Why Can't Paddy Be a Gentleman?

DESCRIPTION: "Being told Pat couldn't be a gentleman" I'll ask why not? "Hasn't Ireland got her colleges" and won't he "greet you with a smile?" "You cannot give the reason why, I see it in your face ...actions make a gentleman, no matter what the birth"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland, p. 9, "Why Can't Paddy Be a Gentleman?" (1 text)
Roud #V727
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.11(213), "Why Can't Paddy Be a Gentleman?", unknown, n.d.
NOTES [46 words]: There is, of course, a one word answer to the question in the title: "Catholicism." A fair number of people of Irish ancestry did in fact achieve at least landlord status, and some even entered the nobility. But nearly all, after the time of Tyrconnell, were Protestant. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.1
File: OCon009

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography