Man That Came Home From Pretoria, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer catches a lugger for home from the Boer War. Landing at Dundalk he is picked up by peelers for having "no means of support" and is thrown in jail among the fleas. In the morning a J.P. releases him; he swears he won't leave Struicin again.
AUTHOR: Michael O Tuama (George Curtin) (source: OCroinin/Cronin-TheSongsOfElizabethCronin)
EARLIEST DATE: 1956 (OCroinin/Cronin-TheSongsOfElizabethCronin)
KEYWORDS: war home return travel prison reprieve Africa Ireland humorous soldier
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OCroinin/Cronin-TheSongsOfElizabethCronin 174, "The Man That Came Home From Pretoria" (1 text)
Roud #16261
NOTES [93 words]: Dundalk is in County Louth, Ireland. Peelers (Bobbies) would still have been in County Louth at the end of the Boer War. Struicin (Strickeen) is in County Kerry, Ireland, far enough away from Dundalk. I assume J.P. is Justice of the Peace. A lugger is a fishing vessel not likely to make the whole trip home from "Pretoria," and -- according to OCroinin/Cronin-TheSongsOfElizabethCronin -- it seems Curtin was not in the Boer War but based his song on his adventure to and from Cardiff, Wales; he might very well have been aboard a lugger for that trip. - BS
Last updated in version 3.2
File: OCC174

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