Mrs Brady

Ould Brady’s gone to glory, and the widda has the land,
And as she’s good to look at, you can easy understand
That eligible suitors from the town of Athenry
Put on their best embellishments, and thought they’d have a try.
Jim Flynn, the stationmaster’s son, though not in Brady’s set,
Was kind enough to say to her, one evening when they met:

CHORUS:
“Mrs. Brady, just a whisper!
To your mourning bid adieu!
I know a fine young gentleman
Who’d not object to you.
My family may cut me,
But you’ve brass enough for two.”
“I know who has the brass,” says Mrs. Brady.
“Brass enough for three,” says Mrs. Brady.

Pat Dempsey heard that Jimmy had been sent against the wall,
Says Pat, “It’s not gentility the widda wants at all.
But ‘pity is akin to love,’ as everybody knows,
I’ll tell her how I’ve got no girl to wash or mend my clothes.”
He dressed up like a scarecrow that across the field was hung,
And this was the comehither that came slipping off his tongue:

CHORUS:
“Mrs Brady, just a whisper!
I’d be glad to marry you,
For indeed I’ve none to help me
With the work I have to do;
And the vicuals that they cook me
I can neither chop nor chew.”
“I would not suit the place,” says Mrs. Brady,
“I’d never do the work,” says Mrs. Brady.

Then little Francis Fogarty said, “Women, old and young,
Have always been deluthered by a civil spoken tongue;
I’ll tell her that her cheeks are like the summer rose in bloom,
Her eyes are like two diamonds, and her breath is sweet perfume,
So off he goes to call on her, all flattery and lies,
And thid was how he started in to carry off his prize:

CHORUS:
“Mrs. Brady, just a whisper!
There is none as fair as you,
Your face is like the dawn o’ day,
Your lips are honey dew;
I’m certain you’re an angel,
And it is from heaven you flew.”
“I believe you’re off your head,” says Mrs. Brady.
“You ought to see the vet.,” says Mrs. Brady.

When Flynn who keeps the grocer’s shop, and owns a bit o’ land,
Came home and heard how Pat had got the back of Mary’s hand,
Says he, “Myself and Mary has been friends through thick and thin,
So he put on all his Sunday clothes, and barbarised his chin.
He called on her that morning, she was very sweet and kind.
And this was how he hinted at the thoughts were in his mind:

CHORUS:
“Mrs. Brady, just a whisper!
Sure I don’t know how to woo;
But I’ve got a growin’ business,
And I’ve love enough for two;
So name the happy day,
And would to-morrow mornin’ do?”
“Why not this afternoon?” says Mrs. Brady.
“There’s danger in delay!” says Mrs Brady.

By kind permission of the Publishers, Joseph Williams, Ltd.

Set to music by the late Dr. Houston Collisson.

Prose, Poems & Parodies of Percy French, 1980, Helicon Limited, Dublin.