Digital Tradition Mirror

The Potato

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Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

The Potato

We have a loyal little friend the potato smooth and round,
And seldom does it fail to lend a dish that's good and sound,
Oh truly 'tis a friend in need tho' treated with disdain
A most essential food indeed that fully earns its fame.

They say Sir Walter Raleigh (so it's generally agreed)
Implanted in our valley fair the first prolific seed
There sprang from out the fertile soil (at least that's what we're told)
With eager care and earnest toil a crop a hundredfold.

Oh! they've got Royal Standards now, they've Queens with gracious manners
And Royal Kings, the least highbrow, who mix with Arran banners
But there's many a fine variety that claim no regal fame
Just as good society as those that flaunt the name.

Please God today, let come what may, our farmers will plant more
Of these tubers which are bound to stay stark hunger from our shore
So let us call them what we may be it spuds or pomme-de-terre
They are a vital food today In which we all must share.

From The Voice of the People, Mulcahy and Fitzgibbon
tune: The Barber Shaved the Monkey and the Monkey Shaved the Cat
RG
apr97

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!