Essential work The Dairymaid; Buttermilk Mary; The Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow; Kitty Gone A Milkin’; The Maid at the Churn; The Threshers; The Mills are Grinding; The Cook in the Kitchen; The Baker’s Reel; Bruise the Pease; The Maid at the Well; The Irish Washerwoman; The Wash Woman; Jenny Picking Cockles; The Jolly Clamdiggers; Fishing for Eels, and, of course, The Woman of the House
Keep active Going to the Well for Water; Give Us a Drink of Water; Wallop the Potlid; Molly Put the Kettle On; Come to Your Dinner; Tea in the Morning; Boil the Breakfast Early, and, an ideal occupation for piano players, Soda Bread Making, and (but via Skype) The Ladies’ Cup of Tea . . ….
Stock up on Apples in Winter; Winter Apples; Gillan’s Apples; The flitch of Bacon; Jackson’s Bottle of Brandy; The Bottle of Porter; The Jug of Punch; A Draught of Ale; The Mug of Brown Ale; The Little Bag of Meal; Bannocks of Barley Meal; The Three Scones of Boxty; Sweeney’s Buttermilk; The Munster Buttermilk; Butter-Milk and Pratees; Boiled Goat’s Milk; The Bag of Spuds; The New Potatoes; Potatoes and Butter; The Little Bag of Potatoes; The Head of Cabbage; The Cock and the Hen; The Leg of the Duck; Roast Beef From London; The Bunch Of Currants; Lumps of Pudding; Puddings and Pies; The Creel of perches; The Fisherman’s Harvest; The Basket of Oysters, and, if you a true prepper, Salt Fish and Dumplins . . .
Chains of transmission Tabhair dom do Lámh; Maudabawn Chapel; The Little Grey Church; Have a Drink With Me; Come to the Bottle House; Come to Dinner; O’Rourke’s Feast; I Went to a Chinese Restaurant; Bímuid ag Ól is ag pógadh na mBan; Cherish the Ladies; Will You Come Home With Me?; Up against the Boughalauns; Come Under My Plaiddie; Come With Me Now; Behind the Bush in the Garden; Rolling on the Ryegrass; Kiss the Maid Behind the Barrel; Kiss Your Partner; The Highland Man who Kissed his Grannie; Dancing on the Green; Swinging Around the Circle; Round the House and Mind the Dresser; All Hands Around; The Waves of Torey; The Walls of Limerick; Out With the Boys; A Night at the Fair, and, regrettably, Finnegan’s Wake . . .
Prohibited travel A Trip to the Cottage; Over the Moor to Maggie; Over the Bridge to Peggy; Fr Grady’s Visit to Bockagh; Rick’s Rambles; The Gravel Walks; Around the World For Sport; Kitty Come Down to Limerick; Round the world for sport; The Connachtman’s Rambles; Going to the Fair; A Trip to Galway; A Night at the Fair; A Trip to Athlone; Follow me down to Carlow; Follow Her Over the Border; Return to Camden Town; Off to California, and, unless you’re a medic, A Visit to Ireland . . .
Cancelled events The Merry Days of Easter; Easter Sunday; The Sporting Days of Easter; The Maid Behind the Bar; Out on the Ocean; The Rathkeale Hunt; The Boyne Hunt; The Races at Carrick; The Castlebar Races; The Mullingar Races; The Curragh Races; The Piper’s Picnic; Donnybrook Fair; Killarney Fair; Lanigan’s Ball; The Dances at Kinvara; The Trip to Birmingham; The Trip to Durrow, and, mercifully, at least for a while, The Day We Paid the Rent . . .
Social distancing Stay away from: A Stranger From Limerick; The Cow That Ate the Blanket; The Green Fields of America; The Banks of the Nile; The Boys From the East; The Rakes of Kildare; The Rakes of Clonmel; The Rakes of Mallow; The Highway to Limerick; Kitty’s Wedding; The Rambler From Clare; The Sporting Bachelor; The Roving Bachelor; The Rambling Sailor; The Ranting Rake; Rakish Paddy; The Dandies Gone a Roaming; The Killarney Boys of Pleasure; The Back of the Haggard; Roarin’ Mary; Johnny With the Queer Thing; The Coughing Old Man, and, sadly for tourism, Our Own Little Isle . . .
Permitted activities The Cup of Tea; Cheese It!; Kiss Your Partner; Kiss Me Sweetheart; Courting in the Kitchen; Come Upstairs With Me; Take Her Out and Air Her; Within a Mile of Clonbur, but, considering everything, don’t go Within a Mile of Dublin . . .
Contact tracing Last Night’s Fun; Kissing and Drinking; The Friendly Visit; Happy to Meet Sorry to Part; Take a Kiss or Let it Alone; The Unfortunate Cup of Tea; Coming From the Wedding; Molly What Ails You?; What Ails You?; Peggy is Your Head Sick? And, what the medics need to know, such as “I Met Her In The Garden Where the Praties Grow” . . .
Contagion reporting Tell Her I Am; Go home go home dear cousin; An Ugly Customer; The Expensive Sneeze; Take Your Hand Away; Cuz’s Concoctions for the Throat; When Sick is it Tea You Want?; Is it the Priest You Want?; The Pretty Girl in Danger; A Short Way to Heaven; What the Devil Ails You?; The Perfect Cure, and if you think you’ve identified the culprit, resist shouting “You Thief who Stole my Health From Me” . . .
Isolation Farewell to Liberty; Lock the Door; The Lonesome Jig; Splendid Isolation; The Lonely Fireside; Take It Easy; The Pleasures of Home; Our House At Home; Tá Mé ‘mo Chodhladh ’s Ná Dúisigh mé; Snug in the Blanket; Advice to the Soupers; Banish Misfortune; We’ll Drink Good Health, and, there being nothing else for it, Erin’s Hope . . .
Consequences The Pleasures of Hope; The Lonesome Wedding; My Love is in America; My Love is on the Ocean; Pay the Reckoning; Níl Aon Airgead Agam; The Little Pig Lamenting the Empty Trough; The Smiles and Tears of Erin; The Parting Glass, and, if you’re post-seventy and thinking about going for a walk disguised as a teenager, remember the words of Lone Shanakyle
Fintan Vallely, © 10th April 2020
With sincere thanks to Fintan Vallely for permission to reproduce this piece from his website https://imusic.ie/
May 2020