We got this song after the version by Hughie McAlindon from Rathfriland. It features on his album The Diamond Green. After some research we have a theory on what the ‘gig of giornan’ is.
While ‘giornan’ could come from the Anglo-Saxon word (pronounced ‘yearning’) we feel that, based on the context within the song, it is more likely to originate from the Lowland Scots ‘girnin’ or complaining. ‘Gig’ in Lowland Scots means a joke or whim.
The Mourne Maggie in this song seems to be a different character than the Maggie of Maggie’s Leap who masterfully jumped across a sea creek to escape some drunken soldiers. She was carrying a basket of seagulls eggs and broke not a single one after she jumped. Mourne Maggie O is certainly not proficient at much as the words to this song suggest.
The Sands Family recorded a version of Mourne Maggie O, which they collected from an elderly lady in Rathfriland. Crubeen have also recorded a version.
MELODY
HARMONY
MELODY & HARMONY
CHOIR SINGING
10th October 2016
7th November 2016
WORDS
Sure there was a man lived in the west
With me yarn, and my yarn, and my andy-o
And he had an auld woman and she wasn’t the best
Chorus:
And still she was Mourne Maggie O Mourne, Mourne Maggie O
And she went with the ‘gig of giornan’
She had ten cows to a milking tie
With me yarn, and my yarn, and my andy-o
And she lay in bed ’til they all went dry
She had ten chickens and a fancy cock
With me yarn, and my yarn, and my andy-o
And every day she had one for the pot
She churned the butter in the old man’s boots
With me yarn, and my yarn, and my andy-o
And she dresses the butter with the tongs and the crook
She left the butter all on the shelf
With me yarn, and my yarn, and my andy-o
And it never was turned ’til it turned itself
Now she swept the floor but once a year
With me yarn, and my yarn, and my andy-o
And she still complained that her broom was dear
Now she said her prayers on the broad of her back
With me yarn, and my yarn, and my andy-o
And she could put her heels at the back of her neck
Arrangement by Brona McVittie