17 March 2009

Happy Harry Day



My father always insisted that Saint Patrick was actually a Scot who simply went to work in Ireland. Because of this, dad would pull out a special bow tie that he donned every March 17: A garish orange number with polka dots. In addition he would bring out his stack of Harry Lauder records to combat the annual American slide into a deluge of sentimental Irish vocalizing.

Now I love St. Patrick's day parades and music. I even like the kitschy parts such as dyeing rivers, fountains, and (Sacrilege!) beer a nauseous shade of green. But just for today: Sir Harry Lauder with one of his most famous songs (not that you will be able to understand a word he says.) - Plus you can't trust the Irish to drink alone, they get quarrelsome



Wee Doch an Doris

A contributor to You Tube has cleaned up all these old Lauder recordings and the songs are wonderful, but embedding is forbidden. If you would like to hear them, you can start here with the Harry Lauder choruses.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Men in kilts! Well, that got my blood pumping. Have a great St. Paddy's...er.. Harry Day.

That's an "interesting" tie!

Linda said...

That is most definitely quite the garish bowtie but it also means that your father had a fantastic sense of humor to wear such a thing!

Now ... as for the men in kilts ... ROWR! Much more appealing than a man in a leprechaun hat!

Being that my two married names were of Irish heritage - McCann and Doughty - I guess I can revert to being Irish today but just for today - and I'm still not drinking any green beer!

Top o' the day to you, my friend!

marcia@joyismygoal said...

How fun There is lots of chatter on the folklore isn't there:)
I love all the Irish greenery today - come see all mine I am very Irish. thanks for sharing

Travis Cody said...

I'm actually Scots-Irish, so I guess this works both ways for me. Although I don't care for the making of green food that isn't supposed to be green in the first place.