"Paddy McGinty's Goat" is a comic song written in 1917 by English songwriters

Bert Lee William Herbert Lee (11 June 1880 – 23 January 1946) was an English songwriter. He wrote for music hall and the musical stage, often in partnership with R. P. Weston. Life and career Lee was born in Ravensthorpe, Yorkshire, England.Richard A ...

and

R. P. Weston Robert Patrick Weston ( Harris; 7 March 1878 – 6 November 1936) was an English songwriter. He was responsible for many successful songs and comic monologues between the 1900s and 1930s, mostly written in collaboration with other writers, notab ...

in collaboration with the American performing duo

The Two Bobs The Two Bobs were an American vaudeville duo who performed successfully in British music halls, and recorded, in the early twentieth century. They were Robert Lee Alden (1876–1932) and Robert Joseph Adams (1874–1948). Biography Bob ...

(Bob Alden and Bob Adams). The song was performed in music halls from 1917 by The Two Bobs. It tells the story of an aggressive goat which comes to the village of Killaloe in Ireland and terrorises it by butting its inhabitants and eating everything in sight. The Irish baritone Mick O'Brian performed it for the cinema in a

Pathé News Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its coll ...

short in 1942. It was recorded by the Irish singer

Val Doonican Michael Valentine Doonican (3 February 1927 – 1 July 2015) was an Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening, and novelty songs, who was noted for his warm and relaxed style. A crooner, he found popular success, especially in the Un ...

in 1964 on the Decca label as the B-side of "Delaney's Donkey". Although it never made the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, it came to be associated with the singer and became well known through him. It was recorded by the

Ennis Sisters The Ennis Sisters are a Canadian musical family group from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Biography The Ennis Sisters, Maureen, Karen and Teresa, started playing music at a young age, encouraged by ...

of Canada in 2003. The 4/4 melody is in D major on the original sheet music, with a D sharp diminished passing chord between the phrases. The second half of each stanza moves to a higher register. It was originally published by

Francis, Day & Hunter Francis, Day & Hunter is a British music publishing company, one of the leading publishers of music hall songs and popular music in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It was established in London in 1877 as W. & J. Francis and Day, later Francis ...

. The original 1917 lyrics had verses describing the goat's contribution to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, with it chasing submarines off the coast of Ireland and fighting with the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG), is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infantry regiments in the British Army. The regiment has parti ...

on the

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. The plot is somewhat similar to that of "Bill Groggin's Goat", a song that is thought to be based on a Robert Service poem, "The Ballad Of Casey's Billy-Goat" in ''Bar Room Ballads'' Paddy McGinty's Goat 1917 lyrics
Memorial University of Newfoundland . The village of Killaloe mentioned in the song is a large village in east County Clare, Ireland. It had a population in 2011 of about 1,300. The women of the village take to wearing

bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...

s to protect themselves from the goat. A bustle is a type of framework used to expand the fullness or support the drapery of the back of a woman's dress, occurring predominantly in the mid-to-late 19th century.

Opening lines

Mister Patrick McGinty, an Irishman of note, Came into a fortune, so bought himself a goat. Said he, "Sure, of goat's milk I mean to have my fill!" But when he got his Nanny home, he found it was a Bill.

References

{{Reflist 1917 songs Songs written by R. P. Weston Songs written by Bert Lee