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Oh, me Auntie Mary had a canary,
Up the leg of her drawers;
When she was sleeping, I was peeping,
Up the leg of her drawers.
Oh, me Auntie Mary had a canary,
Up the leg of her drawers;
When she was sleeping, I was peeping,
Up the leg of her drawers.
From The Fiddler's Companion, ©1996 by Andrew Kuntz:
The origins for the tune have been traced back to the 17th century when it was published by Playford in his 1674 and all subsequent editions of his Dancing Master, under the title Jumping Joan. A Shetland reel version of the tune from the Island of Whalsay collected in modern times still goes by the name Jumping John. In Newfoundland the tune was known by the title Auntie Mary, by which it is known in Ireland.
This variant was arranged and recorded live by Ryan's Fancy at The Black Knight Lounge in Halifax, Nova Scotia by Jack Hutchinson and George Taylor (An Irish Night At The Black Knight Lounge, trk#4, 1971, Marathon Music Incorporated, Scarborough, ON) and is featured in the YouTube video above.
See more songs by Ryan's Fancy.
The YouTube video below features a variant performed as Auntie Mary by Great Big Sea during Ottawa's 1997 Canada Day Celebration.Auntie Mary had a canary up the leg of her drawers,
Auntie Mary had a canary up the leg of her drawers;
When she was sleeping I went creeping up the leg of her drawers,
When she was sleeping I went creeping up the leg of her drawers.
Auntie Mary had a canary up the leg of her drawers,
Auntie Mary had a canary up the leg of her drawers;
When she was sleeping I went creeping up the leg of her drawers,
When she was sleeping I went creeping up the leg of her drawers.
See more songs by Great Big Sea.
