Annotation:Making Babies by Steam

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MAKING BABIES BY STEAM. AKA and see "Daniel O'Connell," "Larry O'Gaff (1)." Irish, Air and Jig. The title comes from a song by Johnnie McEvoy about the Irish political hero Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847). O'Connell gave a speech on the occasion of the debut of the first steam engine in Ireland, in which he said that such machines and railways would be the making of future generations of Irish people. The phrase was a potent double-entendre as O'Connell was suspected of having several illegitimate children with various mistresses. The song, to the tune of "Larry O'Gaff (1)," begins:

You lovers of mirth, I pray pay attention
And listen to what I am going to relate,
Concerning a couple I overheard talking
As I was returning late home from a wake.
As I looked around I espied an old woman
Who sat by a gap all a-minding her cow.
She was jigging a tune called 'Come haste to the wedding'
Or some other ditty I can't recall now,
She was jigging a tune called 'An Buachaillín Donn'
Or some other ditty I can't tell you now.

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