sarah webb and steve mccarthy · 2017. 11. 7. · teddy bear, teddy bear 27 england, ireland,...
TRANSCRIPT
Sarah Webb and Steve McCarthy
FAVOURITE RHYMES FROM AN IRISH CHILDHOOD
First published 2017 by The O’Brien Press Ltd.
12 Terenure Road East, Rathgar, Dublin 6, D06 HD27, Ireland.
Tel: +353 1 4923333; Fax: +353 1 4922777
E-mail: [email protected]; Website: www.obrien.ie
The O’Brien Press is a member of Publishing Ireland.
ISBN 978-1-84717-794-0
Copyright for this collection © Sarah Webb
Copyright for illustrations © Steve McCarthy
Copyright for layout, editing, design © The O’Brien Press Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any way or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without
permission in writing from the publisher.
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Printed and bound by Drukarnia Skleniarz, Poland.
The author and publisher understand that many of these verses are in the public domain. However, if any
infringement has occurred we ask the holder of such copyright to contact the publisher. We wish to credit
the following: ‘Worms Can’t Fly’ pg. 8 to Aislinn and Larry O’Loughlin; ‘If You Should Meet a Crocodile’
pg. 13 to Christine F. Fletcher; ‘Mice’ pg. 25 to The Society of Authors as the Literary Representative of the
Estate of Rose Fyleman; ‘Kingdoms’ pg. 31 and ‘Golden Stockings’ pg. 44 to Veronica Jane O’Mara; ‘An Old
Woman of the Roads’ pg. 38 to Padraic Colum, with the permission of the estate of Padraic Colum; ‘Earth
Whispers – White’ pg. 43 to Julie O’Callaghan; ‘Beware the Ghoul’s Lunchbox’ pg. 50 to Lucinda Jacob; ‘A
Happy Day’ pg. 59 to Alice Taylor.
Sarah Webb was the dlr Writer in Residence 2016–2017.
She worked on this book during her residency.
Dedications –This one’s for my darling niece and god-daughter, Rosie (SW)To my parents, my biggest heroes Nick and Rosie, and Poppy the dog (SMcC) Acknowledgements –With thanks to Ide ní Laoghaire, Nicola Reddy, Emma Byrne and all the O’Brien Press team for their hard work and enthusiasm
Published in:
Introduction 4
Limerick 5
She’ll Be Coming ’round the Mountain 6
Worms Can’t Fly 8
St Patrick Was a Gentleman 9
Wiggly Woo 10
Have You Ever Seen? 11
There’s music in a hammer 11
Do Your Ears Hang Low? 12
If You Should Meet a Crocodile 13
A Wise Old Owl 14
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat 15
Lean Out of the Window 16
The Lake Isle of Innisfree 17
Óró, Sé Do Bheatha ’Bhaile 18
It’s Raining, It’s Pouring 19
It’s raining cats and dogs 19
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean 20
Miss Hooligan’s Christmas Cake 21
On Top of Spaghetti 22
Jelly on a Plate 23
The North Wind Doth Blow 24
Mice 25
I’ll Tell Me Ma 26
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear 27
England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales 27
The Rattlin’ Bog 28
Child’s Song 30
Happy Thought 30
Kingdoms 31
1, 2, 3, O’Leary 31
Spelling! 32
Pardon Me 32
Jumping on the Bed 33
I scream, you scream 33
Molly Malone 34
I’ll Tell You a Story 35
Charlie Chaplin went to France 35
A Skipping Rhyme 36
Eating Worms 37
An Old Woman of the Roads 38
Beetle Her Champ 39
The Big Ship Sails on the Ally-Ally-Oh 40
A Sailor Went to Sea 41
In fourteen hundred and ninety-two 41
To My Little Nephew, Seumas 42
Earth Whispers – White 43
When night is dark 43
Golden Stockings 44
Symphony in Yellow 45
Tongue Twister 46
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck? 46
There Was an Old Man with a Beard 47
She sells sea shells 47
Brian O’Linn 48
Beware the Ghoul’s Lunchbox 50
Beans 51
Four Ducks on a Pond 52
Ducks’ Ditty 53
Monday’s Child 55
Over in the Meadow 56
Thirty Days Hath September 58
A Happy Day 59
Oh, the More We Get Together 60
My Little Brother 61
Montague Michael 62
Are you the bee’s knees? 63
An Irish Farewell 64
con
ten
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IntroductionAs a child, I loved nursery rhymes and poetry – and I still love them to this day. I have fond memories of sitting on my father’s knee as he shared his favourite verses, swaying together to the rhythm of Edward Lear’s ‘The Owl and the Pussy-Cat’, laughing as we twisted our tongues to Peter Piper and his peck of pickled peppers.
