US & Canada Versions 8E. Spanish Lady-- Roud 542 (“The Spanish Lady in Dublin City,” "Spanish Lady," "Dublin City")
Nearly completed painting "The Spanish Lady" by Richard Matteson-- 2017
[The Spanish Lady is rare in North America although traces of her are also found in versions of "Madam, I Have Come to Court You" (hereafter "Madam") and the "No Sir" songs (where she usually is not named but is the daughter of a Spanish merchant). The uses of the Spanish Lady in "Madam" and other related ballads come from the lineage of two traditional stanzas collected in Donegal in 1911 by Joseph Campbell:
As I walked down thro' Dublin City
At the hour of twelve in the night,
Who should I see but a Spanish lady
Washing her feet by candlelight.
First she washed them and then she dried them,
Over a fire of ambery coal,
In all my life I never did see,
A maid so neat about the sole.
These stanzas, adapted from an 18th century erotic song[1] (The Ride in London) or an unknown print adaptation of that erotic song[2], were used by Irish poet Joseph Campbell as the opening for his poem titled "Spanish Lady." Campbell's poem (see: Spanish Lady III) has entered tradition and has been occasionally combined with two choruses used with versions of "Madam"-- the "Twenty, Eighteen" chorus and also the "Wheel of Fortune" chorus. In North America there are only four versions with the two identifying stanzas-- all from the US:
1. “The Spanish Lady in Dublin City” sung by Richard Dyer-Bennet. Learned in NYC about 1942. From Folkways "Richard Dyer-Bennet, Vol. 4," 1957.
2. "Spanish Lady" sung by Andrew Hawes of Pittsburg, New Hampshire June 18, 1943. Recorded by Helen Hartness Flanders.
3. "Dublin City" sung by Burl Ives, learned about 1944 from an Irish Bartender in NYC. Recorded in 1945 and published by Ives in "Wayfaring Stranger: An Autobiography," 1948.
4. "The Spanish Lady" sung by Nancy McCuddy Stevenson of Clarksville, TN on Dec. 5, 1953, learned from her father. From "Folk Songs from Middle Tennessee," Boswell edited Wolfe.
Here are five specific variants of the Spanish Lady, some used in the "Madam" courting songs:
Spanish Lady I: Derived from the first two stanzas of 1776 bawdy song which has been reworked. The first two stanzas are found in tradition with Spanish Lady instead of "damsel pretty" and are often followed by stanzas of "Madam" sometimes with the "Twenty-Eighteen" chorus and/or other choruses.
Spanish Lady II: The Spanish Lady as found in the 1800s "She answered No," "No Sir" and "Oh No, John" songs. She is the daughter of a Spanish merchant, Spanish sailor or Spanish captain. Versions of "No Sir" and Oh No John" are given under 8A. and not found here. A rare variant (see the Flanders variant) includes first two stanzas of "Spanish Lady I" with other traditional stanzas associated with Spanish Lady and also has the "she answered No" chorus.
Spanish Lady III: The Spanish Lady found as the poem of the same title by Irish poet Joseph Campbell based off the first two stanzas he collected of Spanish Lady I in 1911. Campbell's poem was sung and has entered tradition. It is sometime sung with the "Twenty-Eighteen" chorus and/or other choruses. It is also mixed with Herbert Hughes version.
Spanish Lady IV: The name "Spanish Lady" is found replacing "lovely creature" in a number of "Madam" versions including at least one children's game song, "Here sits a Spanish lady" dated 1909 as collected by Waugh in Ontario. See also Wehman's print version of the late 1800s and Cox's version in "Folk Songs of the South," 1925.
Spanish Lady V: An arrangement with new text of Spanish Lady for piano and voice by Irish composer Herbert Hughes. It was based on the first two stanzas (1911) supplied by Joseph Campbell from tradition. Hughes text was copyrighted in 1930-- the same year his recording with singer James McCafferty was released. Hughes last set of stanzas appear to be written by him and also have entered tradition. Hughes and Campbell's versions have been frequently mixed (see for example Spanish Lady by the Dubliners and also the version by Clancy brothers with Tommy Makem.
