An Irish Ballad ('Black Velvet Band') Revisited: "VANCOUVER'S ISLE"

Post #166

PARODY LYRICS

Rainbow over Ladysmith Harbour
  brief break from several days of intense rain.

ORIGINAL SONG: "Black Velvet Band" traditional Irish pub song, as arranged by the Irish Rovers 1967. Of note, the Irish Rovers' 50th and putatively final tour took place 2 years ago, ending with St. Patrick's Day concerts in Vancouver and Nanaimo BC. 
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, January, 2018. 
SONGLINK: Check out an earlier posting on this site entitled "Singable Limerick-Medley#3: A Visit to Chemainus, B.C."

The IRISH ROVERS ended their 50th world
ANNIVERSARY TOUR with a concert in Nanaimo B.C.

VANCOUVER'S ISLE

(to the tune of "Black Velvet Band")

From that oversized town called Toronto

Retirees take pains to be gone;

What with prices as lush as the co-ondos,

Early May, frozen slush on the ground.

I booked tickets by air to Vancouver,  

To the West Coast I thought we might move;

You can fly A.C.*, Westjet (not Porter)

Your relations are bound to approve. 

I'd go straight on to Vancouver Island,

And there I'd explore for a while.

I'd spend time with my bro in Nanaimo

August weather's sublime - that's my style.

But bad misfortune overcame me, 

Paid a penalty, rebooked my flight.

I did land in October, and so did a sober-

ing storm on the very same night.

It can rain on the plains and the prairies.

And in Banff, it can rain there a while.

There's no rain that's a pain, it's not hard to explain,

Like the rain out on Vancouver's Isle.

Spent ten days hunkered down in Nanaimo,

Tried to drive around, poured every mile,

Had to run from the car to the tavern door --

That's a sport out on Vancouver's Isle.

In a bar not too far from Chemainus

A guitar-man sang out this refrain,

"Frequent downpours and drizzle abolish life's sizzle.

Cherish sunny climes? Get on a plane."

"When you fly here with Westjet (not Porter),

Can't extinguish the anguish most vile.

There's no rain that's a pain, it's not hard to explain,

Like the rain here on Vancouver's Isle."

I've retired now to South Carolina --

Coastal mornings are mostly quite fine.

Folks complain should it rain; it's so flat - doesn't drain;

They've got nothing about which to whine.

It can rain on the plains and the prairies;

Banff and Jasper - it rains there in style.

There's no rain that's a pain, it's not hard to explain,

Like the rain out on Vancouver's Isle.

*  A.C. = Air Canada. Westjet is a competitor on flights across the country. Porter provides more local service from Toronto Island Airport to destinations in Eastern Canada and the East Coast of the U.S. 

Chemainus: shuh-MAY-nuhs

Nanaimo: nuh-NIE-moh

HOTLINKS TO OTHER CANADIAN-THEMED SONG-POSTINGS

An Alien Heading South

Big Rob Rehab Clinic

Canadian Reunion

Canoeing Lesson

I've Got Anagrams, Eh?

Flight of the Loonie

FOP-Shop Wine

Mergerwocky

Off-Patent Drug #19

Prattle of New Orleans

Suburbs' Guy

The Maple Leaf Ad Infinitum 

This Land Has Anagrams 

TTC Voices

Vancouver's Isle (see below)

..AND A FEW LIMERICK-BASED SONGS

Shania Twain's "Verse": An anthem for limericists

Canada Day 2015 (singable limericks)

Limericks About Chemainus, B.C.

UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT

(Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at bottom of page.)

ORIGINAL SONG-LYRICS

(Click on any chord chart to enlarge and go to thumbnail mode)

WORDPLAY LINK: 

For wordplay (palindromes, anagrams, eggcorns, creative cartography, etc.) and silly poetry (polished limericks), click this link to check out our sister blog "EDIFYING NONSENSE" here. 

A Medley of Singable Verses: ONLINE ETYMOLOGY HELP!

