Song View

In the song, a poor farmer mourns his cow that has sunk into the water or bog. The song title can be translated as “The faithful brown/white spotted cow.” There are different versions of the lyrics, some of which mix English and difficult-to-understand Gaelic.

In the course of immigration movements, the song made its way to North America, where it became popular in the folk scene (Greenwich Village). Lead Belly heard the melody and recorded it as “If It Wasn't for Dicky.” Pete Seeger and Lee Hays took over Lead Belly's arrangement, wrote new verses and a new love lyric, and released the new version as “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine.”