Written by Harry Donovan, a Dublin variety-hall songwriter of the mid-Twentieth century, and first sung by the popular Dublin stage entertainer Jimmy O’Dea, who recorded it in 1938, this music-hall song sings the praises of young Daffy Mulligan, daughter of the well-known Biddy, subject of another of Donovan’s songs. We first heard it on Barry Gleeson’s debut CD, Path across the Ocean (TERR CD001).
lyrics
I'm Daffodil Mulligan, Biddy's young girl
And the fellas all say I'm a peach and a pearl
I was born at the daffodil time of year
So they just call me Daffy, now maybe that's queer
For I'm sweet Daffodil Mulligan I am,
All my ancestors come from the Coombe,
And I'm just such another, the spit of my mother,
The lady that lives in one room down on Francis street.
Sweet Daffodil Mulligan, fresh fish!
Like the sweet Blarney roses that bloom
I am bright hale and hearty, the life of the party,
I'm Daffy the belle of the Coombe, fresh fish!
It was in that pine forest so dark and so dim,
That I first met my Jemmy so tall and so slim,
It was on an excursion the girls all looked swell,
But I took the biscuit, and Jem's heart as well.
We were married in August when Jem was on strike,
So he took me to Bray on the back of his bike,
Now the strike is all over and Jem, bless his soul,
Has settled down steadily drawing the dole.
credits
from Cold Old Fire,
released May 25, 2014
Trad. arr. Lynched
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