| "I'll Tell Me Ma" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Pure Malt from the album Live in the Kitchen | |
| Released | 2002 |
| Genre | Traditional music, Folk aka "The Wind" aka "The Belle of Belfast City" (adapted to other cities as well) |
| Length | 2:36 |
| Writer | Unknown |
"I'll Tell Me Ma" (also called "The Wind") is a well known children's song. It was collected in various parts of England in the 19th century and again appears in collections from shortly after the turn of the 20th century.[1] In Ireland the chorus usually refers to Belfast city and is known colloquially as "The Belle of Belfast City", although it is also adapted to other Irish cities, such as Dublin.[2] English versions refer to the "Golden City" or "London City". This song is Roud Folk Song Index number 2649.
Irish Version
(I'll) tell me ma when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pulled my hair, they stole my comb
But that's all right till I go home
(chorus):She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city
She is courting one, two, three
Please, won't you tell me, who is she?
Albert Mooney says he loves her
All the boys are fighting for her
They knock at the door and they ring the bell
Saying, oh my true love, are you well?
She comes out as white as snow
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
Old Jenny Murphy says she'll die
If she doesn't get the guy with the roving eye
(Chorus)
Let the wind and the rain and the hail blow high
Let the snow come tumbling from the sky
She's as sweet as apple pie
And she'll get her lad by and by
When she gets a lad of her own
She won't tell her ma when she goes home
Let them all come as they will
It's Albert Mooney she loves still
(Chorus)
Gloucestershire Version
(Collected from Miss Matthews, Forest of Dean, 19th century)
The wind, the wind, the wind blows high,
The rain comes pouring from the sky;
Miss So-and-So says she'd die
For the sake of the old man's eye.
She is handsome, she is pretty,
She is the lass of the golden city;
She goes courting one, two, three,
Please to tell me who they be.
A. B. says he loves her,
All the boys are fighting for her,
Let the boys say what they will
A. B. has got her still.
A ring is formed by the children joining hands, one player standing in the centre. When asked, "Please tell me who they be," the girl in the middle gives the name or initials of a boy in the ring (or vice versa). The ring then sings the rest of the words, and the boy who was named goes into the centre.[1]
| "I'll Tell Me Ma" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Van Morrison, The Chieftains | ||||||||||
| from the album Irish Heartbeat | ||||||||||
| A-side | "I'll Tell Me Ma" | |||||||||
| B-side | "Tá Mo Chleamhnas Déanta" | |||||||||
| Released | 1988 | |||||||||
| Recorded | December 1987 - January, 1988 | |||||||||
| Genre | Folk | |||||||||
| Length | 2:29 | |||||||||
| Label | Mercury | |||||||||
| Producer | Van Morrison, Paddy Moloney | |||||||||
| Van Morrison, The Chieftains singles chronology | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||