Tid re i or The marriage of Miss Kitty O'Donavan to Mr. Paddy O'Raffety

Folklorists use the term cantefable for combinations of tales interspersed with occasional songs. Charles Dibdin used this technique when he created several skits with comic introductions and interludes before and between the verses of a song for his theatrical performances. The London Chronicle carried a review of an early performance.

After the tragedy a new Divertisement, in two parts, consisting of a number of the most popular songs written and set by Mr. Dibdin, was performed with universal applause. The songs are all of them excellent ones, fraught either with comic satire, or pleasing pathos. . . . The vehicle of introduction that the Manager has provided, is not merely a few words of dialogue between the songs to connect them, but forms something like a regular drama, and is neither destitute of vivacity, nor wanting in humour. (November 23-25, 1790)

Three cantefables are in the Thomas collection, all having Irish themes. “Tid re I” seems to have been the most popular because it engendered a number of parodies using the same tune and chorus line. This skit-like song was originally written as “The Irish Wedding” for Dibdin’s General Election (1796). The chorus simply repeats the music of the opening line and would probably be sung by the audience during the performance of this song, enhancing the performer’s bond with his listeners.

Several editions of “Tid re I” were printed in Philadelphia and New York, most promoting the performance by William Twaits, an English actor who came to America in 1803 (Wolfe, Secular Music #9380-84). Twaits (ca. 1781-1814) was considered one of the best burletta singers in England: “His forte was comedy of the broadest kind, and his comic singing always convulsed the house with laughter” (Ireland 228).

This text was printed in a number of songsters and in newspapers and at least four parodies of the lyrics appeared: “Lawrence’s Tid re I” (Wolfe, Secular Music #5328), “Perry’s Tid Re I,” “Bainbridge’s Tid re I” (Lossing 1869, footnote 19), “The New Tid-re-I, an Ode” (Ford, Broadsides #3262), and The Birth of Paddy O’Rafferty (New York Post Boy, December 3, 1805; City Gazette, November 3, 1806). The Irish tune called “Paddy O’Rafferty” is a different tune (Fleischmann, Sources #491, #4811). The text appeared in forty songsters between 1795 and 1819 (R. Keller, Early American Songsters).