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You may talk of Clara Nolan's Ball or anything you choose,
But it couldn't hold a snuffbox to the spree at Kelligrews;
If you want your eyeballs straightened just come out next week with me,
You'll have to wear your glasses at the Kelligrews Soiree.
There was birch rind, tar twine, cherry wine and turpentine,
Jowls and cavalances, ginger beer and tea;
Pig's feet, cat's meat, dumplings boiled up in a sheet,
Dandelion and crackie's teeth at the Kelligrews Soiree.
Oh, I borrowed Cluney's beaver as I squared my yards to sail,
And a swallow tail from Hogan that was foxy on the tail;
Billy Cuddahie's old working pants and Patsy Nolan's shoes,
And an old white vest from Fogarty to sport at Kelligrews.
There was Dan Milley, Joe Lilly, Tantan and Mrs. Tilley,
Dancing like a little filly, 'twould raise your heart to see;
Jim Brine, Din Ryan, Flipper Smith and Caroline,
I tell you, boys, we had a time at the Kelligrews Soiree.
Oh, when I arrived at Betsy Snook's that night at half past eight,
The place was blocked with carriages stood waiting at the gate;
With Cluney's funnel upon my pate, the first words Betsy said,
"Here comes the local preacher with the pulpit on his head".
There was Bill Mews, Dan Hughes, Wilson, Taft and Teddy Roose,
While Bryant, he sat in the blues and looking hard at me;
Jim Fling, Tom King, Johnson, champion of the ring,
And all the boxers I could bring to the Kelligrews Soiree.
"The Saratoga Lancers first," Miss Betsy kindly said,
I danced with Nancy Cronin and her Granny on the Head;
And Hogan danced with Betsy, well you should have seen his shoes,
As he lashed the muskets from the rack that night at Kelligrews.
There was boiled guineas, cold guineas, bullock's heads and piccaninnies,
Everything to catch the pennies you'd break your sides to see;
Boiled duff, cold duff, apple jam was in a cuff,
I tell you, boys, we had enough at the Kelligrews Soiree.
Crooked Flavin struck the fiddler and a hand I then took in,
You should see George Cluney's beaver and it flattened to the rim;
And Hogan's coat was like a vest, the tails were gone you see,
Says I, "The Devil haul ye and your Kelligrews Soiree".
There was birch rind, tar twine, cherry wine and turpentine,
Jowls and cavalances, ginger beer and tea;
Pig's feet, cat's meat, dumplings boiled up in a sheet,
Dandelion and crackie's teeth at the Kelligrews Soiree.
This comic song was sung by Clare O'Driscoll (1899-1978) of Tors Cove, NL, and published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
A very similar variant was published in Gerald S. Doyle's Old-Time Songs And Poetry Of Newfoundland: Songs Of The People From The Days Of Our Forefathers (Second edition, pp.16-17, 1940; Third edition, pp.36-37, 1955). Also published on pp.5-6 of Songs Of Newfoundland, a complimentary booklet of lyrics to twenty-one songs distributed by the Bennett Brewing Co. Ltd., of St. John's, NL, with the cooperation of the Gerald S. Doyle Song Book from which the words were obtained.
Note: Clara Nolan's Ball was a popular parlour song written and composed by J. F. Mitchell (published by Alberto Himan, New York, 1885).
From the Dictionary Of Newfoundland English:
Birch Rine - bark or cortex of a birch tree, especially used in the fisheries as a covering, insulation, etc.
Cavalances - type of small bean used especially for soup (Dolichos barbadensis, D. sinensis).
Crackie - a small, noisy mongrel dog; frequently in the phrase 'saucy as a cracky,' applied to a person who usually has a saucy tongue or a person who will answer back.
Cuff - a thick, usually fingerless mitten, made of wool, swanskin or leather, worn in winter. In Peacock's variant of this song, the words are 'sugar boiled in a cuff'.
Duff - a pudding made of flour and water, sometimes with suet and raisins added, boiled in a cloth bag; cloth pudding; figgy duff.
Foxy - faded in colour from a dark to a lighter hue.
Funnel - jocular term for a top hat.
Head - The innermost part of a bay, harbour or inlet; the land adjoining the inmost part of a bay.
Jowls - meat from the jaw-bone of a pig.
Swallowtail - a man's full-dressed jacket with two long tapering tails at the back, similar to an angular cut made in the tail of a cod-fish to mark ownership.
Turpentine - resin of a conifer, especially fir, used as an ingredient in pitch and for home-remedies.
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Notes On Guitar Tabs:
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All guitar tabs have been contributed by visitors to this site and represent their interpretation of the tune. We are unable to verify their accuracy.
[G]You may talk of Clara Nolan's Ball or anything you choose,
But it [C]couldn't hold a [G]snuffbox to the [D]spree at Kelligrews.
I-[G]f you want your eyeballs straightened just come out next week with me,
You'll [C]have to wear your [G]glasses at the [D]Kelligrews [G]Soiree.
