Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath/Lachlan McGraw

24 Nov 00 - 10:12 AM (#346051)
Subject: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: Wolfgang

I'd be grateful for the lyrics to this (Irish American?) song.

Wolfgang

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24 Nov 00 - 11:38 AM (#346088)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: bill\sables

I remember my father singing this song when I was a kid and I think the tune he used was Irish Washerwoman but I'm buggered if I can remember any of the words.
Bill

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24 Nov 00 - 11:48 AM (#346099)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: Wolfgang

Bill,
I just listened to Irish Washerwoman in the DT and I think your recollection is correct.

Wolfgang

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24 Nov 00 - 08:07 PM (#346296)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: bill\sables

That brings back memories of when my father used to sing it especially the verses about Old Mrs Russell and Jim Mc Guinty. I had quite forgotten them. Thanks Frank and Fulurum.
Bill

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24 Nov 00 - 09:37 PM (#346344)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: McGrath of Harlow

"Araby gourt" - that's a great spelling!

Another song about us, to go with Master McGrath and Mrs McGrath and Eileen Oge (in which "McGrath the cattle jobber" walks away with the little madam). I hadn't met Lottie till now.

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25 Nov 00 - 07:11 PM (#346788)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: GUEST,MartinRyan

Its usually "Locky McGrath", I think. I'll get back with details later. Can't say I recognise Irish Washerwoman in the tune, mind you.

Regards

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26 Nov 00 - 08:11 AM (#346875)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE WEDDIN' O' LAUCHIE M'GRAW (H Lauder)
From: Bob Bolton

G'day Wolfgang,

June last year, I published a version of this, collected from the late Joe Yates of the NSW village of Sofala. Subsequently, I was given the original Harry Lauder words and I supply these here.

The tune collectd here was a variant of the tune that has been intriguing Marcus Campobellorum - possibly the Scottish song Musselburgh Fair ... but definitely Sam Larner's Dogger Bank, the American Cruise of the Bigler and several Australian Songs including Lachlan Tigers, Great Northern Line &c.

I can supply a MIDIText of the Australian collected tune ... but not tonight, it has turned midnight and I will turn into a pumpkin (well, vegetate and not get up for work Monday ... ) if I don't quit now!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

THE WEDDIN' O' LAUCHIE M'GRAW
Composed and sung by Harry Lauder
Edison Record No. 13785

It's all of a spree I'm going to prattle:
That night I fell in with some curious cattle:
To tell ye the truth, it was liker a battle,
It was, than the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.
There were miners and joiners, and journeyman bakers,
A Hielan' Zulu, and a bundle o' Quakers,
The look on their faces near gave us the shakers,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.
Chorus:
Oh, but it was a terrible tare,
Me and mysel' and my mither were there;
May I get mixed up wi' the wheels of a train,
If ever I go to a weddin' again.

We had plenty to eat - we had frost-bitten liver,
As sure as you're her, and as sure as you're never,
The look of the beef nearly gave us the fever,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.
The next thing we had was a cart-load of peelin's,
And a big Irish stew that was made in the Hielan's;
And, oh, but the look of it hurted our feelin's,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.

All of a sudden, big Donal' McGinty,
With several tailors he kicked up a shinty;
He lifted a poker, and killed about twenty,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.
There's no doubt he was in a terrible passion,
With flytin', and bitin', and kickin', and bashin',
There's some o' their faces will never need washin',
Now since the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.

The first one to sing was Hughie O'Hara,
He started, and gave us a verse oh "Ta-ra-ra";
But Hughie's remains were removed in a barrer,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.
The next one to sing was a Mrs. McRussell,
She couldn't sing, so she started to whustle,
Then somebody gave her a kick in the bustle,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.

The tune was collected from Joe Yates of Sofala by John Meredith in 1983.

