popular Publishing Company, 1901) and Irish Song Book No. 2 (New York: Wehman Bros., 1909). The lyrics are pretty close to what has already been posted.

A storyteller's version, partly prose and partly verse, can be found in Irish Minstrels and Musicians by Francis O'Neill (Chicago: The Regan Printing House, 1913).

A much longer prose version of the story can be found in Legends and Stories of Ireland by Samuel Lover (Dublin: W.F. Wakeman, 1831)--The link takes you to a recent digitized copy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 13 Mar 09 - 10:21 AM

Samuel Lover! Of course! You see, this is what comes of having most of your library in storage for 18 months...

You can get Lover's Legends and Stories of Ireland for pennies in a Senate Myths & Legends edition simply under the title of IRELAND - a single volume which unites it with the equally essential Fairy Legengs of the South of Ireland by Thomas Crofton Croker.

So - at 1831 Lover is the earliest thus far...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: Cool Beans
Date: 13 Mar 09 - 01:15 PM

I know about the cow who ate the bottle of ink and mooed indigo.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 14 Mar 09 - 06:29 AM

There are people today who wouldn't get that. Anyone passing, click on the link below & bask a while in sheer perfection...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GohBkHaHap8

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: mayomick
Date: 21 Jan 11 - 02:56 PM

The dhrimin dhu gets a mention in The Cow That ate the Piper

Tim gave a bolt like a half-broken colt.
At the piper he stared like a gommach.
Says he, "Be the powers, sure I thought these eight hours
You were playing in old dhrimindhu's stomach."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 21 Jan 11 - 03:18 PM

Hardly the wonder seeing dhrimin dhu is the cow.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: mayomick
Date: 22 Jan 11 - 04:34 PM

Sorry for the confusion ,Suibhne Astray . I posted that on the wrong thread . It was intended for the discussion about the origins of the song Kisses Sweeter than Wine ,www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=24481&messages=55 which is based on the song An Dhrimin Dhu .

Here's a translation of the old Irish song . Strange that the cowboy Leadbelly should have based a song on it .
BY SIR SAMUEL FERGUSON.

"Dremmin dhu dhcelish, the dear black cow, was another pseudonym
for Ireland, and there is a very sweet and plaintive air of that name."

AH, Drimmin dhu dheelish, a pride of the flow,*
Ah, where are your folks, are they living or no ?
They 're down in the ground, 'neath the sod lying low,
Expecting King James with the crown on his brow.

But if I could get sight of the crown on his brow,
By night and day travelling to London I 'd go ;
Over mountains of mist and soft mosses below,
Till it beat on the kettle-drums, Drimmin dhu, 0.

Welcome home, welcome home, Drimmin dhu, !
Good was your sweet milk for drinking, I trow ;
With your face like a rose and your dewlap of snow,
I '11 part from you never, Drimmin dhu, !

Subject: ADD Version: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: GUEST,Paul Edwards
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 02:14 PM

Below is a close rendition of Andy Stewart's version. I like it a lot better. The rhyming structure is really nice.
There are several words that I'm not certain about:
Avargh and lavic - Andy's recording sounds like this, but ???
humbug - I think is meant to be sort of shooting the bull
jiber - maybe in the same vein as humbug ???
cant - I think means send the cow to be butchered

THE COW THAT ATE THE PIPER

In the year ninety-eight, when our troubles were great,
it was treason to be a Militian.
And the black whiskers said we'll never forget,
and our history shows they were Hessians.
In those troubled times it was a great crime,
and murder it never was riper.
Near the town of Glencree, not an acre from me,
lived one Denny Byrnes, a piper.

Neither wedding nor wake would be worth a shake,
if Denny was first not invited;
for at squeezing the bags or emptying the kegs,
he astonished as well as delighted.
But in these times Denny could not earn a penny,
martial law had him stung like a viper;
and it kept him within till the bones of his skin
grinned through the rags of the piper.

One day it did dawn as Denny crept home
back from a fair at Lethangan;
when what should he see, from the branch of a tree,
but the corpse of a Hessian there hanging.
Says he, "These rogues have good boots, I've no brogues,"
He took hold of the boots with a griper,
and the boots were so tight, and he pulled with such might,
legs and all came away with the piper.

Then Denny did run for fear o' being hung,
til he came to Tim Haley's cabin.
Says Tim from within, "I can't let you in;
you'll be shot if you caught out there rappin'."
So he went to the shed, where the cow was in bed;
he began with a wisp for to wipe her.
They lay down together in seven foot of heather,
and the cow took to hugging the piper.

The day it wore on and Denny did yawn,
then he stripped off the boots from the Hessian;
and the legs, by the law!, he just left in the straw,
then he slipped home with his new possessions.
When breakfast was done Tim sent his young son
to get Denny up like a lamplighter.
When the legs there he saw, he flew up like a jackdaw
and cried, "Daddy, the cow's et the piper."

