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Anonymous (1772)
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291 ANONYMOUS (1772) The text that follows is a rare example of an eighteenth-century Dublin street song that refers to the interaction between humans and animals. It was collected in the nineteenth century but can be dated from internal evidence to 1772. It is a ‘patter song’designed for public performance. As in a pantomime or ballad opera, comic, demotic prose is interwoven with the short, sung verses. The Hiberno-English or Irish-English of the patter after each verse is so obviously exaggerated that it is best characterized as ‘stage-Irish’. The notes provide a rough translation. Bullbaiting was not uncommon in eighteenth-century Dublin. Bulls, which were sometimes stolen from herds being driven into the city for slaughter while they were resting for the night, were baited either in special bull-rings or in the streets. Lord Altham’s Bull ’Twas on the fust of sweet Magay, It being a high holiday, Six and twenty boys of de straw Went to take Lord Altham’s bull away.1 ‘I being de fust in de field, who should I see bud de mosey wid his horns sticking in de ground. Well becomes me, I pinked up to him, ketched him by de tail, and rode him dree times round de field, as well as ever de master of de tailor’s corporation rode de fringes; but de mosey being game to de back bone, de first rise he gev me in de elements, he made a smash of me collar-bone. So dere being no blunt Stanza 1: A rough translation might be: It was on the first day of the sweet month of 1 May, a high holiday, that twenty-six straw-boys went to take Lord Altham’s bull away. ‘I was first into the field, and who should I see but the bull with its horns sticking in the ground. As befits me, I crept up to him, caught him by the tail and rode him three times round the field, as well as ever the master of the tailor’s corporation rode the franchises. But the bull was full of life, and the first time he tossed me up in the air, I smashed my collar-bone. Since I had no money in my pockets, I had to go to Mrs Stevens’s hospital where I lay for seven weeks in luxury, flat on my back like Paddy Ward’s pig, by heaven!’ Notes on stanza 1: Magay = May; boys of de straw: It is tempting to see this as a reference to the ‘straw-boys’, groups of young bachelors dressed in garb made of straw, who were permitted to behave in a riotous manner at certain times of year under the general direction of someone called the ‘Mayor of the Bull-ring’(see J. E. Walsh, Ireland Sixty Years Ago (Dublin, 1847), p. 94). However, since those involved in the stealing of the bull are transported to Virginia at the end of this poem, the reference may be to boys employed in the Dublin straw-market at Smithfield. LordAltham = LordAltamont; mosey was a common name for a bull; de master of de tailor’s corporation rode de fringes: every three years, members of the Dublin guilds rode around the bounds of the city in a ceremony known as beating the bounds, franchises or ‘fringes’; blunt in de cly = money in the pocket; Madame Stevens was de word refers to Dr Steevens’ Hospital; endowed by Dr Richard Steevens (1653–1710) and built by his sister, Grizell (the ‘Madam Stevens’ of the text), the hospital opened in 1733; Paddy Ward’s pig: the meaning of this is obscure. Be de hokey: a slang expression of extreme surprise used in Ireland. 292 in de cly, Madame Stevens was de word, where I lay for seven weeks in lavendar, on de broad of me back, like Paddy Ward’s pig, be de hokey.’ We drove de bull tro many a gap, And kep him going many a mile, But when we came to Kilmainham lands, We let de mosey rest awhile. ‘Oh! boys, if de mosey was keeper of de ancle-spring warehouse, you cud not help pit[y]ing him; his hide smoked like Ned Costigan’s brewery, and dere was no more hair on his hoofs dan dere’s wool on a goose’s gams, be de hokey.’2 We drove de bull down sweet Truck-street, Widout eider dread or figear, When out ran...