Recalling Dame Bardon's famous egg flips

The Diary is indebted to Dr Deirdre Collins for this previously unpublished poem about Kilcullen, which she found amongst the papers of her grandfather, Jim Collins Snr. The context of the verses suggests it was written by a former military man, with the references to the 'bould soldier boy' and the 'Egg flip for soldiers' and the writer's reflections of 1873 and 1894. If anybody has further information, we'd love to hear it.

KILCULLEN

Whenever you go to Kilcullen, 

Remember the tailor ould Boyce,

His breeches cost thirty shillin'

And make the wearer rejoice.

Whenever you go to Kilcullen,

Remember the Inn by the river,

Where whisky and ale are a mullin'

To dispel every sign of a shiver.

Whenever you go to Kilcullen,

See the girls full of laughter and joy,

Every one of them ready and willin'

To marry the bould soldier boy.

Whenever you go to Kilcullen,

Remember Dame Bardon's egg flip,

No matter how seedy or sullen,

All cares it will speedily nip.

Whenever you go to Kilcullen,

I'll give you an excellent tip,

Ensure that no hour been dull 'un,

By drinking a bowl of egg flip.

This did we in good 73'

But now in 94,

They call for "tea and butter'd bunn",

The days of the flip are o'er.

Egg flip for soldiers was the cry,

Of stout old Samuel J;

But now their shaky nerves they ply,

With cigarettes and tay.

This piece, part of an article in the Fishing Gazette of 7 July 1900, further confirms how well the hospitality of 'Dame Bardon' was considered. "At Kilcullen is Mrs. Bardon's comfortable hotel, much frequented by officers from the Curragh. The charges are reasonable, the rooms clean and cosy. Mrs. Bardon makes certain hot cakes which may justly be called of world-wide reputation; for most men who have been quartered at the Curragh know Mrs. Bardon, and those who have once known her do not forget her or her excellent teas."

No mention of the egg flip by then ...

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