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Irish Washerwoman (Corporal Casey)
Irish, English, Scottish, American; Double Jig. USA; Very widely known.
ARTIST: Tune traditional; Lyrics by G. Colman
Listen (instrumental): Carson Robison And His Pleasant Valley Boys
Listen (instrumental): Richard Matteson (solo guitar)
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: Earliest print date for tune 1788. Words appearing in 1791.
RECORDING INFO: Baldwin, Stephen. English Village Fiddler, Leader LED 2068, LP (1976), cut# 6. Bowen, Robin Huw. Sweet Harp of my Land (Telyn Berseiniol fy ngwlad), Flying Fish FF 70610, CD (1991), cut# 4b (Washerwoman). Brown, Sullivan & Company. Magnum Banjos, Sequatchie --, LP (197?), cut# 3. Carawan, Guy. Green Rocky Road, June Appal JA 0021, LP, cut# 13a. Clemens, Alice. Fiddlin' Fever, UCA, LP (197?), cut# 4. Cline, Curly Ray. Chicken Reel, Rebel SLP 1498, LP (197?), cut# 7. Doherty, John. Folk Songs of Britain. Vol 3. Jack of All Trades, Caedmon TC 1144, LP (1961), cut#A.11. Gardner, Worley. Mountain Melodies. Tunes of the Appalachians, Oak Leaf OL 3-7-2, LP (197?), cut# 12. George, Franklin/Frank. Swope's Knobs, Anachronistic 001, LP (1977), cut#4.10a . Hamilton, Mark. Songs and Tunes from Wolf Run, Sampler 9223, Cas (1992), cut# 2 . Hammons, Edden. Edden Hammons Collection. Vol Two, West Virginia Univ SA-2, CD (2000), cut#1.08 . Houle, Ray P.; and Lenoir, Norbert. Plains Chippewa/Metis Music from Turtle Mountain, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40411, CD (1992), cut#24 (Irish Washer Woman); Hubbach, Bob. American Hammer Dulcimer, Troubadour TR-6, LP (1978), cut# 2; Kuykendall, Pete (Pete Roberts). American Banjo, Folkways FA 2314, LP (1966), cut# 13; Parker, Chet. Hammered Dulcimer, Folkways FA 2381, LP (1966), cut# 5e; Reid, Harvey. Nothin' But Guitar, Woodpecker, LP (1982), cut#B.05a; Riddle, Jimmie. Country-Western Radio. Rare Radio Recordings of Famous Count..., Radiola MR-1069, LP (1977), cut#A2.2; Robison, Carson; and his Pleasant Valley Boys. Square Dances, RCA (Victor) LPM-1238, LP, cut#A.02; Shamrocks. Newfoundland Old Time Fiddle Music, Banff RBS 1055, LP (195?), cut#B.04 ;--- I Never Played to Many Posh Dances, Topic 12T 455/6, LP (1990), cut#3.09; Turner, John. John Turner's Fiddling Leprechaun, Fiddletree F9125, LP (1983), cut# 13; Wanzer, Loyd. Folk Fiddling Left Handed Style, American Heritage AH-LP 19B, LP (196?), cut#B.06; Wear, DeWayne; and the Great Wear Family. Hoe Down! Vol. 4, Rural Rhythm RR 121, LP (197?), cut# 21; Flying Fish FF70610, Robin Huw Bowen - "Telyn Berseiniol fy Ngwlad/Welsh Music on the Welsh Triple Harp" (1996. Appears as "Yr Hen Olchyddes/The Washerwoman"). Folkways FA 2381, "The Hammered Dulcimer as played by Chet Parker (Michigan)" (1966). Fretless 122, Emile Boilard- "Old Time Fiddling 1976". North Star NS0038, "The Village Green: Dance Music of Old Sturbridge Village." RCA Victor LCP 1001, Ned Landry and His New Brunswick Lumberjacks - "Bowing the Strings with Ned Landry." Supertone 9169 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts (Ky.). Victor 20537 (78 RPM), Mellie Dunham, 1926. Pibroch MacKenzie - "The Mull Fiddler" (1969). Bob Smith's Ideal Band - "Better than an Orchestra" (1977).
OTHER NAMES: “Bird's Jig;” A Sup of Good Whiskey,” "Corporal Casey," "Country Courtship," "Dargason," "Irishwoman," "The Irish Wash-Woman," "Irish Waterman," "Jackson's Delight," "Paddy McGinty's Goat," "The Wash Woman," "The Scheme," "The Snouts and Ears of America," "Star at Liwis," "Sedany."