"Ah, bad luck to the baste, she'd no musical taste
to eat such a jolly auld chanter.
Avargh and lavic, take a lump of a stick,
Drive her off down the road, and we'll cant her."
The neighbors were called, Mrs. Kennedy bawled,
she began for to humbug and jiber.
In sorrow they met and their whistles they wet,
and like divils lamented the piper.

The cow she was drove just a mile or two off,
to a fair at the town of Glenealy.
And there she was sold for four guineas in gold
to the clerk of the parish, Tom Daly.
Then they went to the tent, where the pennies were spent,
Tim being a jolly old swiper;
when who should he see there, playing the Rakes of Kildare,
just your Baltheny Byrnes, the piper.

Then Tim gave a jolt like a half-broken colt,
and he stared at the piper like a gommach.
"I thought by the powers for the last eight hours,
you were playing in the auld cow's stomach."
When Denny observed that the Hessians'd been served,
He began for to humbug and jiber,
and in grandeur they met and their whistles they wet,
and like divils they danced round the piper.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: GUEST,Mick Dunne
Date: 04 Apr 11 - 08:47 PM

Well this is all very fine, but nothing bests the version that Noel Murphy recorded and performed. Sung with panache and a fine sense of song, it can be found on Noel's wonderful double retrospective CD "The Quality of Murphy" which is available from Noel himself via http://www.noelmurphy.org.uk/ for £17.00

Buy a few and make some friends happy.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE COW THAT ATE THE PIPER
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 08 Apr 11 - 10:56 PM

Here's the oldest version of the song I can find.

From Songs of Ireland and Other Lands (New York: D. & J. Sadlier & Co., 1847), page 103:

THE COW THAT ATE THE PIPER.

In the year '98, when our troubles were great,
And it was treason to be a Milesian,
That black-whisker'd set we will never forget,
Though history tells us they were Hessian.
In this troublesome time, oh! 'twas a great crime,
And murder never was riper,
At the side of Glenshee, not an acre from me,
There lived one Denny Byrne, a piper.

Neither wedding nor wake would be worth a shake,
Where Denny was not first invited.
At squeezing the bags and emptying the kegs,
He astonished as well as delighted.
In these times poor Denny could not earn one penny.
Martial law had him stung like a viper.
They kept him within till the bones and the skin
Were grinning thro' the rags of the piper.

One evening in June, as he was going home,
After the fair of Rathnagan,
What should he see from the branch of a tree,
But the corpse of a Hessian there hanging.
Says Denny, "Those rogues have boots, I've brogues."
On the boots then he laid such a griper.
He pulled with such might, and the boots were so tight,
That legs and boots came away with the piper.

Then Denny did run, for fear of being hung,
Till he came to Tim Kennedy's cabin.
Says Tim from within, "I can't let you in.
You'll be shot if you're caught there a rapping."
He went to the shed, where the cow was in bed.
With a wisp he began for to wipe her.
They lay down together on a seven-foot feather,
And the cow fell a hugging the piper.

Then Denny did yawn, as the day it did dawn,
And he streel'd off the boots of the Hessian.
The legs, by the law, he left on the straw
And he gave them leg-bail for his mission.
When the breakfast was done, Tim sent out his son,
To make Denny jump up like a lamplighter.
When the legs there he saw, he roar'd like a jackdaw,
"Oh, daddy! the cow's ate the piper!"

"Musha bad luck on the beast! She'd a musical taste,
For to eat such a beautiful chanter.
Arrah! Patrick avic, take a lump of a stick,
Drive her off to Glenhealy. We'll cant her."
Mrs. Kennedy bawl'd, and the neighbors were call'd.
They began for to humbug and gibe her.
To the churchyard Tim walked, with the legs in a box,
And the cow will be hung for the piper.

The cow she was drove a mile or two off,
To the fair at the side of Glenhealy,
And there she was sold for four guineas in gold,
To the clerk of the parish, Tim Daly.
They went to a tent. The luck-penny was spent,
The clerk being a jolly old swiper.
Who d'ye think was there, playing the "Rakes of Kildare,"
But poor Denny Byrne, the piper!

Then Tim gave a bolt, like a half-drunken colt.
At the piper he gazed like a gommack,.
He said, "By the powers! I thought these eight hours
You were playing in driman dhu's stomach!"
Then Denny observed how the Hessian was served,
And they all wish'd Nick's cure to the griper.
For grandeur they met, their whistles they wet,
And like devils they danced round the piper.


[The above text is very close to that found in the Bodleian collection, Harding B 11(2916), where it is called THE COW EAT THE PIPER.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: GUEST,Greg in London
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 07:43 AM

Never mind all that.

Does [i]dhrimindhu[/i] rhyme even vaguely with Ermintrude and could that have been linked in any way to the name of that most famous of cows ??

Or am I seeing links where none could possibly exist ?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Cow that Ate the Piper
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 03:55 PM

Next time I sing it (Twilight Tales at this year's Morpeth Gathering I shouldn't wonder) it's Ermintrude for sure! You see, that really is the Folk Process at work; pure Poodle Play. Nice one, Greg!