“The Humours of Donnybrook Fair (II)”
Description
Dermot O'Nolan M'Figg, "that could properly handle a twig" goes to Donnybrook Fair intent on dancing. At each tent he "took a small drop." He sees his Kate dancing and clubs her partner, who, she explained, is her cousin. They are reconciled.
Notes
Broadside Bodleian B 11(937) is the basis for the description.
Donnybrook is less than three miles from Dublin. - BS
According to Partridge's _Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English_, the term "donnybrook" for a fight is originally Australian and comes from c. 1920, but it derives from the reputation of Donnybrook Fair for wild events such as those described here. - RBW
Broadsides
- Bodleian, Harding B 11(937), "The Donnybrook Jig" ("Oh, 'twas Dermot O'Nolan M'Figg"), W.S. Fortey (London)), 1858-1885
References
- ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 390-392, "The Humours of Donnybrook Fair"
- BI, Hg10390