Teddy O’Neale

AKA Teddy O’Neil
Sweet Teddy O’Neal
Mud Cabin
First Published 1843
Writer/composer Eliza Cook / J Gaspard Maeder Roud RN5207

Music Hall Performers Florrie Robina and others
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Thomas, Edward Joseph; England : Yorkshire : 1893
Fitzgerald, Mrs. Bridget; Ireland : Co. Wexford : 1967
King, Jimmy; England : Suffolk : 1974
Palmer, Freda; England : Oxfordshire : 1978
Hall, Mabs; England : Sussex : 1980
Godfrey, Murt; Ireland : Co. Kerry : 1981
Hall, Gordon; England : West Sussex : 1990		 

From Collected Poetical Works of Eliza Cook

I've come to the cabin he danced his wild jigs in,
As neat a mud palace as ever was seen; 
And considering it served to keep poultry and pigs in,
I'm sure it was always most elegant clean. 
But now all about it seems lonely and dreary,
All sad and all silent, no piper, no reel; 
Not even the sun, through the casement, is cheery,
Since I miss the dear, darling boy, Teddy O'Neale.

I dreamt but last night oh ! bad luck to my dreaming,
I'd die if I thought 'twould come truly to pass, 
But I dreamt, while the tears down my pillow were streaming.
That Teddy was courting another fair lass. 
Oh ! didn't I wake with a weeping and wailing,
The grief of that thought was too deep to conceal; 
My mother cried " Norah, child, what is your ailing?"
And all I could utter was "Teddy O'Neale !"

Shall I ever forget when the big ship was ready,
And the moment was come when my love must depart; 
How I sobbed like a spalpeen, " Good-bye to you, Teddy!"
With drops on my cheek and a stone at my heart.
He says 'tis to better his fortune he's roving,
But what would be gold to the joy I should feel, 
If I saw him come back to me, honest and loving,
Still poor, but my own darling, Teddy O'Neale.

A song which predates the Music Halls, but was regularly sung there. The great archivist of the Halls , Kilgarriff, suggests this song was particularly associated with the singing of Florrie Robina a performer active in the 1890s and early 20th century. My own research in the pages of The Era suggest that many other female artists sang it too – unlike most songs written for the Music Hall stage no one singer possessed the “rights” to this song.

The words were written by the influential Victorian sentimental poet and publisher, Eliza Cook – one of a number of the poems that she wrote as a teenager that were set to music and became staples of Victorian singing. Her songs were sung pretty much everywhere, from the concert halls and parlours frequented by the respectable middle classes, to the less salubrious music halls.

One musical setting for Teddy O’Neale was written by American composer James Gaspard Maeder and published in 1843, but I can’t be completely sure that it was the music used by singers in the Halls.

Teddy O’Neale appeared widely in print in the 19th century on both sides of the Atlantic in songbooks, sheet music and cheap street literature (broadsheets and songsters).

The song has been collected from the singing of many traditional singers, though it is particularly popular in Ireland and in the Irish-American community. There is a popular Irish session tune of the same name.

Of the many versions I could find online, this is my favourite, an unaccompanied version by Karie Oberg, at The Crusheen, County Clare, Ireland monthly singing session on 18 December 2019.

Sources: