| Author | Topic: Add: The Praties They Grow Small | |
| dmcg | Posted - 04 Nov 04 - 09:23 am | |
Oh, the praties they grow small, Over here, over here. Oh, the praties they grow small Snd we dig them in the fall. And we eat them skins and all, Over here, over here. Oh, I wish that we were geese, Night and morn, night and morn, Oh, I wish that we were geese, For they fly and take their ease, And they live and die in peace, Eating corn, eating corn. Oh, we're tampled in the durst, Over here, over here, Yes, we're trampled in the dust, But the Lord in whom we trust Will give us crumb for crust, Over here, over here. Oh, the praties they grow small, Over here, over here. Oh, the praties they grow small Snd we dig them in the fall. And we eat them skins and all, Over here, over here. Source: Singing Together, Autumn 1971, BBC Publications Notes: Described as "Irish Folk Song", taken from Come Listen, Ginn and Co Ltd. I know nothing about this song. I hear a strong melodic similarity to Davy Lowston and structurally it is very close to all of the Captain Kidd songs, although not quite a perfect fit, mainly in the 'shortened' last line. The song suggests a link with one or more of the Irish potato famines, but to me it feels a little detached: more like something from a play about those times rather than actually from them. Of course, this slight taste might be due to editing for the pamphlet. I'm sure someone knows a little more about this song. | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 04 Nov 04 - 02:23 pm | |
The tune is essentially the familiar Captain Kidd (etc) in a minor key. In this form it appeared in 1844, as The Wonderful Song of "Over There!" A Doleful Ballad, One of the 'Olden Time', arranged by Charles Gossin and published in New York (link to example at the Levy Collection). Bronson took that to be "a variant of the Irish Famine song", but it would pre-date the famine. That doesn't rule out an Irish origin, but on the whole it seems not unlikely that the verses originated in America, where it has turned up quite often in oral currency (to a variety of tunes), with titles like Hard Times in Kansas (Roud 4455). It would be interesting to know when the "praties" form first appeared in print; Anne Gilchrist made a passing reference to it in 1938 (JEFDSS II, 2, 168) but that's all I can find at the moment. There may well be useful references in some of the American collections. | ||