{"id":23786,"date":"2024-03-04T10:29:26","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T10:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=23786"},"modified":"2024-03-04T10:32:18","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T10:32:18","slug":"tipperary-christening-the","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/tipperary-christening-the\/","title":{"rendered":"Tipperary Christening, The"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>The Christening
The Irish Christening
The Irish Christening at Tipperary<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1877<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Dan Maguinnis<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN25272<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Harry Melville, JW Rowley, Charles Colette, Lester Barrett<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Goodwin, Edwin; Australia : New South Wales : 1955
Moss, Barney; Canada : Newfoundland : 1965
Howley, Martin; Ireland : Co. Clare : 1975
Stack, Jack Ireland : Co. Kerry : Listowel 1982<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From \"Six Hundred and Seventeen Irish Songs and Ballads\" (c1898, Wehman)\n<\/strong>\nIt was down in that place, Tipperary,\nWhere they're so airy, and so contrary,\nWhere they kick up the devil's figarie,\nWhen they christened my beautiful boy.\nTim Doolin, the piper, sat thinking,\nAnd a-winking, and a-blinking,\nA noggin of punch he was drinking,\nAnd wishing the parents great joy.\n\nWhen home from the church they came,\nFather Tom and old Mickey Branagan,\nAnd scores of pretty boys and girls\nAs ever you'd wish for to see.\nAnd in through the open door,\nHogan. the tinker, Lather and Lanagan,\nKicked up a row, and wanted to know\nWhy they wasn't asked to the spree.\n\nThen the youngster set up such a bawling,\nSuch a squalling, caterwauling,\nFor he got such a terrible mauling,\nOh, that was the day of great joy.\nThen the piper set up such a moaning\nAnd such a droning, and such a croning,\nIn the corner his dhudeen was turning,\nWhen they christened sweet Dennis, the boy.\n\nThe aristocracy came to the party -\nThere was McCarty, light and hearty,\nWith Florence Berdelia Fogarty\nWho said that was French for a name;\nDionysius Alphonso Mulrooney,\nOh, so spooney, and so looney.\nWith charming Evangellne Mooney,\nOf society she was the cream.\n\nCora Teresa Maud McCann,\nRoderick Rooke and Julia McCafferty.\nThomas A. Diddymus, Morris McGan,\nAnd Clarence Ignatius McGurk;\nCornelius Horatio Flaherty's wife,\nAdolphus Grace and Dr. O'Rafferty.\nEva McLanghlin and Cora Muldoon,\nAnd Brigadier-General Burke.\n\nThey were dancing the polka-mazurka,\n'Twas a worker not a shirker,\nAnd a voice of Vienna la Turker,\nAnd the polka-redowa divine;\nAfter dancing they went into lunching,\nOh, such munching. and such crunching,\nThey were busy as bees at a lunching,\nWith their coffee, tea, whiskey and wine.\n\nThey had all kinds of tea - they had Shooshong.\nThey had Ningnong. and Drinkdong,\n'With Oolong and Boolong, and Toolong,\nAnd teas that were made in Japan; .\nThey had sweetmeats imported from Java,\nAnd from Youver, and from Havre.\nIn the four-masted steamer \"Manarver,\"\nThat sails from beyond Hindoostan.\n\nCold ice-cream, and cream that was hot,\nRomeo punch, snowball and sparrowgrass,\nPatty D. Foy, whatever that means,\nMade out of goose-liver and grease;\nRed-headed duck, salmon and peas.\nBandy-legged frogs, Peruvian ostriches,\nBottled noix, woodcock and snipe,\nAnd everything that would please.\n\nAfter dinner, of course, there was speaking,\nAnd hand-shaking, and leave-taking,\nIn the corners old mothers match-making,\nAnd other such innocent sins;\nThen they bid a good-bye to each other,\nTo each mother, and each brother,\nWhen the last rose I thought I would smother,\nWell they wished that the next would be twins.\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
An Irish-American song from the 1870s which featured in the repertoire of at least four different traditional singers in the English-speaking world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Irish Christening <\/em>was first printed as sheet music in 1877 0r ’78. The earliest clear reference I can find is in February 1878 when a Boston newspaper announced that Louis P Goullaud, 86 Tremont Street has issued<\/em> The Irish Christening, written,  composed and sung by Dan Maguinness of the Boston Theatre <\/em>(The Boston Globe<\/em>, 17 Feb 1878<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan Maguinnis (the spelling of his surname varies) was an actor based in Boston (Massachusetts, USA) who specialised in comic Irish roles. In early printings his song was sometimes given the full title The Irish christening at Tipperary<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The tongue-twisting challenge to memory and breath-control was popular throughout the English-speaking world in the 1880s and 90s. Appearing as printed sheet music, in broadsides and songsters, it was sometimes described as a “banjo song”, which may suggest it was sung in black-face minstrel shows.  It was popular in the British Music Halls, but was not associated with any particular performer, it was sung by comics including  Harry Melville<\/a>,  JW \u201cOver\u201d Rowley<\/a> , Charles Colette, and Lester Barrett<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song was recorded several times commercially in the 20th century – but don’t confuse it with the many other comic songs about christenings; for instance those recorded by Stanley Holloway and Arthur Askey<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s a version of The Tipperary Christening <\/em>recorded by Willie Brady in the 1960s:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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