The four US versions with the archaic opening stanzas are identified as two versions of Spanish Lady I, one of Spanish Lady II and one of Spanish Lady V. The other variants that name the Spanish Lady (at least four) are of the Spanish Lady IV type where the name "Spanish Lady" is found replacing "lovely creature" in a number of "Madam" versions.
The first reported version with the archaic opening stanzas was learned by Richard Dyer-Bennet in NYC about 1942:
“The Spanish Lady in Dublin City” sung by Richard Dyer-Bennet. Learned in NYC about 1942.
As I walked out in Dublin city,
At the hour of twelve in the night,
Who should I see but the Spanish lady,
Washing her hair by the pale moonlight.
First she washed it, then she dried it
Over a fire of amber coal,
Ne'er did I see such a lovely lady
Taking such care upon my soul.
As I walked out in Dublin city,
At the hour of twelve in the noon,
Who should I see but the Spanish lady,
Combing her hair with a golden comb,
First she combed it, then she curled,
Then into a a black and glossy row.
Ne'er did I see such a lovely lady
Taking such care upon my soul.
Richard Dyer-Bennet version is a corrupt adaptation of Hughes' 1930 arrangement that Dyer-Bennet recorded in 1957. He learned the version in NYC and from his notes had no idea of his song's pedigree. In his version the Spanish Lady is no longer washing her feet and her "sole" becomes "soul."
The first published version of The Spanish Lady in the US was in 1948[3]. It is similar to Frank Harte's 1973 version with the two choruses ("Twenty-Eighteen" and "Wheel"). It was titled "Dublin City" and was collected about 1944[4] by a once Illinois farm-boy living in New York City from an Irish bartender on Third Avenue. This singer included it on his first album in 1945, "A Collection of Ballads and Folk Songs" (Personality Series. Album No. A-407. New York: Decca Records). Did Frank Harte get part of his version from Burl Ives, an itinerant Illinois farm boy? Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction[5].
Here's the story behind the 1945 recording and the song, "Dublin City" from "Wayfaring Stranger: An Autobiography" as told by Burl Ives (Whittlesey House, 1948. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. New York):
It was lunchtime and I began to feel hungry. The aroma of beer drifted past my nostrils, my head turned toward it, and I followed my nose into a little bar-restaurant on Third Avenue.
The bar stretched along one wall; opposite was a row of tables covered with red-and-white checked cloths. A man and woman were seated at a table eatinsf boiled beef and white potatoes. An old man sat sipping a glass of beer at the end of the bar, his back toward the street. Further along the bar a grocery clerk sat in a white apron and coat and a hard-brimmed straw hat. I took a bar stool and ordered a beer and a salami sandwich. Above the bar were two Irish thorn canes crossed like swords. When the bartender spoke, my guess that he would be an Irishman was confirmed. He had the Irish kind of face that all good Irish bartenders have. He called my order to the kitchen. "Coming up," the cook called back.
The bartender mopped up the bar and served me a beer. Nobody spoke except the couple at the table and they spoke in quiet tones. An elevated train roared by every minute or two, trucks and taxicabs made gross music as they stopped, started and tooted their horns. The bartender took a clean cloth and started to polish the glasses stacked before the mirror behind the bar. As he twisted the white cloth in and out and around the glasses he hummed a melody in a minor key over and over. His song was interrupted by the cook who handed him a plate with my sandwich. He mopped the bar in front of me, and his cloth absorbed the rings of wet beer made by my glass.
"What was that tune you were humming?" I asked.
He looked at me, surprised and embarrassed. "And was I hummin' a tune?"
"Yes, you were, and a very nice tune."
He shook his head, "If my life depended on it, I couldn't repeat it."
I started to eat. He served a beer to the old man and began to polish the glasses again. Soon he was humming the tune. I took a pencil from my pocket, drew a musical staff on my paper napkin, and jotted down the notes of the melody.