SOURCES: According to the late Breandan Breathnach, 'Ceol Rince nah Eireann', Vol. 2, #19, the tune "Irish Washerwoman" was originally published as sheet music, 'The Wash Woman,' c 1785, by Henry Mountain, Dublin. Breathnach noted the tune was also in Lee's 'New Collection of Irish Country Dances for the Year 1788. He also mentions some similar earlier tunes. J. Brysson's 'A Curious Collection of Favourite Tunes', (1791) entitled it "The Irish Waterman". The earliest words are those of George Colman's song 'Corporal Casey' to a slightly altered version of the tune in the play 'The Surrender of Calais', 1791.
PRINT: Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p 43b. Bennett, John. Fiddle Book, Oak, Bk (1967), p118c; Mason, Phil. Dulcimer Player News, Dulcimer Player News DPN, Ser (1973-), 1/6, p18; John Bennett (Cimarron County, Oklahoma) [Thede]: Edson Cole (Freedom, N.H.) [Linscott]; {1} Floyd Woodhull, 1976 and {2} Hornellsville Hillbillies, 1943 (New York State) [Bronner]; 13 southwestern Pa. fiddlers and fifers [Bayard]; fiddler Paddy Fahy, 1970 (Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, Ireland) [Breathnach]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]; Attwood O'Connor (b. 1923, Milltown Cross, South Kings County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]. Adam, 1928; No. 3. Allan's Irish Fiddler, No. 14, pg. 4. American Veteran Fifer, 1902 & 1927; No. 11. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 1, pg. 1. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 446A-M, pgs. 415-419. Breathnach (CRE II), 1976; No. 19, pg. 12. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 140. Bronner (Old-Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 9, pg. 55 and No. 19, pg. 89. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 336. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 12. Cazden, 1955; pg. 23. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 57. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 43. Harding's All-Round, 1905-1932; No. 201. Harding Collection (1915) and Harding's Original Collection, 1928; No. 187. Howe (Diamond School for the Violin), 1861; No. pgs. 44 & 62. Jarman, Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes; No. or pg. 8. Johnson, Vol. 8, 1988; pg. 5. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 10 (appears as "Circassian Cirle"). Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 94; pg. 46. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 8, pg. 36. Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 117. O'Malley, 1919; pg. 3. O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 164, pg. 91 (appears as "The Irishwoman"). O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1986; No. 317, pg. 67. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 129. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 30. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 108. Reavy, 1979; No. 38. Reavy, No. 90, pg. 100 (an idiosyncratic version). Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 22, pg. 9. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 139. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 32. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 118-119. Trim (Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 46. White's Excelsior Collection, 1907; pg. 73.
NOTES: G Major ('B' part is in G Mixolydian in some Scottish versions). Standard. AA'B (Breathnach): AABB (most versions): AA'BB' (Gow, Perlman): AABBCC (Ashman).
There don't seem to be any 'original' words to "The Irish Washerwoman". The earliest title "The Irish Washerwoman" is in bk. 3 of Gow's 'A Collection of Strathspey Reels' (1792). What was originally a description, 'Irish', has now become part of the title. The melody has been used for parodies as well as original lyrics and is one of the most widely know Irish jigs. One of the set of lyrics is "A Sup of Good Whiskey" which originally had it's own tune and now is known for the “Irish Washerwoman" melody (recorded by Patrick Galvin).
From Ceolas: Although the tune has popularly been known as an old, and perhaps quintessential Irish jig, it has been proposed by some writers to have been an English country dance tune that was published in the 17th century and probably known in the late 16th century. Samuel Bayard (1981), for example, concludes it probably was English in origin rather than Irish, being derived from the air called "Dargason," or "Sedany" as it is sometimes called. Fuld (1966) disagrees, believing "Dargason" (which he gives under the title "Scotch Bagpipe Melody") and "The Irish Washerwoman" developed independently. "Dargason" was first printed in Ravenscroft's Pammelia (1609) and appears in the Playford's Dancing Master editions from 1651 to 1690, but subsequently the "folk process" melded the strain to other parts, thus making other tunes (see "The Green Garters" for example) including the precursors to the Washerwoman tune. One of these precursors was the English tune "Country Courtship" which dates from at least 1715 and probably to 1688, in which latter mentioned year it was first entered at Stationers' Hall. "The Irish Washerwoman" appears to have developed from "The Country Courtship," which was extremely popular in the 19th century, as the tune under the "Washerwoman" title was to become a little later. The ending of the jig is the same as the endings of "In Bartholemew Fair" and "The Free Masons." Breathnach (1976) finds the second part identical to that of "Star at Liwis or The Scheme" printed by Walsh in Caledonian Country Dances (c. 1730, pg. 59).
