{"id":16037,"date":"2022-05-03T14:20:42","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T14:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=16037"},"modified":"2025-12-16T07:06:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T07:06:34","slug":"katie-connor","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/katie-connor\/","title":{"rendered":"Katie Connor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Sweet Katie Connor<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1890<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Harry Dacre<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN37299<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Pat Rafferty<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Alice Kane recalled singing this song as a child in Ulster in the early 20th century<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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On my honour, Katie Connor is the nicest girl you\u2019ll meet\nI dote on her, I\u2019m a goner, she\u2019s just nice enough to eat\nNear the water, I first caught her in a little fishing town\nBut just lately she\u2019s turned stately, and my brain\u2019s turned upside down\n\nSweet Katie Connor, I dote upon her\nKate, Kate, as sure as fate, you\u2019ll have to marry me\nOr else I have a notion, of diving in the ocean\nAnd mashing all the mermaids at the bottom of the sea.<\/em>\n\nWhen she\u2019s colder, I have told her how the mermaids long for me\nHow they\u2019ve blessed me and caressed me when I\u2019ve bathed in open sea\nShe cries \u201cOh dear, you can go dear, to your mermaids straight away\u201d\nSnaps her fingers, yet she lingers long enough to hear me say.\n\nSweet Katie Connor, I dote upon her\nKate, Kate, as sure as fate, you\u2019ll have to marry me\nOr else I have a notion, of diving in the ocean\nAnd mashing all the mermaids at the bottom of the sea.<\/em>\n\nThen we parted, then I started for the mighty ocean\u2019s brink\nKate looked squeamy, she could see me take a brick to make me sink\nNear the water, she bethought her \u201cJack\u201c she cried; said I \u201cToo late\u201d\n\u201cJack, my jewel, don\u2019t be cruel; come back, Jack, and marry Kate!\u201d\n\nSweet Katie Connor, I dote upon her\nKate, Kate, as sure as fate, is going to marry me\nSo now I have no notion, of diving in the ocean\nOr mashing scaly mermaids at the bottom of the sea.<\/em><\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A song written by Harry Dacre <\/a>who is perhaps best remembered today for the song Daisy Bell<\/a> (A bicycle built for two). Dacre was in fact  a relatively prolific songwriter and  this was a big hit for  Pat Rafferty<\/a> the British halls of the 1890s. It was advertised as a “successor” to Little Annie Rooney<\/a>, another Irish flavoured love song which was a hit in 1889. It was commonplace for a song associated with an individual artist in the Halls to be licensed separately for pantomime singing, often with the stipulation that it was only allowed to be sung in one production in a given town, as seen in the advert below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"dacres
The Era 08 Nov 1890, Sat  \u2022  Page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
A recording or download of this song can be purchased from Windyridge CDs.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n