Monkey Turned Barber, The [Laws Q14]

DESCRIPTION: Pat enters the barber's and asks for a shave. A monkey in clothes winks and sets to work. Pat screams with pain; the monkey disappears. The barber enters. Pat accuses his "father" of having cut him. Finally the truth comes out
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (Bodleian Broadside Harding B 11(2478))
KEYWORDS: animal abuse humorous
FOUND IN: US(MW,So) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws Q14, "The Monkey Turned Barber"
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "MONKEY TURNED BARBER, THE"
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 249-251, "The Monkey Turned Barber" (3 texts, but B2 is "The Love-of-God Shave")
Beck-SongsOfTheMichiganLumberjacks 82, "Irishman's Lumber Song" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior-TraditionalSongsOfNovaScotia, pp. 239-240, "Wild Irishman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 525, MONKBARB MANKBAR2
Roud #918
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2478), "The Monkey Turned Barber", ("A frolicksome spark in Dublin did dwell") J Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 25(1267)=Harding B 11(2480), "The Monkey Turn'd Barber," J. K. Pollock (North Shields), 1815-1855; Firth b.27(230), "Monkey Turned Barber" (unknown, n.d.); Firth b.26(97)=Harding B 11(2481), "The Monkey Turned Barber," Povey (Berkeley), n.d.; Harding B 11(2479)=Johnson Ballads 916, J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; Harding B 15(207a), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; Firth b.25(230)=Harding B 11(412), J. Forth (Pocklington), n.d.; 2806 b.11(264), H. Such (London), n.d.
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Wild Irishman
NOTES [43 words]: There is a broadside, NLScotland, F.3.a.13(5), "The Monkey Barber," unknown (Edinburgh), 1825, which tells this story in prose, with rather more substantial detail. It's not clear whether it is the source of this song, or a retelling; I suspect the latter. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: LQ14

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