{"id":14319,"date":"2022-01-16T10:30:24","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T10:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=14319"},"modified":"2022-02-03T09:52:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T09:52:36","slug":"when-they-ask-you-what-your-name-is","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/when-they-ask-you-what-your-name-is\/","title":{"rendered":"When they ask you what your name is"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>If they ask you what your name is<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1908<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writer\/composer<\/td>Harry Castling \/ Fred Godfrey<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN23531<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Dave Carter<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Cherry, Clarence; England : Yorkshire ; 1972
Modern performances:<\/strong>
Walter Pardon<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
I am thinking of the morning \nWhen I left Old Ireland's shore; \nI can see my dear old mother \nStanding at the cabin door. \nWhen she kissed my cheeks she murmured,\nOn that still September morn, \n\"'Mongst strangers you are going,\nWho may treat you, boy, with scorn;\nBut promise me you'll'not deny \nThe land where you were born.\"\n \n\"When they ask you what your name is,\nTell them it's Molloy;\nWhere's the blame? \u2014 there's no shame\nIn an Irish name, my boy.\nIf they ask you where you've come from,\nTell them, friends or foes,\nBy Killarney's lakes and fells \u2014\nThe land where the Shamrock grows.\"\n<\/em>\nMany years I've\tlived with strangers,\nAnd have found new friends for old;\nAnd met many cheery welcomes \nWhen the world seemed lone and cold.\nBut the one thing that I long for\u2014.\nYes, wherever I may be,\nIs to see that dear old cabin \nIn the Isle across the sea,\nWhere I shall hear again that \nDear-loved voice that said to  me\u2014\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Another song which demonstrates you don’t have to be Irish to write an Irish song, this one was produced by an Englishman and a Welshman,  Harry Castling and Fred Godfrey <\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a big hit for Dave Carter, who appeared in Irish, British and American Music Halls between the 1880s and 1920s. His repertoire suggests he specialised in sentimental Irish songs like this one and he was usually billed simply as “The Popular Irish Tenor”<\/em>. Anyone interested in investigating this performer might visit the National Library of Ireland<\/a>, which holds a copy of his personal scrapbook containing cuttings and photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When they ask you what your name is <\/em>was performed and recorded by several artists in the 1920s, including Stanley Kirby and Jack Payne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song was later collected by Ruairidh Greig from the singing of Clarence Cherry in 1972, and also may have featured in the repertoire Walter Pardon, though he doesn’t seem to have recorded it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n