Amazing story about Ruby.

[Jk]

Well done Gerald, another great job done. Pity over the male voice on the track, but Ruby sounds great, By the way who is the male voice? Mmm.

[MARTIN FOSTER]

Hi guys,

Well done on restoring another gem for our library Gerald. I am amazed at the sound quality considering the age of the recording. Do you know the date of the recording? Was it St Patrick's day or an Irish show with the choice of song title?

Also another quick question to Gerald or Bernie or anyone else who might know: In the song "Pretty Irish girl" does Ruby sing "and the thrush is singing gaily" or "and the thrushes sing in gaelic"? I find it hard to figure out those lyrics in both the live and studio recordings.

Bye for now and thanks.

Martin.

[Jk]

Hi Martin, it is definitely "Gaelic" she sings. I will put the lyrics on, but these are the full version and not Ruby's version.

Have you ever seen the seagulls
A flying o'er the heather
Or the crimson sails the
Galway Bay the fishermen unfurl
O the earth is filled with beauty
And it's gather'd all together
In the form and face and dainty grace
Of a Pretty Irish Girl
Oh, sh' is my dear My dralin' one
Here eyes so sparklin' full of fun
No other can match the likes of her
O, she is my dear
My darlin' one
My smilin' and beguilin' one
I love the ground she walks upon
My Pretty Irish Girl
Have you ever seen the morning in
Kerry Killarny when the dew is on the hayrick
And ev'ry drop a pearl
When the geese are full of blarney
And the trush is singing Gaelic
And standing in the doorway
Is a Pretty Irish Girl
Oh, she is my dear
My dralin' one
Here eyes so sparklin' full of fun
No other can match the likes of her
O, she is my dear My darlin' one
My smilin' and beguilin' one
I love the ground she walks upon
My Pretty Irish Girl
When I'm patred from my darlin'
My sighs would sail a schooner
And when I cannot reach her sure
My tears would turn a mill
Since she cannot be unkind
To any helpless creature
I think that she will marry me a
Pretty Irish Girl
Oh, she is my dear
My dralin' one
Here eyes so sparklin' full of fun
No other can match the likes of her
O, she is my dear
My darlin' one
My smilin' and beguilin' one I love the ground she walks upon
My Pretty Irish Girl

[MARTIN FOSTER]

Hi John,

I hope you are well. Thanks for such a prompt reply and for showing us the full version of "Pretty Irish Girl". The song was featured in the Walt Disney film "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" starring a very young Sean Connery and the pretty Janet Munro. However I prefer Ruby's version with Brendan O'Dowda and now of course with Bernie. It is such a shame that Ruby only made the one feature film.

Best wishes and thanks again.

Martin.

[Bernie Burgess]

Hello Friends,

Just to add a little more interest to the above story. The beautiful young film star that starred opposite Sean Connery in 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People', was the daughter of comedian Alex Munro. (Alex played dame in the pantomime that Ruby and I appeared in at the Royalty Theatre in Chester in l963/4) 'Puss in Boots'. Janet Munro fell victim to a massive alcohol problem which eventually caused her demise. In my book I referred to a trumpet player, Freddy Clayton, a dry alcoholic who became a councillor for victims of the disease, he attended Janet in the last part of her life, but sadly too late to be able to help her.

Another star in that film was Jimmy O'Dea, an Irish comedian who was in the television show with Ruby - 'Mrs Mulligan's Boarding House'. His wife, Ursulla Doyle, was a great friend of Ruby's, she and her brother Noel Doyle were a double act that toured with Ruby in the shows that our Ruby appeared in when she was a mere teenager.

Adios Amigos. Bernie.

[Bernie Burgess]

Hello Friends,

Regarding the question in connection with whether Ruby was singing "the thrushes singing gaily or gaelic? As far as my memory is concerned I am of the opinion that she sang - gaelic, but that is still only an opinion.

Adios Amigos. Bernie

[Bernie Burgess]

Hello Friends,

Having studied further the question of whether those thrushes are singing gaily or in gaelic. I am sure that lyrically there is a connection with the words - hayrick and gaelic. Have a look at J.K's posting of the actual lyric and see whether I am correct - or not??? If I am right then the question is solved, it's gaelic.

It is getting close to St. Patrick's Day and I am looking forward to seeing the new home page and the results of the choice of the 5 songs.

Adios Amigos. Bernie.

[Gerald Lawrence]

Well, look what we have here!



