Stan McGrath was born on 7 January 1943 and has been based in Patrick’s Cove all of his life. He picked up his songs from a variety of sources: from friends and the older generation of singers in his community, and also from the people he met while living away from the Cape Shore.
Stan worked in construction, a career that took him all over the province and into contact with other workers from many different places. He learned “The days of the week,” for example, in a lumbering camp off of a man from Bishop Falls. When home in Patrick’s Cove, Stan sang at house parties and in the local clubs—like Coffey’s Lounge in Angel Cove, where Aidan O’Hara first met Stan.
The days of the week / Stan McGrath
The days of the week, song (On Monday morning as I roved out …) Also known as “A week’s matrimony” or “The woeful marriage,” this comic broadside ballad tells the story of a whirlwind courtship and marriage that ends in violence and mental instability. Stan McGrath learned this song while working away from the Cape Shore in the lumberwoods.
ITMA Reference | 51938 |
Creator | McGrath, Stan, singing in English |
Contributor | O'Hara, Aidan ; Goldstein, Kenneth |
Date | 29 July 1978 |
Publisher | Irish Traditional Music Archive |
Location | Coffey's Lounge, Angel's Cove, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada |
Subject | Newfoundland: Song in English |
Language | English |
Collection | RTÉ Newfoundland Recordings |
Type | Sound |
Extent | 00:02:52 |
Copyright | Performer, Kenneth Goldstein, Hugh Rowlings, and Aidan O'Hara |
Roud Number | 1692 |
View in ITMA catalogue: | Go to catalogue |
Courtesy of Stan McGrath
Michael (“Mike”) McGrath (1919–2008)
John Thomas (“Jack”) Mooney (1908–1985)