Rowdy Rhymes and Rec-im-itations - Best of Irish Humour

Vincent Caprani

Summary

For about 300 years Dubliners have been creating ballads, 'rec-im-itations' and parodies – commenting in verse form – with a mischievous disregard for both the laws of libel and the canons of poetry – on everything from social events, public affairs, the city's monuments and institutions, politics, murder cases and sporting events, to their fellow citizens and street characters.
Many of the ballads, in addition to showing the Dubliner's instinct for the value of words and wit, also provide an easily accessible guide to the ordinary occurrences of life in the city and a glimpse into traditions of the past. This is the tradition in which Vincent Caprani writes. So if you want to be reminded of what happened to Gough's Statue in the 'Phaynix Park', to learn more about The Whore of Hackballscross, or if you want to be entertained by 'pomes' that are by turns funny, touching and nostalgic, this is the very book for you.

Available since: 09/09/2011.

Print length: 132 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Globo Arte april 2024 issue -...

Globo Arte team

This is april 2024 issue packed with travel with your art topics, how to support your art and make it full time articles, art motivations tips, ways to increase your revenue in your art business, art features and so much more to help an artist/creative person in creating life of their dreams and support their art, see you in audiobook

Show book

When in Rome - 2000 Years of...

Matthew Sturgis

This “dashing chronicle” reveals what tourists have been visiting in Rome, from the era of the Roman Republic to contemporary times (The Independent). 
 
There is no place like Rome. Throughout its long, long history, its many changes in form and fortune, Rome has always been a tourist centre. In every age—Classical, Christian, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical, Romantic, Modern—people have flocked to see its wonders. This is the story of what Rome’s visitors have looked at over the past two thousand years, the buildings, the statues, the paintings, the artifacts that have most impressed each generation of travellers from the time of the Roman Republic in the second century BC up to the present age of mass tourism. It is the history both of how Rome has changed with the centuries and how the taste of those who have visited the city has changed with it.

Show book

Don't Panic--Dinner's in the...

Susie Martinez, Vanda Howell,...

Hectic lifestyles and over-full schedules make traditional cooking methods nearly obsolete in many families. The results are poor nutrition and budgets strained by the high cost of fast food or commercially prepared meals. Don't Panic-Dinner's in the Freezer offers a simple and economical alternative, featuring dozens of recipes designed to be prepared and frozen for future use.With 100,000 copies sold, this book gives practical tips for planning, organizing, and shopping for meals, as well as unique ways to freeze and reheat prepared foods. Every recipe includes measurements for cooking alone or as a joint venture with one or two friends. Families, singles, retirees-everyone who needs to eat-will find fast and easy answers to the question, "What's for dinner?"

Show book

Amish-Inspired Quilts for...

Carl Hentsch

The noted quilt designer shares his love of Amish craftsmanship with 10 new patchwork quilt patterns in this step-by-step guide. 
 
Carl Hentsch has always admired Amish quilts and quilters. Living only a short distance from an old-order Amish community has allowed him to explore their world, meet some of the quilters themselves, and more fully appreciate their ability to create beautiful quilts without the use of electricity.  
 
Amish-Inspired Quilts for Today’s Home explores their use of color and design in 10 quilts using modern fabrics and techniques. Ranging from easy to challenging, these projects offer beautiful bursts of color in blocks such as Basket, Log Cabin, and Star.

Show book

Snark

David Denby

What is snark? You recognize it when you see it-a tone of teasing, snide, undermining abuse, nasty and knowing, that is spreading like pinkeye through the media and threatening to take over how Americans converse with each other and what they can count on as true. Snark attempts to steal someone's mojo, erase her cool, annihilate her effectiveness. In this sharp and witty polemic, New Yorker critic and bestselling author David Denby takes on the snarkers, naming the nine principles of snark-the standard techniques its practitioners use to poison their arrows. Snarkers like to think they are deploying wit, but mostly they are exposing the seethe and snarl of an unhappy country, releasing bad feeling but little laughter.In this highly entertaining book, Denby traces the history of snark through the ages, starting with its invention as personal insult in the drinking clubs of ancient Athens, tracking its development all the way to the age of the Internet, where it has become the sole purpose and style of many media, political, and celebrity Web sites. Snark releases the anguish of the dispossessed, envious, and frightened; it flows when a dying class of the powerful struggles to keep the barbarians outside the gates, or, alternately, when those outsiders want to take over the halls of the powerful and expel the office-holders. Snark was behind the London-based magazine Private Eye, launched amid the dying embers of the British empire in 1961; it was also central to the career-hungry, New York-based magazine Spy. It has flourished over the years in the works of everyone from the startling Roman poet Juvenal to Alexander Pope to Tom Wolfe to a million commenters snarling at other people behind handles. Thanks to the grand dame of snark, it has a prominent place twice a week on the opinion page of the New York Times.Denby has fun snarking the snarkers, expelling the bums and promoting the true wits, but he is also making a serious point: the Internet has put snark on steroids. In politics, snark means the lowest, most insinuating and insulting side can win. For the young, a savage piece of gossip could ruin a reputation and possibly a future career. And for all of us, snark just sucks the humor out of life. Denby defends the right of any of us to be cruel but shows us how the real pros pull it off. Snark, he says, is for the amateurs.

Show book

Fixation - How to Have Stuff...

Sandra Goldmark

Our massive, global system of consumption is broken. Our individual relationship with our stuff is broken. In each of our homes, some stuff is broken. And the strain of rampant consumerism and manufacturing is breaking our planet. We need big, systemic changes, from public policy to global economic systems.Since founding Fixup, a pop-up repair shop that brought her coverage in the New York Times, Salon, New York Public Radio, and more, Sandra Goldmark has become a leader in the movement to demand better "stuff." She doesn't just want to help us clear clutter—she aims to move us away from throwaway culture, to teach us to reuse and repurpose more thoughtfully, and to urge companies to produce better stuff. Although her goal is ambitious, the solution to getting there is surprisingly simple and involves all of us: have good stuff, not too much, mostly reclaimed, care for it, and pass it on.Fixation charts the path to the next frontier in the health, wellness, and environmental movements—learning how to value stewardship over waste. We can choose quality items designed for a long lifecycle, commit to repairing them when they break, and shift our perspective on reuse and "preowned" goods. Goldmark shares examples of forward-thinking companies that are thriving by conducting their businesses sustainably and responsibly.

Show book