“Sergeant Neill”

Description

"If you want your praties sprayed, well you can call on Sergeant Neill. Oh he's the bot that'll do it well, and he'll not destroy your kale." Many of Neill's satisfied customers are named.

Notes

Morton-Maguire: In County Fermanagh [ex-police] Sergeant Neill had a spraying machine for bluestone, a potato fungicide. Everyone called on him to do their spraying. "John tells me that it was sometime in the early 1920s that Sergeant Neill began his business enterprise." - BS

For more on bluestone, see the notes to "Mary Anne McGuinan." Given the date, one wonders if Neill wasn't a former member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Must have been quite a change of pace. - RBW

References

  1. Morton-Maguire 12, pp. 29-30,105,160, "Sergeant Neill" (1 text, 1 tune)
  2. Roud #2921
  3. BI, MoMa12

About

Author: unknown
Earliest date: 1973 (Morton-Maguire)
Keywords: farming moniker
Found in: Ireland