Annotation:Irishman's Shanty

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 IRISHMAN'S SHANTY, THE. AKA and see "Gallant Sixty-Ninth (The)," "Gals of Sixty-Nine (The)," "Old Tenth (The)." American, Jig. USA, southwestern Pa. A Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The tune is employed as a vehicle for a song called "The Irishman's Shanty," printed in Canteen Songster (Philadelphia: Simpson & Co., 1866), p. 91) as "sung by Lew Simmons, of Carncross & Dixey's Minstrels." Did ye ever go int'ill an Irishman's shanty? Och! b'ys, that's the place where the whiskey it plenty; With his pipe in his mouth, there sits Paddy so free, No king in his palace is prouder than he! CHORUS: Arrah; me honey! w-a-c-k! Paddy's the boy. There are numerous variants of what was once a "comic" song, in the same vein as comic minstrel songs about African-Americans; they sound simply denigrating to modern ears, and are seldom sung. Bayard (1981) identifies this melody as one of the "Welcome Home" family of tunes.    Source for notated version: Wilbur Neal (fiddler from Centre County, Pa., 1948) [Bayard].  Printed sources: Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 606C, p. 535-536.  Recorded sources:

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