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26 Nov 00 - 11:29 AM (#346883)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: Malcolm Douglas

Harry Lauder may be heard singing "The Weddin' O' Lauchie McGraw" at  Cylinder Record Hobby Page  here:  Harry Lauder Audio Files  -taken from a wax cylinder, so rather rough.  There is an extract from a much better recording at  Scottish Songs by Sir Harry Lauder

Malcolm

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26 Nov 00 - 09:26 PM (#346963)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: Bob Bolton

G'day (as opposed to last midnight) again,

I see that I shouldn't try to write accurate html late at night! (I obviously mucked up the cancel italics coding after Dogger Bank.

Oh well, I will post these words, plus the collected Australian tune, into a separate Add Lyr/Tune thread tonight (~ ... ?). I presume the adoption of Irish Washerwoman happened when the Irish picked up what appears to be a Harry Lauder original. What I need to know is how close the Australian version resemle Harry Lauder's ... so I need to follow some of those Blue Clicky Things that Malcolm has so kindly provided.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

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27 Nov 00 - 07:10 AM (#346993)
Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: THE WEDDIN' O' LAUCHIE M'GRAW
From: Bob Bolton

G'day,

Wolfgang asked for this and I had best put it into a Lyr Add thread.

THE WEDDIN' O' LAUCHIE M'GRAW
Composed and sung by Harry Lauder
Edison Record No. 13785

It's all of a spree I'm going to prattle:
That night I fell in with some curious cattle:
To tell ye the truth, it was liker a battle,
It was, than the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.
There were miners and joiners, and journeyman bakers,
A Hielan' Zulu, and a bundle o' Quakers,
The look on their faces near gave us the shakers,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.
Chorus:
Oh, but it was a terrible tare,
Me and mysel' and my mither were there;
May I get mixed up wi' the wheels of a train,
If ever I go to a weddin' again.

We had plenty to eat - we had frost-bitten liver,
As sure as you're her, and as sure as you're never,
The look of the beef nearly gave us the fever,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.
The next thing we had was a cart-load of peelin's,
And a big Irish stew that was made in the Hielan's;
And, oh, but the look of it hurted our feelin's,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.

All of a sudden, big Donal' McGinty,
With several tailors he kicked up a shinty;
He lifted a poker, and killed about twenty,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.
There's no doubt he was in a terrible passion,
With flytin', and bitin', and kickin', and bashin',
There's some o' their faces will never need washin',
Now since the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.

The first one to sing was Hughie O'Hara,
He started, and gave us a verse oh "Ta-ra-ra";
But Hughie's remains were removed in a barrer,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.
The next one to sing was a Mrs. McRussell,
She couldn't sing, so she started to whustle,
Then somebody gave her a kick in the bustle,
That nicht o' the weddin' o' Lauchie M'Graw.

The tune was collected from Joe Yates of Sofala by John Meredith in 1983, and is apparently related to the tune used by A.L. Lloyd for his version of the Australian song Bluey Brink.

Listening to Harry Lauder's original tune, as linke din Wolfgang's original thread, it seems that Joe Yate's tune is basically Harry Lauder's - spruced up as a jig tune for dancing.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Here is the tune Joe Yates played:

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Click to play

To play or display ABC tunes, try concertina.net

ABC format:

X:1
T:
M:6/8
Q:1/4=180
K:C
B2BE3/2^F/2G|B2BE3/2^F/2G|A2AA3/2A/2A|A3/2G/2^FE3/2^F/2G|
B3/2B/2BB3/2B/2B|B3/2A/2G^F3/2G/2A|B3/2c/2BBAB|
GEEE3|B2BE3/2^F/2G|B2BE3/2^F/2G|A2AA3/2A/2A|
A3/2G/2^FE3/2^F/2G|B3/2B/2BB3/2B/2B|B3/2A/2G^F3/2G/2A|
B3/2c/2BBAB|GEEE2B|E3/2e/2ee^de|^f2eed^c|
d2BB3/2A/2B|d2BBcd|e2ee^de|^f2eed^c|d2BB3/2A/2B|
GEEE2B|EEEG2^F|^FDDD2^F|EEEe2d|d3/2B/2BB2g|
d3/2d/2dedc|cBAG2A|B3/2c/2BBAB|G3/2^F/2GE19/8||

Regards,

Bob Bolton

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I moved this message here from another thread on the same topic.
-Joe Offer-

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27 Nov 00 - 10:06 AM (#347006)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: Wolfgang

Many, many thanks to all those who have helped. Even more than I asked for, but every bit was welcome.