I called him for another beer, and when he stood before me I said, "What is the name of this song?" I sang his tune back to him.
"Why, that's a song I sang as a young man in Dublin. Where did you hear it?"
I told him it was his melody, and he was much impressed and looked at the notes on the paper napkin. "What do you think about that now?" was all his amazement could utter.
I asked him if he could recall the words. "I think so," he said, and quietly he sang as only an Irishman can sing his own songs:
As 1 was a walkin through Dublin City
About the hour of twelve at night,
It was there I spied a fair, pretty maid,
Washing her feet in candle light.
First she washed them, and then she dried them,
Around her shoulders she pegged a towel,
And in all me life I ne'er did see,
Such a fine young girl, upon my soul.
She had 20, 18, 16, 14;
12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, none;
She had 19, 17, 15, 13;
11, 9, 7, 5, 8 and one:
Round round, the wheel of fortune
Where it stops wearies me.
Fair maids they are so deceivin'
Sad experience teaches me,
She had 20, 18, 16, 14;
12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, none.
She had 19, 17, 15, 13;
11, 9, 7, 5, 3 and one.
When I had learned the song and put a guitar accompaniment to it, I made an acetate record at a little voice-reproduction shop and brought it to my friend the bartender. When I saw him a few weeks later he told me that he had gathered all his friends together to listen to it. He said it was his most prized possession.
Both Ives' version and Dyer-Bennet's have "soul" instead of "sole" (as bottom of her feet). Ives' choruses are associated with the related "Madam" while his text doesn't mention "Spanish Lady." A version similar to Bell Richardson's Scottish version was recorded by Helen Flanders in the 1940s in New England:
"Spanish Lady" sung by by L A Hawes at Pittsburg, New Hampshire on June 18, 1943.
As I rode out to McGraw[6] City
At twelve o'clock the hour of night,
Twas there I spied a Spanish lady,
Washing her scarf in the pale moolight.
Chorus: She said, "No, no sir, no,
Still her answer to him was "No."
Her shoes they were of Spanish leather,
Her stockings were of silk so fine,
She was dressed one summer's evening,
And I thought her heart was mine.
Chorus: She said, "No, no sir, no,
Still her answer to him was "No."
"Madam, into thy bed chamber,
As you go and lock the door,
Should I try to go there with you,
Darling would you come with me?
Chorus: She said, "No, no sir, no,
Still her answer to him was "No."
My father was a lumber merchant,
He enlisted, some where to go
And the only will he gave me,
Was to answer young men "No."
Chorus: She said, "No, no sir, no,
Still her answer to him was "No."
Hawes' song, recorded by Flanders (listen online at internet Archive), is a rare version of "she answered No" with the Spanish Lady opening. Compare this to Bell Robertson's Scottish version which also has a "she answered No" chorus. The last extant US version with the standard Spanish Lady opening was collected by Boswell[7] from Nancy McCuddy Stevenson of Clarksville, TN on Dec. 5, 1953. "Carbon City" resembles somewhat Frank Harte's "Chester City" in his version of "Madam I'm a Darling." Here's this rare version from North America:
"The Spanish Lady" sung by Nancy McCuddy Stevenson of Clarksville, TN on Dec. 5, 1953, learned from her father.
1. I went down to Carbon City,
Twelve or one o'clock at night,
There I saw a Spanish lady,
Dressing by the candlelight.
CHORUS: Larry a-ma-lowdin, liden, looden,
Larry a-ma-1owdin liden lay.
2. With a vessel of cold water
And a mirror in her hand,
With her hair down over her shoulders,
Like an angel she did stand.
Chorus:
3. I can drink and not get drowsy,
I can fight and not get slain.
I can court a Spanish lady
And be welcome back again
Chorus:
4. Did you ever see a pewter vessel,
Mended with a copper pan?
Did you ever see a Spanish lady,
Married to an Irishman?
Chorus:
The last stanza compares to Bell Robertson's version as well as another Irish arrangement "Galway City" by the Clancy Brothers. The penultimate stanza is found similarly in Barnyards of Delgaty. This Tennessee variant has no stanzas of 8. Madam, I Have Come to Court You and is related to Spanish Lady I by its opening stanza.
