How Paddy stole the rope

AKA When Paddy stole the rope
Paddy stole the rope
First Published c1885
Writer/composer Fred Albert / Frank W Egerton Roud RN2037

Music Hall Performers Pat Feeney
Folk performances Source Singers
Mannering, Fred 1942 England : Kent
Cornealy, Tom 1950 Canada : Nova Scotia
Molloy, J. 1950-1951 Canada : Newfoundland
Knight, Harry 1952 England : Sussex
Scarce, Bob 1953 England : Suffolk
Tunney, Paddy 1976 N. Ireland
List, Billy 1977 England : Suffolk
Grant, Jimmy 1988 Ireland : Co. Donegal
Modern performances
Tim Hart/Maddy Prior		 

There was once two Irish labouring men, to England they came over;
They tramped about in search of work
From Liverpool to Dover.
Says Pat to Mick, 'I'm tired of this;
We're both left in the lurch;
And if we don't get work, begad,
I'll go and rob a church.'

'What, rob a church?...' says Mick to Pat;
'How dare you be so vile
There's something sure to happen
As you're treading down the aisle.
But if you go I go with you;
We'll get out safe, I hope;'
So, if you'll listen, I'll tell you here
How Paddy stole the rope.

Well off they went with theft intent,
The place they wanted finding;
They broke into a country church
Which nobody was minding.
They scraped together all they could
And then prepared to slope,
When Paddy cries out, 'Hold on, Mick,
What shall we do for rope?

We've got no bag to hold the swag,
And e'er we get outside,
With something stout and strong, my lad,
The bundle must be tied.'
Just then he spies the old church bell,
And quick as an antelope,
He scrambled up the belfry high
To try and steal the rope.

Now when Paddy up the belfry got,
'Ah-hah, begad, but stop;
To get a piece that's long enough,
I must climb to the top.'
So, like a sailor, up he went,
And near the top, says he,
'I think the piece that's underneath's
Quite long enough will be.'

So, holding by one arm and leg,
He drew his clasp knife out,
And right above his big fat head
He cut the rope so stout.
He quite forgot it held him up,
And, by the Holy Pope,
Down to the bottom of the church,
Fell Paddy and the rope.

'Come out of that,' says Mick to Pat,
As he on the floor lay groaning,
'If that's the way you cut a rope,
No wonder now you're moaning.
I'll show you how to cut a rope,
So just lend me the knife.'
'Be very careful,,' cries out Pat,
'Or else youll lose your life.'

He clambered up the other rope,
And, like an artful thief,
Instead of cutting it above,
He cut it underneath.
The piece fell down and left poor Mick
Alone up there to cope;
Says he, 'Bad luck it was the day,
When we came stealing rope.'

Now with Paddy groaning on the floor
And Mick hung up on high,
Says Pat, 'Come down.' 'I can't,' cried Mick,
'For if I do, I die.'
The noise soon brought the beadle round,
The sexton and the police,
And although they set poor Micky free,
They gave them no release.

They marched them to the county jail
Where their conduct now they rue,
And if they'd got no work before,
They've plenty now to do;
And for their ingenuity
They now have larger scope
Than when they broke into church
To try and steal a rope.

A song collected from source singers in England, Ireland and Canada in the second half of the 20th century. It appears in a number of broadsides and songsters published on both sides of the Atlantic.Another example of a song which draws on national and/or racial stereotypes for comedic effect, like so many of these it seems to have become popular amongst the people it was targeted at.

It was a hit in the Halls for Pat Feeney, with words by Fred Albert (brief biography below) and music by Frank Egerton

Pat Feeney (1850-89) had a repertoire which favoured humorous songs about the Irish. He was big star but died relatively early. He had been too unwell to perform for some time and died in poverty. His friends in the Halls organised a number of testimonials to raise money for his dependents. The Belfast Weekly Telegraph said this of Feeney:

It is a melancholy reflection that many public singers, especially music hall artistes, who have for years occupied prominent positions, and have commanded popular applaud with commensurate salaries, should die in absolute poverty. Pat Feeney, who was well known in Belfast, illustrated the statement… In his time he had occupied a great position on the music hall stage and had commanded the salary of an ambassador, and had driven as smart a turnout as was to be met with on the road. He was the best singer of Irish songs, comic and patriotic, the Music Halls knew. But of late Pat Feeney had fallen on evil times. A painful illness had overtaken him. He was unable to sing, and had saved no money. Recently a fund was started for his maintenance, and the amount realised—principally provided by professionals—has enabled him at least to die in comfort. Pat was the most enthusiastic of Home Rulers. In the days when Home Rule found more brickbats than sympathy in the Music Halls Pat used never to miss an opportunity of advocating the claims of his race. It was his boast that he was largely responsible for the changed feeling that has come in latter days. Strangely enough, Pat Feeney, though of Irish parents, was not an Irishman born. Like so many of the stars of the Music Halls, he hailed from Birmingham. And like most of the Birmingham Irishmen, he was more Irish than the Irish themselves. … He was a man of a ready natural wit, and a pleasant, sympathetic voice. His songs had the merit of being set to catchy melodies, and many of them will survive their singer.

Fred Albert (1845-86) was both a songwriter and performer. He seems to be one of the few music hall stars to have come from a better off, middle-class background – he was educated at the Birkbeck School, and worked in an office in the City of London for a while. He was known for his fast singing and fast writing – he turned out a large number of songs many of which were never published, perhaps because they were very topical and had a short shelf life. His successes included  The Mad Butcher – a big hit for Henri Clarke and Perverted Proverbs. One of his topical songs which actually was published was Brave Captain Webb! written in 1875 to celebrate the first person to swim across the English Channel .

The topicality of many of his songs means that very few were remembered in the 20th century – it seems that the only song of his which passed into traditional singing was How Paddy stole the rope, but I am still looking … The spreadsheet below represents my most complete list of his songs that were published as sheet music with cross-references to the Roud Indexes where they exist.

fred-albert-1DOWNLOAD

Tim Hart and Maddy Prior sing Paddy Stole the rope:

Sources: