Artist: Margaret Barry
Author: Seamos Kavanagh
Label: Rounder
Year: 1952

Roud #4800. Peter Kennedy recording in Dundalk, Co. Louth, released on Barry's volume in Alan Lomax' Portraits series entitled I Sang Through The Fairs. Lomax also had her live in his BBC folk broadcasts As I Roved Out.

The only real Blarney Stone sits very unconfortly underneath a loophole high on the tower of a 15th century fortress near Cobh in Co. Cork. According to legend, he or she who manages to kiss that damn thing gets eloquent and persuasive, on the spot. The legend is so persistent, it goes with a business, whereby strong local boys wurm their willing subjects one by one through that loophole, head-down while holding them by the ankles for the time it takes to kiss. You pay before climbing up the staircase. There's days the cue starts halfway up, if you're lucky. No wonder there's (double entendre) Blarney songs circulating galore.