Wolfgang

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27 Nov 00 - 12:16 PM (#347050)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan

Great! I would never have guessed at a Harry Lauder connection.

Rewards

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27 Nov 00 - 09:29 PM (#347399)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath
From: Bob Bolton

G'day again,

I have posted the words (again) and the Australian collected tune from Joe Yates in an new thread Lyr Add: The Wedding of Lachlan McGraw.

I'm not at all sure why I slipped into the formal Lachlan spelling ...!?! anyway, the words and a MIDItext of thetune are there. The tune sounds pretty close to Harry Lauder's original and It actually resembles the tune used by A.L. Lloyd for another Australian song Bluey Brink (but not the better known, authentic Australian, tunes for that song).

Regards,

Bob Bolton

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28 Nov 00 - 04:02 AM (#347450)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wedding of Lachlan McGraw - Aust. tu
From: Wolfgang

Thanks again, Bob, I found it at both places.

Wolfgang

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04 Nov 04 - 07:16 AM (#1316245)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE WEDDING OF LARRY MCGRATH
From: GUEST,Andrew McMenamin

The version I heard, from my father, who heard if from his grandfather in Donegal, Ireland goes like this:

THE WEDDING OF LARRY MCGRATH

Chorus
Dammit, it was a terrible tear
Me and herself and her mother were there
I may get mixed up in the wheels of a train
If ever I go to a wedding again

The first one to sing was a Mickey O'Hara
Who gave us a verse of the tar-a-rar-rara
Poor Mickey's remains were wheeled home in a barra (wheelbarrow)
The night of the wedding of Larry McGrath

Chorus

The next one to sing was an ould Jenny Russel
And she couln't sing so she started to whustle (whistle)
Then somebody hit her a kick in the bustle
The night of the wedding of Larry McGrath

Chorus

All of a sudden big Seamus McGinty
With several bakers he kicked up a shindy
He lifted the poker and killed about twenty
The night of the wedding of Larry McGrath

Chorus

I never heard any other verses, but that doesn't mean that my great-grandfather never sang them. I might swipe a few from the postings here.

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04 Nov 04 - 08:24 PM (#1317089)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath/Lachlan McGraw
From: akenaton

My Uncle used to sing this at local concerts 1950s

It was always Lachie Mcgraw...
Lachie being short for Lachlan.


As I live in Strathlachlan, home of Ewan Maclachlan,Castle Lachlan,Strathlachlan,who is chief of the Clan Maclachlan, Im a bit of an expert

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28 Jun 05 - 07:01 PM (#1512043)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath/Lachlan McG
From: GUEST

Last verse:

She opened her gifts and her eyes became misty
for there in her lap was a whole case of whiskey
she drank it all down in an hour and fifty
the night of the weddin of Lotty Mcgrath

She broke all the glasses and danced on the table
stripped off all her cloths and mooned old Mrs. Mable
Climbed on the roof and then jumped off the gable
the night of the wedding of Lotty McGrath

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28 Jun 05 - 07:03 PM (#1512047)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath/Lachlan McG
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan

gifts?

Regards

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12 Sep 12 - 03:09 PM (#3403486)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wedding of Lottie McGrath/Lachlan McGraw
From: GUEST,leeneia

I'm not interested in this song as such, but I'd like to mention that in Ireland, the name McGrath is pronounced McGrah. Apparently over time that pronunciation led to the spelling 'McGraw' in other lands.

So whether the couple are called McGrath or McGraw, they have the same name.

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