Irish Rover, The

DESCRIPTION: "In the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and six We set sail from the coal quay of Cork." The ship, with too many masts, too strange a crew, and too unusual a cargo, sinks on its own improbabilities; only the singer is left to tell the tall tale
AUTHOR: Joseph Mary Crofts? (see notes)
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors); possibly written 1911
KEYWORDS: sailor ship talltale humorous disaster wreck
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, p. 142, "The Irish Rover" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, IRSHROVR*
Roud #4379
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Katey of Lochgoil" (theme)
NOTES [74 words]: Widely regarded as traditional, and certainly popular with traditional singers, but there seem to be no early collections. Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors bring together evidence that it was written by J. M. Crofts around 1911, and that this J. M. Crofts was Joseph Mary Crofts of Dublin, born around 1887. This seems to be the best evidence we have, but it is very tentative. No one seems to have produced a broadside or early publication. - RBW
File: DTirshro

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