The Rare Old Mountain Dew
Encyclopedia
History
It was written by Edward Harrigan with music by Dave Braham, from the Irish drama The Blackbird. It was printed in "Irish street Ballads", 1916. It was later recorded under the title The Rare Old Mountain Dew. It is about the intoxicating properties of IrishIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
, or Poitín
Poitín
Poitín , anglicised as poteen, is a traditional Irish distilled, highly alcoholic beverage . Poitín was traditionally distilled in a small pot still and the term is a diminutive of the Irish word pota, meaning "pot"...
. The earliest recording is by John Griffin, 1927 on the Columbia label, New York, under its original title.
It is sung to the traditional air The Girl I Left Behind
The Girl I Left Behind
"The Girl I Left Behind" also known as "The Girl I Left Behind Me" is a long-standing popular folk tune and song, dated by most authorities to the late 18th or early 19th century.-History:...
(also known as Brighton Camp).
The song is referenced in The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
song "Fairytale of New York
Fairytale of New York
"Fairytale of New York" is a song by the Irish rock group The Pogues, released in 1987 and featuring the British singer Kirsty MacColl. The song is an Irish folk style ballad, written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan, and featured on The Pogues' album If I Should Fall from Grace with God...
":
And then he sang a song
The Rare Auld Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you.
Recordings
- "The Joys and Curse of Drink of dean" (various artists) 1998
- Four to the BarFour to the BarFour to the Bar was an Irish band in New York City during the early to mid 1990s.From its beginnings as one more hard-drinking pub band from the boroughs, it ventured into a neotraditional fusion of pop, rock, and Irish and American folk....
on their live album Craic on the RoadCraic on the Road (album)Craic on the Road: Live at Sam Maguire's was the first full-length album by Four to the Bar, released in 1994.- Track listing :#I'll Tell Me Ma #Waxie's Dargle/The Rare Old Mountain Dew #My Love's in Germany...
. - Sam HintonSam HintonSam Duffie Hinton was an American folk singer and marine biologist, best known for his music and harmonica playing. Hinton also taught at the University of California, San Diego, published books and magazine articles on marine biology, and worked as a calligrapher and artist.-Biography:Sam Hinton...
on "the Wandering Folksong". - Orthodox CeltsOrthodox CeltsOrthodox Celts is a Serbian band which plays Irish folk music combined with rock elements. Despite their unusual sound the band is one of the top acts of the Serbian rock scene and has influenced several younger bands, most notably Tir na n'Og and Irish Stew of Sindidun.The band started their...
on their album Green RosesGreen RosesGreen Roses is the third studio album by the Serbian Irish folk/Celtic rock band Orthodox Celts released in 1999.- Tracklist :# "St. Patrick Was A Gentleman" - 02:19# "Sindidun" - 03:42# "Green Roses" Green Roses is the third studio album by the Serbian Irish folk/Celtic rock band Orthodox Celts...
. - The Pogues with Ronnie DrewRonnie DrewJoseph Ronald "Ronnie" Drew was an Irish singer and folk musician who achieved international fame during a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners. He was born in Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin...
from The DublinersThe DublinersThe Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
, singing together with Shane McGowan. - The DublinersThe DublinersThe Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
. - The Clancy BrothersThe Clancy BrothersThe Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...
performed it on several albums, in some versions also together with The Dubliners. - Carolina Chocolate DropsCarolina Chocolate DropsThe Carolina Chocolate Drops is an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina, United States. Its 2010 album, Genuine Negro Jig, won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in FRoots magazine's top 10 albums of 2010.The Drops are one...
bluegrass version performed on album "Heritage".
Lyrics
Let grasses grow and waters flowIn a free and easy way
But give me enough of the rare old stuff
That's made near Galway Bay
Come gougers all from Donegal,
Sligo and Leitrim too
We'll give them the slip and we'll take a sip
Of the real old mountain dew.
There's a neat little still at the foot of the hill
Where the smoke curls up to the sky
By a whiff of the smell you can plainly tell
That there's poteen boys close by.
For it fills the air with a perfume rare
And betwixt both me and you
As home we roll, we can drink a bowl
Or a bucketful of mountain dew.
Now learned men as use the pen
Have writ' the praises high
Of the sweet poteen from Ireland green
That's made from wheat and rye
Away with your pills, it'll cure all ills
Be ye pagan, Christian, or Jew
So take off your coat and grease your throat
With a bucket of the mountain dew.
Vocables
Non-lexical vocables in music
Non-lexical vocables, which may be mixed with meaningful text, are a form of nonsense syllable used in a wide variety of music. A common English example would be "la la la".-Traditional music:...
are often sung with the song, either after every second verse or once at the beginning and once at the end, to the same tune as the lyrics. While these vocables vary with the singer, one typical version is "hi dee diddley idle dum, hi dee doodle dydle dum, hi dee doo dye diddly aye day", repeated once.