{"id":13731,"date":"2021-12-09T14:12:49","date_gmt":"2021-12-09T14:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=13731"},"modified":"2021-12-16T11:54:25","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T11:54:25","slug":"mrs-fogartys-christmas-cake","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/mrs-fogartys-christmas-cake\/","title":{"rendered":"Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Miss Hooligan’s Christmas Cake
Mike Hooligan’s Christmas Cake
Miss Fogarty’s Cake
Mike Hooligan’s Cake
The Trinity Cake (Newfoundland version)<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1883<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>C Frank Horn<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN5000<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Harry Melville<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
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<\/strong>
The Spinners, The Irish Rovers, many more<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake<\/strong>\nWords and music C Frank Horn [Boston 1883]\n\nAs I sat by my windy last evenin',\nThe letterman brought un to me\nA little gilt-edged invitation sayin'\nGilhooly come over to tea\nSure,I knew that the Fogarty's sent it.\nSo I wint just for old friendship's sake.\nThe first thing they gave me to tackle\nWas a slice of Miss Fogarty's cake.\n\nThere was plums and prunes and cherries,\nAnd citrons and raisons and cinymon too,\nThere was nutmeg, cloves and berries\nAnd the crust it was nail'd on with glue\nThere were carroway seeds in abundance\nSuch t'would build up a fine stomach ache\nYou would kill a man twice after 'ating a slice\nOf Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake.<\/em>\n\nMiss Mulligan wanted to taste it,\nBut really it wasn't no use\nFor we work'd at it over an hour\nAnd we couldn't get none of it loose\nTill Fogarty wint for the hatchet\nAnd Killy came in with a saw\nThat cake was enough by the powers\nTo paralyze any man's jaws\n\nMrs Fogarty proud as a pea-cock,\nKept smilin' and blinkin' away\nTill she fell over Flanagans brogans\nAnd she spill'd a whole brewin' of tay,\n\"Oh Gilhooley\" she cried \"you're not 'atin,\nTry a little bit more for my sake\"\n\"No thanks Misses Fogarty\" sez I,\n\"But I'd like the resate of that cake\"\n\nMaloney was took with the col-ic,\nMcNulty complained of his head\nMcFadden lay down on the sofy,\nAnd he swore that he wished he was dead\nMiss Daly went down in hysterics\nAnd there she did wriggle and shake\nAnd every man swore he was poison'd\nThro' 'atin' Miss Fogarty's cake\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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<\/em> or Miss Hooligan<\/em> – 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<\/em> (GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A song called Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cak<\/em>e with words and music by C. Frank Horn, was published in Boston in 1883. There is a digital copy in the Levy Sheet Music<\/a> 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 <\/em>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A similar song called Miss Mulligan\u2019s Home-made Pie<\/em><\/a> 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].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harry Melville was singing a song called A Slice of Mike Hooligan’s Cake<\/em> in British Music Halls as early as January 1885 and he continued to advertise it under this name until late 1887.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 Jan. 24, 1885,  <\/strong>The Era <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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When Melville’s song was published in London by Charles Sheard in 1886 the title became Miss Hooligan’s Christmas Cake<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 <\/em>for Miss Fogarty<\/em>. Amateur singers in Ireland, Isle of Man, and England were singing a song this title from as early as January 1886<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harry Melville regularly toured America and it seems likely that he picked up this song during one of his visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have not succeeded in finding anything out about the performer JM Oates, mentioned on this broadside. A brief biography of Harry Melville follows.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Harry Melville <\/strong>(?-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<\/em> or The Dublin Gem<\/em>, 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 : <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Aug. 5, 1860,  <\/strong>The Era<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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 Nov. 25, 1860<\/strong>; The Era<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He appears to have enjoyed significant success, and the trade newspaper The Era<\/em> records him appearing regularly throughout England Scotland and Ireland. Towards the end of his career he was managed by  GH MacDermott<\/strong><\/a>, a prominent performer and agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
 He died in 1898. His obituary in The Era <\/em>described him as a well-known Irish comedian who <\/em>[due to] ill-health<\/em> 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<\/em> (The Era Oct 8 1898)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This version by The Spinners has something of the halls about it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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