Daddy Of Them All (Sean Kenny) with lyrics and video

#03067

Daddy Of Them All (Sean Kenny) with lyrics and video

#1006: YouTube video by drivermciver ©2011
~ Used with permission ~

I'm a hard-working man, I work both night and day,
I have to work so hard to maintain my family;
I've eleven sons and daughters, and some of them are small,
And if you will but listen I will tell you of them all.

Well, there's Mikie and there's Jim, there's little Tom and Tim,
There's Matthew, Mark and Luke, John and Paul;
Roseanna and Susanna they can thump the fine piana,
Bridget she's me wife, and I'm the daddy of them all.

Now Mikie just turned seven, and Jim is rising nine,
Little Tom and Tim, well they are doing fine;
Matthew, Mark and Luke they work on the railway,
John he tends a bar with Paul, and the girls they sing and play.

Now, there's Mikie and there's Jim, there's little Tom and Tim,
There's Matthew, Mark and Luke, John and Paul;
Roseanna and Susanna they can thump the fine piana,
Bridget she's me wife, and I'm the daddy of them all.

Now, the girls they are the oldest in my family,
Roseanna's twenty-one and Susanna's twenty-three;
I wish they would get married but my wish is all in vain,
For they are so God-damn ugly I am sure they will remain.

Well, now me song is ended, I'm sure I have them well,
But if ever I get single I'll ring that old church bell;
When I have to work so hard and every year a child,
Well, when I come to think of it, well it nearly drives me wild.

'Cause there's Mikie and there's Jim, there's little Tom and Tim,
There's Matthew, Mark and Luke, John and Paul;
Roseanna and Susanna they can thump the fine piana,
And Bridget she's me wife, and I'm the daddy of them all.
Yes, Bridget she's me wife, and I'm the daddy of them all.
So she says....

####.... Author unknown. Variant of a humorous Canadian Maritime ballad, The Poor Hard-Working Man, published as #144 in Ballads And Sea Songs From Nova Scotia by W. Roy Mackenzie, editor (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1928; reprinted by Folklore Associates, Hatboro, Pennsylvania, 1963) ....####

Robert B. Waltz noted in the CSU Fresno Ballad Index that although seemingly found only in Canada, the contents of this song seem to imply nineteenth century Irish origin in that the grown boys are still at home. With so little land in Ireland, the children tended to stay at home until the girls married and the oldest boy inherited upon his father's death.

The YouTube video above features an excellent performance of this variant by Sean Kenny of Port au Port East, NL, who noted that this song was sung accapella by his father and a few others from Port au Port to Stephenville Crossing in Newfoundland.

See more songs by Sean Kenny.

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GEST Songs Of Newfoundland And Labrador

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