| AKA | Miss Hooligan’s Christmas Cake Mike Hooligan’s Christmas Cake Miss Fogarty’s Cake Mike Hooligan’s Cake The Trinity Cake (Newfoundland version) |
| First Published | 1883 |
| Writer/composer | C Frank Horn | Roud | RN5000 |
| Music Hall Performers | Harry Melville |
| Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: M, E.H.; USA : Massachusetts :1924 Hendrick, Frank; USA : Missouri : 1936 Ponce, Leon; USA : California : 1939 Ingenthron, Charles; USA : Missouri : 1941 Moody, Winfield; USA : Winsconsin : 1941 Knickle, Leander; Canada : Nova Scotia : 1941 McNally, Jack; USA : Maine : 1942 Hayes, Hanford; USA : Maine : 1942 Davis, Asa; USA : Vermont : 1944 Surber, Miss Elsie; USA : Florida : 1949 Dixon, Dorsey; USA : N. Carolina : 1962 Illingworth, Tom; England : Cumberland : 1968 Toher, Frank; Ireland : Co. Donegal : 1991 Modern performances The Spinners, The Irish Rovers, many more |
Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake Words and music C Frank Horn [Boston 1883] As I sat by my windy last evenin', The letterman brought un to me A little gilt-edged invitation sayin' Gilhooly come over to tea Sure,I knew that the Fogarty's sent it. So I wint just for old friendship's sake. The first thing they gave me to tackle Was a slice of Miss Fogarty's cake. There was plums and prunes and cherries, And citrons and raisons and cinymon too, There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And the crust it was nail'd on with glue There were carroway seeds in abundance Such t'would build up a fine stomach ache You would kill a man twice after 'ating a slice Of Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake. Miss Mulligan wanted to taste it, But really it wasn't no use For we work'd at it over an hour And we couldn't get none of it loose Till Fogarty wint for the hatchet And Killy came in with a saw That cake was enough by the powers To paralyze any man's jaws Mrs Fogarty proud as a pea-cock, Kept smilin' and blinkin' away Till she fell over Flanagans brogans And she spill'd a whole brewin' of tay, "Oh Gilhooley" she cried "you're not 'atin, Try a little bit more for my sake" "No thanks Misses Fogarty" sez I, "But I'd like the resate of that cake" Maloney was took with the col-ic, McNulty complained of his head McFadden lay down on the sofy, And he swore that he wished he was dead Miss Daly went down in hysterics And there she did wriggle and shake And every man swore he was poison'd Thro' 'atin' Miss Fogarty's cake
A comic Irish song which was probably written for the American stage in the early 1880s – though the exact history is a little complex . One thing that we can be reasonably sure of is that it was popularised in Britain and Ireland by Music Hall performer Harry Melville. It has existed under different titles most of which refer to a cake baked by Miss Fogarty or Miss Hooligan – both names were used when it was sung by amateurs in late 19th century. It seems to have been regularly sung throughout English-speaking world ever since it was written, though the words can vary considerably – one local variant from Newfoundland is called The Trinity Cake (GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador)
A song called Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake with words and music by C. Frank Horn, was published in Boston in 1883. There is a digital copy in the Levy Sheet Music collection. It was later published in a cheap American collection of songs (Wehman’s Collection No 11) in around 1886, but otherwise the Miss Fogarty version does not seem to have been widely published 19th century broadsides or songbooks. The earliest evidence that I can find of a song this title being sung refer to amateur performances in Canada in 1888. The earliest indications of performances in the UK and Ireland are from amateur singers in 1892.
A similar song called Miss Mulligan’s Home-made Pie with words and music also credited to C. Frank Horn was published by the same firm in 1885. It appears to be a variation or perhaps a sequel to the earlier song [follow the home-made pie link for a short biography of Horn].
Harry Melville was singing a song called A Slice of Mike Hooligan’s Cake in British Music Halls as early as January 1885 and he continued to advertise it under this name until late 1887.
When Melville’s song was published in London by Charles Sheard in 1886 the title became Miss Hooligan’s Christmas Cake.
Both the sheet music and this broadside version published by the Dundee Poet’s Box give lyrics almost exactly identical to the 1883 song, substituting Miss Hooligan for Miss Fogarty. Amateur singers in Ireland, Isle of Man, and England were singing a song this title from as early as January 1886
Harry Melville regularly toured America and it seems likely that he picked up this song during one of his visits.
I have not succeeded in finding anything out about the performer JM Oates, mentioned on this broadside. A brief biography of Harry Melville follows.
Harry Melville (?-1898) is not mentioned in any of the standard histories of the Halls that I am are aware of. This biography was produced by scanning through online databases of Victorian newspapers. Unfortunately, I have not been able to confirm where Melville was born. He was often billed as The Irish Daisy or The Dublin Gem, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that he was born in Ireland, merely that he would sing Irish songs and perform as a stage Irish character. His first recorded appearances in the British halls were in 1860 and these early notices emphasised his links to America :
These early notices imply that he travelled over from America but do not necessarily establish that he was born there. The second notice implies that some of his early appearances may have been in blackface, but references to this very quickly disappeared as his career develops. There is certainly a great deal of evidence that he repeatedly visited America a and throughout his career he promoted his American links, for example in 1884 notices described him as America’s favourite Irish comedian.
He appears to have enjoyed significant success, and the trade newspaper The Era records him appearing regularly throughout England Scotland and Ireland. Towards the end of his career he was managed by GH MacDermott, a prominent performer and agent.
He died in 1898. His obituary in The Era described him as a well-known Irish comedian who [due to] ill-health has not been seen much of the late on the London boards…. He was married to Miss Dora Desmond and the two fulfilled joint engagements for years in London and the provinces (The Era Oct 8 1898)
This version by The Spinners has something of the halls about it:
The Irish Rovers singit:
Postscript: After completing this page I discovered an excellent article about the song by Stanley A Ransom in the New York Folklore Society journal Voices. The information about the song focuses on the history of the song in America and includes a great deal of interesting information about the writer/composer C Frank Horn.
Sources
- VWML entry
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics and Sheet Music(US): Levy collection
- Sheet music (UK) held by Irish Traditional Music archive (cover only available online)
- Broadside: National Library of Scotland
- Mudcat thread
- Fresno Ballad entry for The Trinity Cake
- Gale Primary Sources for 19th Century Newspapers
- Ransom, S.A. 2007, “MISS FOGARTY’S CHRISTMAS CAKE”, Voices, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 16-20.
Last Updated on December 16, 2021 by John Baxter | Published: December 9, 2021
