“The Leprechaun”

Description

The singer sees a leprechaun and laughs anticipating a purse of gold. He grabs the leprechaun to claim the purse but is tricked into releasing the leprechaun. The singer laughs to think how he had been fooled.

Notes

The trick: singer is told that the [non-existant] lady by his side has the purse in her hand. - BS

Robert Dwyer Joyce is also credited with the Irish political songs "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" and "The Boys of Wexford" in this index. - RBW

Recordings

  • Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman, "The Leprechaun" (on Voice14)

References

  1. Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 527, "The Leprahaun"
  2. Roud #5274
  3. BI, RcTLepr

About

Author: Robert Dwyer Joyce (1830-1883) (source: Hoagland)
Earliest date: 1968 (recording, Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman)
Keywords: trick gold supernatural
Found in: Ireland