"The Rare Old Mountain Dew" is an Irish folk song dating from 1882.

History

"The Mountain Dew" was a song about

poitín Poitín (), anglicized as poteen () or potcheen, is a traditional Irish distilled beverage (40–90% ABV). Former common names for Poitín were "Irish moonshine" and "mountain dew". It was traditionally distilled in a small pot still and the te ...

(Irish

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

) with lyrics by New York musical theater great Edward Harrigan and music credited to Harrigan's orchestra leader

David Braham David Braham (1834 – April 11, 1905) was a London-born musical theatre composer most famous for his work with Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart (theater), Tony Hart. He has been called "the American Jacques Offenbach, Offenbach". Early life (1834&n ...

. The tune, however, owes an obvious debt to the older song " The Girl I Left Behind." It was first performed as part of the 1882 Harrigan production ''The Blackbird''. and was later printed in Colm Ó Lochlainn's 1916 ''Irish Street Ballads''. The earliest recording in the 78 rpm era was made in New York in 1927 by John Griffin for the Columbia label. Some later recordings used the title "The Rare Old Mountain Dew." The song is referenced in

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...

' song " Fairytale of New York": :And then he sang a song :The Rare Auld Mountain Dew :I turned my face away :And dreamed about you.

Recordings

Four to the Bar Four to the Bar was a "well loved and well respected" American band from New York City during the early to mid-1990s. Band history The Early Days: 1991–1992 Four to the Bar was formed in the working-class/immigrant Irish community of Woodsi ...

on their live album '' Craic on the Road''. *

Sam Hinton Sam Duffie Hinton (March 31, 1917 – September 10, 2009) was an American folk singer, marine biologist, photographer, and aquarist, best known for his music and harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free ...

on "the Wandering Folksong". *

Orthodox Celts Orthodox Celts is a Serbian band formed in Belgrade in 1992 which plays Irish folk music combined with rock elements. Despite their uncharacteristic genre in their home country, the band is one of the top acts of the Serbian rock scene and has ...

on their album ''

Green Roses ''Green Roses'' is the third studio album by the Serbian Irish folk/ Celtic rock band Orthodox Celts released in 1999. ''Green Roses'' features sixteen songs, half of which were covers of traditional songs, and the other half the band's original ...

''. *

with

Ronnie Drew Joseph Ronald Drew (16 September 1934 – 16 August 2008) was an Irish people, Irish singer, folk musician and actor who achieved international fame during a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners. He is most recognised for his lead voc ...

from

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...

, singing together with

Shane MacGowan Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (born 25 December 1957) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and songwriter of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He was also a member of the Nipple Erectors and Shane MacGo ...

. *

. * The Clancy Brothers performed it on several albums, in some versions also together with The Dubliners. *

Carolina Chocolate Drops The Carolina Chocolate Drops were an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina. Their 2010 album, ''Genuine Negro Jig,'' won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in ''fRoots'' ...

Appalachian style version performed on album ''Heritage'' with fiddle and banjo. *

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Ca ...

on Wake Up Jeff as "Bucket of Dew/Paddy Condon from Cobar". *

The Irish Rovers The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that originated in Toronto, Canada. Formed in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and na ...

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne continued ...

Ottilie Patterson Anna Ottilie Patterson (31 January 1932 – 20 June 2011) was a Northern Irish blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Biography Anna Ottilie Patterson was ...

recorded it as ''The Real Old Mountain Dew'' on the EP ''Ottilie Swings the Irish'' in December 1959 with

Chris Barber's Jazz Band Donald Christopher "Chris" Barber OBE (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with "Petite Fle ...

Lyrics

Lilting Lilting is a form of traditional singing common in the Goidelic speaking areas of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Mann. It goes under many names, and is sometimes referred to as ''diddling'' (generally in England and Scotland), ''mouth music ...

is often added to the song, either after every second verse or once at the beginning and once at the end, to the same tune as the lyrics. While these vocables vary with the singer, one typical version is "hi dee diddley idle dum, hi dee doodle dydle dum, hi dee doo dye diddly aye day", repeated once.

References

External links

Lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rare Old Mountain Dew, The 1882 songs Irish folk songs The Dubliners songs The Pogues songs