The Man With The Concertina Lyrics?

[Steve Wilson]

Hi All,

 

I have transcribed the lyrics of the song "The Man with the Concertina" from a recording by Dave de Hugard but I've had trouble deciphering a couple of lines. I can't find the lyrics anywhere on the net. The words were written by Robert Stewart but I'm not sure if it was written as a poem or if he composed the tune as well. The lyrics I'm having trouble with are about half way through the song and seem to me to be:-

 

Old Erin's hat they swing a bee

Scottish pipes blow feena

 

Can anyone set me straight as to what the correct lyrics are?

 

Cheers Steve

[JimLucas]

I have transcribed the lyrics of the song "The Man with the Concertina" from a recording by Dave de Hugard but I've had trouble deciphering a couple of lines. I can't find the lyrics anywhere on the net. The words were written by Robert Stewart but I'm not sure if it was written as a poem or if he composed the tune as well. The lyrics I'm having trouble with are about half way through the song and seem to me to be:-

 

Old Erin's hat they swing a bee

Scottish pipes blow feena

 

Can anyone set me straight as to what the correct lyrics are?

 

Found a download. Sounds great, so of course I'm gonna have to listen to all the tracks, but here's how I hear that little bit:

"Old Erin's harp may sweeter be, Scottish pipes blow keener..."

with the Aussie accent sounding a bit like "hap", "sweetuh", and "keenuh".

[Steve Wilson]

Fantastic, thanks. Logical really when one thinks about it. Cheers Steve.

[chrism]

Those two lines are in Henry Lawson's "Good Old Concertina" -- thussly:

 

The Good Old Concertina

’Twas merry when the hut was full
Of jolly girls and fellows.
We danced and sang until we burst
The concertina’s bellows.
From distant Darling to the sea,
From the Downs to Riverina,
Has e’er a gum in all the west
Not heard the concertina?

’Twas peaceful round the campfire blaze,
The long white branches o’er us;
We’d play the tunes of bygone days,
To some good old bush chorus.
Old Erin’s harp may sweeter be,
The Scottish pipes blow keener;
But sing an old bush song for me
To the good old concertina.

’Twas cosy by the hut-fire bright
When the pint pot passed between us;
We drowned the voice of the stormy night
With the good old concertina’s.
Though trouble drifts along the years,
And the pangs of care grow keener,
My heart is gladdened when it hears
That good old concertina.

Henry Lawson