"The Snowy-Breasted Pearl" is a delightful, tuneful light Irish air of great antiquity. Soodlum's
100 Irish Ballads Volume 1 says that it can be found in the George Petrie collection (1855). For me tunes like these are the very embodiment of things Irish. The lyrics are touchingly quaint, I mean to address one's loved one as "Oh thou blooming milk-white dove, to whom I've given true love" is definitely cool. And to describe my dear girl as "My snowy-breasted pearl" is pure poetry. Sadly in these modern (1998) times the usage of such endearments result in a resoundingly slapped face and such murmured mutterings as "Get stuffed you silly old senile sexist bastard!".
