McCafferty

Story

Patrick McCaffery was born in County Kildare, Ireland in October 1842. After his father deserted the family, his mother sent him to England, where he lived with a friend in Mossley near Manchester and began working in a mill at age 12, later moving to Stalybridge. On 10 October 1860, at 18, he enlisted in the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot, training at Fulwood Barracks before being posted to 12 Company. On 13 September 1861, while on sentry duty, McCaffery was ordered to take the names of children playing near officers' quarters but caught only one; the next morning he received fourteen days' confinement.

McCaffery handed his weapon to a comrade and was led away unresisting. McCaffery's trial at the Liverpool Assizes in December was a foregone conclusion, and he was executed on 11 January 1862 outside Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool, aged 19. The crowd's sympathies lay with him, and the ballad later found popularity among the Catholic Irish population of northwest England.

Recordings

The folklore archive Tobar an Dualchais – Kist o Riches holds a 1953 live recording of Ewan MacColl, who said he first heard the song from Liverpool dockers in the army, bribing his way into their tent with whisky. MacColl later collected it from Patrick Dodds of Birkenhead in 1941. Other traditional singers who recorded the ballad include Peter Reilly, Paddy Grant, Jimmy MacBeath, "Queen" Caroline Hughes, and May Bradley. Commercial recordings include those by Ewan MacColl, A.L. Lloyd, The Dubliners, Tony Capstick, Bob Davenport, and Sue Harris.