St. Patty's Day Memories

The Blarney Stone, originally uploaded by howzey.

So there I was, 6 months pregnant, hanging on for dear life but determined to kiss the Blarney Stone. (Perhaps that's part of Miss M's problem...)

I'm not Irish, except by adoption. It's more that I'm Celtic in spirit, but having a dad whose parents came from Ireland and whose grandfather once tried to convince his wife that "'twas the banshees" that kept him from coming home earlier from the pub definitely helped.

My dad would come home from work on St. Patrick's Day and light a fire in the fire place; I'd put on Bing Crosby's Shilleileighs and Shamrocks (an album now out of print) and we'd listen to it together over and over again. It was the only day of the year we'd listen to it. It made it magical.

In years to come my father's drinking would drive us apart (the genetic downside to that grandfather who got stuck in the pub with the banshees) but we always had that day we could be together. And to this day my children know the words to our favorite song from the album:

Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder? by Bing Crosby

Who threw the overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s chowder?
Nobody spoke so we shouted all the louder.
Its an Irish trick, that’s true.
I can lick the Mic that threw
The overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s chowder.

Mrs. Murphy gave a party
‘Bout a week agao
Everything was plentiful;
Well, the Murphy’s they’re not slow.
They treated us like gentlemen;
We tried to act the same.
If only for what happened,
Aw, it was an awful shame.

Mrs. Murphy dished the chowder out
And fainted on the spot
She’d found a pair of overalls
At the bottom of the pot.
Tim Nolan he got rippin’ mad
His eyes were bulging out!
He jumped up on the pi-ano
And loudly he did shout:

“Who threw the overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s chowder?”
Nobody spoke so we shouted all the louder.
“It’s an Irish trick, that’s true.
I can lick the Mic that threw
The overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s chowder.”

We pulled the pants from out the soup
And laid them on the floor.
Each man swore upon his life
He’s not seen ‘em before.
They were plastered up with mortar
And were worn out at the knee;
They’d have their many ups and downs
As we could plainly see.

When Mrs. Murphy she came to,
She starts to cry and pout.
She’d had them in the wash that day
And forgot to take them out.
Tim Nolan he excused himself
For what he’d said that night
So we put music to the words
And sang with all our might!

“Who threw the overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s chowder?”
Nobody spoke so we shouted all the louder.
“It’s an Irish trick, that’s true.
I can lick the Mic that threw
The overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s chowder.”

Happy St. Patrick's Day Dad; I know you can't read this but I'm playing Bing Crosby for both of us...

How does music figure in to your celebrations?