This is a picture taken directly off a TV set showing Ruby and Bernie duetting on the song "Do You Remember?" which figures at the start of this Message Thread. There were no video cassette recorders in those days, nor digital cameras, so this must be a genuine black and white photograph taken on a film camera at the time of the TV show going out live. You will see that it is signed "Love Ruby and Bernie" in Ruby's own handwriting.

So where did this new treasure come from? Well, during the visit that Rosemary and I made to Orkney to see Elma and her husband Brian, we were looking through some of Elma's collection of pictures and when I saw this one it reminded me of the song which we now have in the library thanks to the reel to reel tapes of David Frankish. Elma told me that Ruby had sent it to her a long time ago. I checked with Bernie who has confirmed from the description that it was taken during the broadcast of the show in which they sang together. He was delighted that a photograph of him and Ruby singing "Do You Remember?" had been found, and immediately asked me to get a copy of it onto this website, which I am now pleased to do.

So now we have the picture to help us imagine how it must have looked when Ruby and Bernie sang together on TV. You can find this picture in the Library, under Miscellaneous Images.

Thank you Elma!

[Jk]

Oh how it brings back memories seeing the two of them together on stage, I saw that routine many times.

[MARTIN FOSTER]

Hi guys,

What a great picture of Ruby and Bernie. Many thanks to Elma and also to Gerald for putting it on the website. I am sure it will bring back a lot of memories for Bernie and also for other lucky fans like John who have seen Ruby on stage.

Martin.

[Gerald Lawrence]

I have just finished rescuing another song from David Frankish's set of burglary-damaged reel-to-reel tapes which he kindly sent me. You can now find and download it from the Library.

It is a rather lovely version of a song that Ruby never recorded - "This Is My Song" and this may well be the only copy of it. It appears to be a live studio recording which means that the starting quality is very good. I am so pleased to have found it, and I hope you all enjoy this new-found treasure. I never had the pleasure of hearing Ruby sing it live, so if you did, then please share your experience with us. I guess from the reference to Great Yarmouth that Ruby sang it during the summer show - no doubt Bernie can put us straight on that one! Thanks are once again due to David Frankish for letting us have this valuable recording.

The details of the recording, as listed by David, are that the announcer is Bob Wellings, and the recording was taken from a show which went out on Anglia TV on 14th July 1967 called "About Anglia - Summer Stars". I wonder if Anglia TV have a video recording of that show?

[Jk]

Hello Gerald, first I must congratulate you on such a wonderful job you have done to rescuing this song from a reel tape. Well I have never heard Ruby sing this song but she sings it really fantastic, I would go as to say it is better than the original which was sung by Pet Clark.

I have uploaded the lyrics to the library, I have put Ruby's version, and also Pet Clark's version as they are slightly different.

Anyhow thanks for giving us all this gem of a song, I have played it six times already

[Graham Bunn]

Gerald,
Many thanks for this new song........It's so nice to hear Ruby after all these years singing songs that I have never heard her sing before.

The magic is still there for me and I'm sure for many more of her fans....Lets hope the tapes will give us yet more teasured memories.

Wonderful job Gerald.

Thank You.

[MARTIN FOSTER]

Hi everybody,

Hi Gerald,

Wow what a great surprise bonus recording of Ruby. She really makes the song her own and to me sounds extra husky. Shame she never recorded it as a single. I never actually liked Petula Clark's version of the song as I always found her voice to be a bit artificial sounding on that particular track and so I always favoured Harry Secombe's version. However, Ruby wins for me now. Wouldn't it be great if Anglia TV do have a video of the show.

Thanks Gerald for doing this and also to David Frankish for the tapes.

Best wishes.

Martin.

[Bernie Burgess]

Hello Friends,

Great!!!!!!! Thanks Gerald, this really brings back memories for me. I was in the fortunate position of hearing Ruby sing this song on stage many times and I love the song and the way she sings it. It was always received very well by her audiences, they loved it too. Tim uses the song quite often in his performances and he does it very well too.

When we were with Hary Secombe at the Palace Theatre Blackpool in 1960, he included the song in his act. What a wonderful man he was, so genuine and so generous. At the end of the season he bought every member of the cast a gift, mine was a pair of gold cuff links which I still have to this day - in the presentation box.

Ruby was very happy that season because we had our first baby - Julie and Harry became Julie's godparent.

Thanks again to both David and Gerald for enriching our lives once again.

ENCORE! ENCORE! Adios Amigos. Bernie.