Tittery Nan [Laws H16]

DESCRIPTION: Joe Dimsey steals old Josiah's mare; the old man repays the younger back by recovering his horse and pummeling him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Linscott-FolkSongsOfOldNewEngland)
KEYWORDS: robbery fight thief injury
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws H16, "Tittery Nan"
Linscott-FolkSongsOfOldNewEngland, pp. 292-293, "Tittery Nan" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 712, TITERNAN
Roud #2194
NOTES [78 words]: Laws says, correctly, that "this little piece with its gay refrain is hardly more than a nonsense song," though Linscott-FolkSongsOfOldNewEngland is of the opinion that it's based on fact. What fact she does not know.
Roud lumps this with "Titter-ni-an," as sung by Barney McCarthy. This is understandable based on the title, since he had only the sound recoding, but I would consider them separate (while allowing that "Tittery Nan" may be a bowdlerized remake). - RBW
File: LH16

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