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Lyr Req: The Birthday of St. Patrick (Mccaffr

05 Mar 01 - 01:15 PM (#411248)
Subject: The Birthday of St. Patrick (Mccaffrey)
From: *#1 PEASANT*

We seek the lyrics to The Birthday of St. Patrick as sung by Leo Mccaffrey

I have the recording but need to transcribe or find lyrics. Thanks for your help in advance.

Conrad cbladey@bcpl.net

06 Mar 01 - 05:49 AM (#411855)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Birthday of St. Patrick (Mccaffr
From: Quincy

Could find lots of listings of the track but no lyrics yet!

regards, Yvonne

06 Mar 01 - 07:28 AM (#411888)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Birthday of St. Patrick (Mccaffr
From: *#1 PEASANT*

It is a fun song! I may just have to sit down and write them out!

Conrad

04 Jul 02 - 12:57 AM (#741967)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BIRTHDAY OF ST. PATRICK (Samuel Lover
From: Jim Dixon

"Birthday of St. Patrick" performed by Leo McCaffrey, appears on the compilation "Ireland's Greatest Hits," RCA CD #66813, 1996. Authorship is credited to "Lover." I guess that would be Samuel Lover, author of When Pat Came over the Hill, Molly Bawn (Or Fair Molly), and The Low-Backed Car.

I was able to transcribe this much from the sound sample at http://www.click2music.co.za/cgi-bin/release.pl?albumid=1532 [What country is ZA? Zambia?]

    Now the first faction fight in old Ireland, they say,
    It was all on account of St. Patrick's birthday.
    Some fought for the eighth; for the ninth more would die,
    And who wouldn't see right, sure, they blackened his eye.

    Till at last all the factions so positive grew,
    They each kept a birthday, so Pat then had two,
    Till Father Mulcahy who showed them their sin...

Here's another interesting tidbit from The Voice of a Few Americans - Lincoln's Own Yarns & Stories:

    Abe Recites a Song

    Lincoln couldn't sing, and he also lacked the faculty of musical adaptation. He had a liking for certain ballads and songs, and while he memorized and recited their lines, someone else did the singing. Lincoln often recited for the delectation of his friends, the following, the authorship of which is unknown:

    The first factional fight in old Ireland, they say,
    Was all on account of St. Patrick's birthday;
    It was somewhere about midnight without any doubt,
    And certain it is, it made a great rout.

    On the eighth day of March, as some people say,
    St. Patrick at midnight he first saw the day;
    While others assert 'twas the ninth he was born-
    'Twas all a mistake-between midnight and morn.

    Some blamed the baby, some blamed the clock;
    Some blamed the doctor, some the crowing cock.
    With all these close questions sure no one could know,
    Whether the babe was too fast or the clock was too slow.

    Some fought for the eighth, for the ninth some would die;
    He who wouldn't see right would have a black eye.
    At length these two factions so positive grew,
    They each had a birthday, and Pat he had two.

    Till Father Mulcahay who showed them their sins,
    He said none could have two birthdays but as twins.
    "Now boys, don't be fighting for the eight or the nine;
    Don't quarrel so always, now why not combine."

    Combine eight with nine. It is the mark;
    Let that be the birthday. Amen! said the clerk.
    So all got blind drunk, which completed their bliss,
    And they've kept up the practice from that day to this.

04 Jul 02 - 09:04 AM (#742129)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Birthday of St. Patrick (Mccaffr
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan

Mmmmm... Doesn't sound like Samuel Lover to me - unless it got well and truly folked! I'll hve a look.

Regards.

04 Jul 02 - 09:10 AM (#742138)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Birthday of St. Patrick (Mccaffr
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan

A quick check dates a song of that name to c. 1949, written by one Dwight Latham. Details are Here

Regards

04 Jul 02 - 09:11 AM (#742141)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Birthday of St. Patrick (Mccaffr
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan

... which , of course, doesn't tally with the Abe Lincoln story.

Regards

04 Jul 02 - 09:20 AM (#742149)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Birthday of St. Patrick (Mccaffr
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan

Looks like Lover wrote it alright - under the title "The Birth of Saint Patrick". Try a search on that (or St.) - it turns up a few sets of words.

Regards

06 Jul 02 - 10:08 AM (#743305)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BIRTH OF SAINT PATRICK (Samuel Lover)
From: Jim Dixon

Thanks to Martin Ryan's information, I was able to find another version, which I think is better than the one in the Lincoln quote:

Copied from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~irelandlist/stpat.html

THE BIRTH OF SAINT PATRICK
By Samuel Lover
b. Dublin Ireland 1797 - d. 1868

On the eighth day of March it was, some people say,
That Saint Pathrick at midnight he first saw the day;
While others declare 'twas the ninth he was born,
And 'twas all a mistake between midnight and morn;
For mistakes will occur in a hurry and shock,
And some blamed the babby - and some blamed the clock -
'Till with all their cross questions sure no one could know,
If the child was too fast - or the clock was too slow.

Now the first faction fight in owld Ireland, they say,
Was all on account of Saint Pathrick's birthday,
Some fought for the eighth - for the ninth more would die,
And who wouldn't see right, sure they blacken'd his eye!
At last, both the factions so positive grew,
That each kept a birthday, so Pat then had two,
'Till Father Mulcahy, who show'd them their sins,
Said "No one could have two birthdays, but a twins."

Says he, "Boys, don't be fightin' for eight or for nine,
Don't be always dividin' - but sometimes combine;
Combine eight with nine, and seventeen is the mark,
So let that be his birthday." - "Amen," says the clerk.
"If he wasn't a twins, sure our hist'ry will show
That, at least, he's worth any two saints that we know!"
Then they all got blind dhrunk - which complated their bliss,
And we keep up the practice from that day to this.

[Sheet music is included in a book called "Irish Music" or "The Library of Irish Music."]

07 Jul 02 - 09:33 AM (#743759)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Birthday of St. Patrick (Mccaffr
From: masato sakurai

On Samuel Lover, see The Author of "Rory O'More": Recollections of Samuel Lover, by His Daughter (pp. 578-585). RORY O'MORE is in the DT, but the author's name is not given (see The South Riding Tune Book: Rory O'More).

~Masato

07 Jul 02 - 09:37 AM (#743762)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Birthday of St. Patrick (Mccaffr
From: masato sakurai

The link to RORY O'MORE again.

20 Mar 03 - 12:32 AM (#914180)
Subject: Tune Add: BIRTH OF ST. PATRICK
From: Warsaw Ed

A day late for this St. Patrick's Day, but here's an ABC Notation I made from the Irish Music Songbook:
X:22
T:BIRTH OF ST. PATRICK
M:6/8
L:1/16
Q:292
S:Irish Music Songbook [Warsaw Ed]
K:Eb
z8E2E2|E2G2B2e3de2|c2B2A2G2F2E2|E2G2B2c2d2e2|e2B2B2B2z2B2|
e2e2e2e2B2G2|A2B2c2B2G2E2|E2F2G2A2F2B2|G2EEE2z2E2E2|
E2F2G2A2B2c2|B2G2E2F2z2F2|E2G2B2c2f2e2|d2B2B2B2c2d2|
e2e2e2e2B2G2|A2B2c2B2G2E2|E2F2G2A2F2B2|G2E2E2E2z4||