In this book I’ve collected some of my childhood favourites, from traditional Irish songs to street and skipping rhymes, all brought to life by Steve McCarthy’s magical illustrations. I also wanted to give children a taste of Irish verse from some of the greats, from W.B. Yeats’s iconic ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ to James Joyce’s ‘Lean Out of the Window’, shortened to suit younger children.
Some of the songs have fascinating backgrounds. ‘Miss Hooligan’s Christmas Cake’ is a version of a popular ballad from the nineteenth century by Charles Frank Horn (the original was called ‘Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake’), which was immortalised by the same Mr Joyce at the tender age of six when he sang it at a concert in aid of the Bray Boat Club in 1888. The song is also referenced in Finnegans Wake.
I adore adding yippee-ayes and ye-haas to ‘She’ll Be Coming ’round the Mountain’, a song that never fails to cheer me up, and I was delighted to discover an Irish connection while researching this book. The woman referenced in the song is said to be Mother Jones, aka Cork-born Mary Harris Jones, once called ‘the most dangerous woman in America’ for her work in organising strikes for coal miners and railway workers.
I hope you enjoy sharing this book as much as I enjoyed putting it together. And don’t forget to add plenty of your own ye-haas!
Sarah Webb
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Limerick
There once was a small girl called MaggieWhose dog was enormous and shaggy,The front end of himLooked vicious and grim,But the tail end was friendly and waggy.
5
She’ll Be Coming ’round the Mountain
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes,She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes, She’ll be coming ’round the mountain, coming ’round the mountain,Coming ’round the mountain when she comes.
She’ll be driving six white horses when she comes, She’ll be driving six white horses when she comes, She’ll be driving six white horses, driving six white horses, Driving six white horses when she comes.
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She’ll be wearing red pyjamas when she comes, She’ll be wearing red pyjamas when she comes, She’ll be wearing red pyjamas, wearing red pyjamas, Wearing red pyjamas when she comes. Singing aye aye yippee, yippie aye,Singing aye aye yippee, yippie aye,Singing aye aye yippee, aye aye yippee,Aye aye yippee, yippee aye.
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Worms Can’t Fly Aislinn and Larry O’Loughlin
Then tell me, please,Why do birdsWait in trees?
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St Patrick Was a GentlemanHenry Bennett Oh! St Patrick was a gentleman, Who came of decent people, He built a church in Dublin town, And on it put a steeple.
His father was a Gallagher, His mother was a Brady, His aunt was an O’Shaughnessy, His uncle an O’Grady.
For he’s a saint so clever, Oh! He gave the snakes and toads a twist, And bothered them forever!
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Wiggly Woo
There’s a worm at the bottom of my garden,And his name is Wiggly Woo.There’s a worm at the bottom of my garden,And all that he can doIs wiggle all day and wiggle all night,The neighbours all say what a terrible sight!There’s a worm at the bottom of my garden,And his name is Wiggly,Wig-Wig-Wiggly,Wig-Wig-Wiggly Woo!
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Have You Ever Seen?
Have you ever, ever, ever In your long-legged life Seen a long-legged sailorWith a long-legged wife?
No, I’ve never, never, neverIn my long-legged lifeSeen a long-legged sailorWith a long-legged wife.
There’s music in a hammer,
There’s music in a nail, There’s music in a tom-cat
If you tread upon his tail.
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