Brown and Yellow Ale, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer and his wife are walking when they meet the Brown and Yellow (Ale/Earl). He asks to take the wife aside. When she returns, he is so ashamed that he dies and is buried
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Behan-IrelandSings), and said to have been sung by James Joyce; the Irish is older
KEYWORDS: seduction drink nobility death adultery
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Behan-IrelandSings, #13, "The Brown and Yellow Ale" (1 text, 1 tune, modified)
DT, BRWNYLLW BRWNYEL2
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 80-81, "The Brown and Yellow Ale" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Brown and Yellow Earl
NOTES [253 words]: Reportedly a translation of the Irish "Chuaca Lan De Bui." Several translations are said to exist, including one by James Joyce.
What's interesting is the two titles: "The Brown and Yellow Ale," Dominic Behan's title (said to have been translated by James Stephens) and followed by Harte, and "The Brown and Yellow Earl," which I heard from Debby McClatchy. Obviously one could be an error of hearing for the other -- indeed, *must* be an error of hearing, since the mistake could not occur in print. And yet, how could such an error slip through? There seem to be no genuinely traditional collections to explain it.
And which is original? Presumably the Irish Gaelic would make it clear, but I failed to turn up a reliable text, and Cliff Abrams did an earlier search which didn't net much either, at least in the way of genuine folk sources.
"Ale" seems much the more strongly attested -- but it hardly makes sense. Harte offers Sean O'Boyle's explanation, which is that drink has rendered the husband impotent so that his wife prefers a younger man. This is possible, but a stretch. Whereas if the Brown and Yellow item is an Earl, then he is exercising droit de siegneur, and the husband is a cuckold and commits suicide as a result. This makes perfect sense.
The flip side is, it makes such perfect sense that it's hard to imagine the change going the other way. So I think the weight of evidence favors "Brown and Yellow Ale." A mudcat thread on the topic concluded the same. I wouldn't bet much on it, though. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: Hart080

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