I don't have anything exciting or interesting of a personal nature to report so, in keeping with my prior theme of cursing those who displease me, I'm going to post my absolute favorite Vile Irish Curse. 'Tis found in a folk song called "Nell Flaherty's Drake" dating from the 19th century. The song is believed to be an allegorical commentary on a fellow named Robert Emmet, who helped plan an uprising in Dublin in 1803. Things went extremely awry and the uprising failed, but Emmet murdered the Lord Chief Justice while marching upon Dublin Castle. He tried to escape to America but was caught and hanged. The 'drake' in the song is Robert Emmet and as you can tell from the curse, the common folk weren't all that pleased with his hanging:
Bad luck to the robber, be he drunk or sober,
That murdered Nell Flaherty's beautiful drake;
May his spade never dig, may his sow never pig,
May each hair in his wig be well threshed with the flail.
May his door never latch, may his roof have no thatch,
May his turkeys not hatch, may the rats eat his meal.
May every old fairy from Cork to Dun Laoghaire
Dip him snug and airy in river or lake,
That the eel and the trout, they may dine on the snout
Of the monster that murdered Nell Flaherty's drake.
May his pig never grunt, may his cat never hunt,
May a ghost ever haunt him at dead of the night,
May his hens never lay, may his horse never neigh,
May his goat fly away like an old paper kite
That the flies and the fleas may the wretch ever tease.
May the piercin' March breeze make him shiver and shake,
May a bump from the stick raise the lumps fast and thick
On the monster that murdered Nell Flaherty's drake.
Several years ago I heard a version that wished even more tortures upon the murderer of Nell Flaherty's drake but the only line I remember is "may he swell with the gout and his grinders fall out" which is a good one. The recording I have is on a CD by The Clancy Brothers so my transcription is from that version.
Bad luck to the robber, be he drunk or sober,
That murdered Nell Flaherty's beautiful drake;
May his spade never dig, may his sow never pig,
May each hair in his wig be well threshed with the flail.
May his door never latch, may his roof have no thatch,
May his turkeys not hatch, may the rats eat his meal.
May every old fairy from Cork to Dun Laoghaire
Dip him snug and airy in river or lake,
That the eel and the trout, they may dine on the snout
Of the monster that murdered Nell Flaherty's drake.
May his pig never grunt, may his cat never hunt,
May a ghost ever haunt him at dead of the night,
May his hens never lay, may his horse never neigh,
May his goat fly away like an old paper kite
That the flies and the fleas may the wretch ever tease.
May the piercin' March breeze make him shiver and shake,
May a bump from the stick raise the lumps fast and thick
On the monster that murdered Nell Flaherty's drake.
Several years ago I heard a version that wished even more tortures upon the murderer of Nell Flaherty's drake but the only line I remember is "may he swell with the gout and his grinders fall out" which is a good one. The recording I have is on a CD by The Clancy Brothers so my transcription is from that version.
2 Comments:
Proof, if any were needed, that no one can curse you like the Irish. And further proof that my lovely red-haired daughter is definitely Irish. Her Gram would be SO PROUD!
mom
By Anonymous, at 11:14 AM
That's some good cursing there.
By Anonymous Me, at 1:21 PM
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