At least four instances of "Spanish Lady IV" have been reported from North America. In variants of "Spanish Lady IV" the name "Spanish Lady" is replaces "lovely creature." The texts are "Madam." The version of "Spanish Lady IV" from Canada is a children's game song, originally from Ireland (see 8C. Lady on the Mountain). The following texts of "Spanish Lady IV" are found under US/Canada versions of "Madam" and will not be given here.
Spanish Lady IV: The name "Spanish Lady" is found replacing "lovely creature" in a number of "Madam" versions:
1. "Spanish Lady." From Wehman's "Universal Songster," Volume 39 circa 1893 (New York)
2. ["A Spanish Lady"] A Cornwall informant quotes (Dec. 11, 1909) a version formerly heard at Colborne, Ont., which he supposes to be Irish. My title. From Journal of American Folklore, Volume 31, 1917; "Canadian Folk-Lore from Ontario" by F.W. Waugh.
3. "Spanish Lady." Communicated by Miss Violet Noland, Davis, Tucker County, 1916; obtained from Mr. John Raese, who heard it sung when he was a boy. From Cox, Folk Songs of the South, 1925.
4. "Spanish Lady" sung by Mrs. S. T. Topper, Ashland, Ohio, 1939; Eddy Ballads and Songs of Ohio.
It may be assumed that the Spanish Lady in these versions of Madam comes from a similar source as the Scottish versions of Madam-- although the Scottish version have the Spanish Lady opening stanzas. It may also be assumed that the Spanish merchant/father of the "No Sir/Oh No John" songs is somehow related to same Spanish Lady of the archaic UK stanzas which can only be traced back to mid-1800s. The assumptions are fortified by Bell Robertson's early version (collected in the early 1900s but dating back many years through her family) and in the US by the Hawes' version collected by Flanders in New Hampshire in 1943.
The Spanish lady remains an exotic and enigmatic figure shrouded in mystery. Her appearance in songs from the US and Canada is rare and misunderstood. The missing antecedent or antecedents that link the erotic 1770s song with the late 1800s texts may never be found. No tradition with the archaic stanzas has existed in North America and only four versions have been reported and none since the 1950s.
R. Matteson 2017]
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Footnotes:
1. The erotic song appears as SONG LXXXIII in "The Frisky Songster." It was first printed circa 1770 in London, or Dublin. Reprint copies include Bodleian (1776), Harding Collection (1802), and the Kinsey-ISR Library. The 1776 edition is found online in the Jack Horntip Collection. "The Ride in London" is a reprint found in "The Merry Muses: A Choice Collection of Favourite Songs Gathered by Robert Burns," 1827.
2. It may be assumed that an adaption of the opening stanzas (where "Spanish Lady" replaces "damsel pretty") was printed shortly afterward and filled out with stanzas of Madam. The consistent early versions of Spanish Lady (esp. the Scottish, see Greig-Duncan) indicate a print version was made. None, however, are yet found in the US or Canada.
3. "Wayfaring Stranger: An Autobiography" by BURL IVES. (Whittlesey House, 1948. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. New York.
4. My date, Ives was back in NYC Dec. 1943.
5. Frank Harte's version could have been an Irish transmission from a similar source as the Irish bartender, who Burl Ives got his version. The key line - not found in any other versions is: "Around her shoulder she pegged a towel." Since this line is not found in other versions and Frank Harte lived briefly, traveled and performed regularly in the US He certain would have access to Burl Ives 1945 recording as well as Ives' 1948 autobiography where Ives' version is printed. It seems more likely that Harte borrowed parts of his version from Ives than it was from tradition. Harte includes Campbell's standard last stanza as well as a unique stanza that appears to be Harte's own.
6. My transcription-- the city hard to hear and that's my best guess.
7. From "Folk Songs from Middle Tennessee," the George Boswell Collection edited by Charles Wolfe.