From Mudcat: Dargason/Sedany was put to the words, "The Hawthorn Tree" which is in Ritson's Ancient Songs under Class IV, (from Edward VI to Elizabeth) as A Mery Ballet of the Hathorne Tre, to be sung to the tune of Donkin Dargeson. One Hundred Songs of England says Dargeson may be a reference to an "old piece played by the Children of the Revels at Blackfriars in 1606 entitled "The Isle of Gulls." The couplet it gives from "Isle" has a reference to a place named Dargison. There is also mention that "Gifford speaks of some child's book of knight-errantry in which a dwarf named Darison,who served as a page to the hero in her adventures." 100 Songs also says the tune in the book for the Hawthorn Tree was taken from The Dancing Master (1650-51), where it is called Dargason, or the Sedany (the Sedany being a country dance). The similarity to Irish Washerwoman is, indeed, unmistakable.
From Ceolas: American versions with the "Washerwoman" title appear toward the end of the 18th century. It was contained in A Collection of Contra Dances (Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1792) under the title "Irish Wash Woman," and several American dance copybooks contain various dances to the melody, including Nancy Shepley's Manuscript (Pepperell, Massachusetts, c. 1795) and different figures in Asa Wilcox's MS (Hartford County, Conecticut, 1793). A third dance can be found in Gentleman and Lady's Companion (Norwich, Connecticut, 1798), while A Collection of Contra Dances (Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1792) gives a dance similar to that copied by Shepley. Van Cleef and Keller (1980) state the name changes from "Irish Wash Woman" to "Irish Washerwoman" around 1795. The tune retained its popularity, at least for contra dancing, and was cited as having commonly been played for Orange County, New York country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly), by 20th century Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner for dances in the Southwest, and by contemporary Buffalo Valley, Pa., dance fiddlers Ralph Sauers and Harry Daddario. Viola "Mom" Ruth, in her collection Pioneer Western Folk Tunes (1948) appends to the "Irish Washer Women" that it was what she played when she "Won the state's (Arizona) championship 1926." Other than for dancing, it was popular as a vehicle for "American stage Yankees," and according to Bronner (1987) it was included in the music to the "Federal Overture" (published by B. Carr in 1795) which played to theatres in Philadelphia and New York just prior to and at the beginning of the 1800's. Outside of the east coast Musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph recorded the tune for the Library of Congress from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's and it was recorded as having been predicted by a local southwest Alabama paper (the Clarke County Democrat) in May, 1929, that it would by played at an upcoming fiddlers' contest. It appears in the repertoire list of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham (the elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the 1920's). Referred to by Bayard (1944) in his note for "The Snouts and Ears of America," and Breathnach (1976) regards it as a "stain on the honour of washer women" that the tune was used for that song and "Paddy McGinty's Goat" in the United States.
The melody was found by the author of English Folk-Song and Dance (pg. 144) in the repertoire of fiddler William Tilbury (who lived at Pitch Place, midway between Churt and Thursley in Surrey), who used, in his younger days, to play at village dances. Tilbury learned his repertoire from an uncle, Fiddler Hammond, who died around 1870 and who was the village fiddler before him. The conclusion was that "Haste to the Wedding" and melodies of similar type survived in English tradition (at least in southwest Surrey) well into the second half of the 19th century.
Claude Simpson says: "Strong traces of 'Dargason' remain in the familiar 'Irish Washerwoman' and in the American play-party song, 'Skip to My Lou'" (The British Broadside Ballad and Its Music). From Masato: There are at least 2 CDs, where we can listen to "Dargason" played in old style: Country Capers (Arabesque Z6520); An American Journey (Angel CDC 7243 5 55522 2 8).
A variant of the modern version of the tune appears as air 13 in Samuel Arnold's stage piece The Surrender of Calais, report Van Cleef and Keller (1980), which was first performed in London in 1791. It was sung by the character O'Carrol, and Irish soldier, and the song became known as "Corporal Casey:"
When I was at home I was merry and frisky,
My dad kept a pig and my mother sold whisky,
My uncle was rich, but never would by aisey
Till I was enlisted by Corporal Casey.
Och! rub a dub, row de dow, Corporal Casey,
My dear little Shelah, I thought would run crazy,
When I trudged away with tough Corporal Casey.
I marched from Kilkenny, and, as I was thinking
On Shelah, my heart in my bosom was sinking,
But soon I was forced to look fresh as a daisy,
For fear of a drubbing from Corporal Casey.
Och! rub a dub, row de dow, Corporal Casey!
The devil go with him, I ne'er could be lazy,
He struck my shirts so, ould Corporal Casey.
We went into battle, I took the blows fairly
That fell on my pate, but they bothered me rarely,
And who should the first be that dropped, why, and please ye,
It was my good friend, honest Corporal Casey.
Och! rub a dub, row de dow, Corporal Casey!
Thinks I you are quiet, and I shall be aisey,
So eight years I fought without Corporal Casey.
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