Post #165
SINGABLE LIMERICKS 

ORIGINAL SONG: These verses can be sung to  "The Limerick Song", as per YouTube here.
LIMERICK VERSE:  Original verses composed by Giorgio Coniglio, and compiled in January 2018. Some of the verses have been submitted to the OEDILF website (the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form).
UPDATE and WORDPLAY-LINK: These and other verses have been compiled as limerick collections about word derivation on our sister blog "Edifying Nonsense". You can view the most recent post here, and then follow the links for earlier postings on that site. 


CONTENTS:
1. Dollar
2. Horse
3. Roach
4. Miser
5. Mystery
6. Haven
7. Gizzard
8. Lagoon
9. Dog
10. Mentor
11. Suitor
12. Whelp
13. Toff

ETYMOLOGY HELP!

A LIMERICK MEDLEY

(to the tune of "The Limerick Song"; display of the lyrics has been condensed to 4 lines for each verse, with internal rhyming in line 3, rather than the more customary 5-line limerick format.) 

1. Hey! Online Etymology Scholar,
Derivation explain for the 'dollar' —
Just as 'buckskin' spawned 'buck', it's a name that has stuck —
Widespread coinage from Europe: the thaler.

2. Etymology Online Resource,
Derivation explain for the 'horse' —
No link that's found, pal, with Pferd, equus, cheval;
The old English form 'hors' ran its course.

3. Hey! Online Etymology Coach,
Derivation explain for the 'roach' —
Cucaracha that's neutered, as Victorians tutored;
For, who cockroaches' love-life would broach?

4. Etymology Online Advisor,
Derivation explain for the 'miser' —
Middle English for 'wretch' from the Latin for 'kvetch'.
Modern usage? There's no one the wiser.

5. Hey! Online Etymology Oracle,
Divulge facts about 'mystery' historical' -- 
Greece and Rome: 'secret rites'; later, 'Dark, stormy nights...'
Now this query -- It's merely rhetorical? 

6. Hey! Online Etymology Maven,
Derivation explain for the 'haven' —
Old Norse Hofn: for 'port' from which Norsemen resort
To spread 'havoc' midst folks who are craven. 

7. Hey! Online Etymology Wizard,
Derivation explain for the 'gizzard' —
Roman gourmands would howl, "More gigeria (fowl
Innards)!; hold off the garum and lizard."

8. Etymology Online Kahuna,
Derivation recall for 'lagoon' -- A  
Spanish lake or salt pool (not Hawaiian, you fool!),
I've forgotten the rest - a lacuna.

9. As confessed, "We did doggedly slog
At Online Philological Blog.
There's no getting around, your word hounded out 'hound':
Etymologists find it a dog."

10. Hey! Online Etymology Centre,
Derivation explain for the 'mentor' --
Guide described in the story of Ulysses, whose glory
Homer told as a sage (or inventor).

11. In that vein, Etymology Tutor,
Derivation explain for the 'suitor' --
Latin secutor: 'follower', one whose prospects grow hollower
When Ulysses returns to dispute her. 

12. Hey! Online Etymology Help,
Derivation explain for the 'whelp' --
'Naive boy', root for 'puppy' (Not a hippy or yuppie).
It's Old English -- the same goes for 'yelp'.

13. Hey! Online Etymology Prof,
Derivation explain for the ‘toff' -- 

(Nineteenth C.): Oxbridge chaps with gold tufts worn on caps

Titillated the townies to scoff.

UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT
 (Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at bottom of page.)

Check out  the origin of the 'DOLLAR' at Wikipedia#1, Wikipedia#2, and The Online Etymology Dictionary.

Check out the origin of the 'HORSE' at Wikipedia  and The Online Etymology Dictionary.

Check out the origin of the 'ROACH' at The Online Etymology Dictionary.

Check out the origin of the 'MISER' at  The Online Etymology Dictionary.

Check this link for 'weird foods in Ancient Rome'

Check out the mystery in the origin of the word 'DOG' at The Online Etymology Dictionary and at Wikipedia.

SINGABLE LIMERICKS: An exemplary parody, based on the famed Nantucket original verses.

WORDPLAY LINK: 

For wordplay (palindromes, anagrams, eggcorns, creative cartography, etc.) and silly poetry (polished limericks), see our sister blog "EDIFYING NONSENSE" here.