McNally's Row of Flats

DESCRIPTION: "Down in Bottle Alley lived Timothy McNally, A wealthy politician and a gentleman at that," owner of flats occupied by tenants from "Ireland and Italy, Jerusalem and Germany"; not even "the Tower of Babylonium" could match it
AUTHOR: Words: Edward Harrigan / Music: David Braham
EARLIEST DATE: 1882 (sheet music published by Wm. A. Pond & Co, New York, from the show "The McSorleys" or "McSorley's Inflation")
KEYWORDS: home humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Finson-Edward-Harrigan-David-Braham, vol. II, #85, pp. 15-17, "McNallys' Row of Flats" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #32438
RECORDINGS:
Mick Moloney, "McNally's Row of Flats" (on HarriganBrahamMaloney)
BROADSIDES:
Library of Congress, Microfilm M 3500 M2.3.U6A44, "McNally's Row of Flats" (Sheet music: Wm. A Pond & Co., 1882)
NOTES [402 words]: For background on Harrigan and Braham, see the notes to "The Babies on Our Block."
Although no field collections of this song have ever been printed, Helen Hartness Flanders did pick up a copy of the chorus (only) from Thomas Armstrong on June 22, 1942. Like many Harrigan/Braham songs, its hold in tradition was tenuous, but it had one. (Possibly part of the problem is the wide range -- it takes more than an octave and a fifth.) And Armstrong, in some respects, had the words more correct than the recording by Mick Moloney, which has been slightly cleaned up.
Franceschina, p. 152, says of this song that it was "a lively hornpipe with another schottische dance break," but it was only a modest hit. Indeed, the whole show "McSorley's Inflation," from a musical standpoint, doesn't seem to have been particularly successful. Franceschina, p. 152, summarizes the plot:
The drama "dealt with Peter McSorley (Harrigan), a tenement landlord and candidate for the local coronership. Ashamed of the successful poultry-stall run in Washington Market by his wife, Bridget (Tony Hart), McSorley attempts to destroy her seller's permit. Bridget hides the document in her mattress, which is subsequently taken away by a black politician, Rufus Rhubarb (John Wild), at McSorley's request. Bridget follows the mattress robber to his home, where a group of African Americans are assembled to hear the political platforms of McSorley and his opponent, Coroner Slab (Edward Burt). Bridget, with the help of the female constituency, manages to recapture the bed, and McSorley, who has been knocked out by Tom Tough (Michael Foley), a bruiser in the employ of Coroner Slab, decides against a political career and vows never again to try to interfere with his wife's poultry business."
Moody, p. 133, explains that "Dan Mulligan [hero of a whole series of Harrigan plays; see again the notes to "Babies on Our Block"] had been rechristened Peter McSorley to honor the saloon [McSorley's Saloon, later McSorley's Old Ale House, a landmark near where the play was performed] and to take account of Yeaman's absence from the company" [Annie Yeamans played Cordelia Mulligan, wife of Dan Mulligan, and her absence was temporary -- she was still visiting Harrigan in the last days of his life]. The play premiered November 27, 1882 (Moody, p. 132).
For another song from "McSorley's Inflation," see "I Never Drink Behind the Bar." - RBW
Bibliography

Franceschina: John Franceschina, David Braham: The American Offenbach, Routledge, 2003
Moody: Richard Moody, Ned Harrigan: From Corlear's Hook to Herald Square, Nelson Hall, 1980

Last updated in version 6.6
File: HaBrMcNa

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