Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake lyrics
The Irish RoversAs I sat in my window last evening
A letter was brought round to me
A little gilt-edged invitation sayin'
"Gilhooley come over to tea"
Each Christmas the Fogarties sent it
So I went just for old friendships sake
And the first thing they gave me to tackle
Was a slice of Miss Fogarty's cake
Chorus:
And there were plums and prunes and cherries
There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon too
There was nuts and cloves and berries
And a crust that was nailed on with glue
There were caraway seeds in abundance
Sure if I'd work up a fine stomach ache
That would kill a man twice after eating a slice
Of Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake.
Miss Mulligan wanted to try it
But really it wasn't no use
For we worked on it over an hour
But a piece of it wouldn't come loose
Till Halley came in with the hatchet
And Murphy came in with the saw
But Miss Fogarty's cake had the power
For to paralyze any man's jaws
Chorus:
Miss Fogarty proud as a peacock
Kept smiling and talking away
Till she tripped over Flanagans brogans
And spilt the potcheen in her tea
Aye Gilhooley she says you're not eatin
Try a little bit more of me cake
"Oh no Mrs Fogarty" said I
Any more and me stomach would break
Chorus:
Maloney was sick with the colic
O'Donnell a pain in his head
McNulty lay down on the sofa
And he swore that he wished he was dead
Miss Bailey went into hysterics
And there she did wriggle and shake
And all of us swore we were poisoned
From eating Miss Fogarty's cake
Chorus:
And there were plums and prunes and cherries
There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon too
There was nuts and cloves and berries
And a crust that was nailed on with glue
There were caraway seeds in abundance
Sure if I'd work up a fine stomach ache
That would kill a man twice after eating a slice
Of Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake
Yes it would kill a man twice after eating a slice
Of Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake
Song Details
Composer: Charles Frank Horn
Brief: A light hearted look at the trials and tribulations of eating Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake.
The following is an excerpt by Stanley A. Ransom, a former board member of the New York Folklore Society:
"Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake" was composed by Charles Frank Horn in Middleport, Pennsylvania, and published in 1883 by W. F. Shaw, a Philadelphia music publisher.
The Library of Congress web site, Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885, lists fifty-seven compositions by C. Frank Horn, but I wish to thank Linda Wood, sheet music librarian at the Philadelphia Free Library, for my first information about C. Frank Horn himself. C. Frank Horn was born on April 19, 1851, in Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
His full name was Charles Frank Horn, but he usually went by C. Frank Horn to distinguish his name from his father's. His father, named Charles Horn, was a teamster born in Pennsylvania in 1800. C. Frank Horn's mother, Matilda Horn, was born about 1820, also in Pennsylvania... nyfolklore.org
References:
Citron - large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick rind which is candied and used for decoration and flavouring of foods
potcheen (poteen) - poitin in Irish Gaelic - illicitly distilled whiskey.
Category: Folk
Covers: Mick Moloney, Tom Sweeney, The Sean O'Neill Singers, Seamus Kennedy, Tommy Mulvihill, Poxy Boggards.
Album: Songs of Christmas... (30 Sept, 1999)
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