Shilling or Twa (I), A

DESCRIPTION: Describing the blessings of having "a shilling or twa" in the pocket. One can settle troubles, avoid bankruptcy, fool creditors, and also stay happy: "Oh! what a grand thing is a shilling or twa... It's a round ready passport, a shilling or twa."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1877 (Poet's Box broadside, according to Greig/Duncan3)
KEYWORDS: money commerce nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast 140, p. 3, "A Shilling or Twa" (1 fragment)
Greig/Duncan3 669, "A Shillin' or Twa" (2 fragments)
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, pp. 388-389, "A Shilling or Twa" (1 text)
cf. FolkSongAndMusicHall, "Shillin’ or Twa, A (timeline)"
Roud #2177
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Shilling or Twa (II)"
NOTES [61 words]: There is an American song "A Shilling Or Two," credited to Harry Lynn and H. W. Fitchett; it begins "This is trash I'm writing, And yet still it is true, That each mortal is fighting For a shilling or two." It is found, e.g., in CentralParkShowSongster, pp. 8-9. It is clearly not this song, nor "A Shilling or Twa (II)," though it was probably inspired by it. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.2
File: Ord388

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