Reader Rebecca has written in to ask for help identifying a song about a dress (she found me through this post, I bet).
She says:
I heard the song on the Thistle and Shamrock NPR show years ago. The story of the song seemed to be a girl asking her mother what dress she should wear, and the mother offering various reasons why she shouldn't. I believe in the last verse they come back to the dress from the first verse, and realizing that there's nothing else to wear, the girl and mother finally agree.
She's already googled the heck out of it … anyone know it out of their actual heads?
(The image is just a random piece of sheet music from eBay … not the song being hunted.)
A Dress A Day 
Have your reader check out this link for the Thistle and Shamrock Show. It has archives of music playlists.http://www.npr.org/programs/thistle/playlists/index.htmlHope this helps.
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I posted a query about it on Mudcat, too. Those people know every UK & Celtic song on Earth. I’ll post a link to the thread if they come up with anything.
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The playlists only go back to Jan 2006. If it was before then, you may want also to try and either email the show or post to their forums. Someone there might remember it?
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I think it’s Jenny Jenkins. It’s a call-and-response song that I learned as a child. Sample verse: “Oh, will you wear white, oh my dear, oh my dear, oh, will you wear white, Jenny Jenkins?””No I won’t wear white, the color’s too bright, but I’ll buy me a fol de rol de seek a double roll and find me; Roll, Jenny Jenkins, roll.”(Sorry if this double-posts; I’m having technical difficulties!)
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Yep. Jenny Jenkins, or a variant is also my best guess.
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“I can name that tune in four comments.”Isn’t the interweb wonderful?! (Sorry, I have no interobang.)
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Jennie Jenkins lyrics, if they ring any bells.
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My first thought was the trout (which was named after the colorful dotted calico that was named after the Dicken’s character!)
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Thanks for the Jenny Jenkins earworm, ladies! Seriously, though, I don’t think that could be the song in question. The dresswearer in the song is declining all the suggestions… And it’s more of an English-Appalachian song than a Celtic-Hibernian, isn’t it?
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anonymous 2:14, again…I wish I could delete that last message. I think I am talking out of my bustle.
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If you need Jenny Jenkins in audible form, Sharon Lois and Bram (childrens entertainers popular during the 80s/90s) play it on one of their collections (it shows up again in their Great Big Hits album…dont ask why I remember this some 15 years later…).I believe at the end of the song Jenny declares she does not care about the appearance of her clothing, as long as it covers her…I’d be willing to bet Jenny’d have grown up to read this blog.
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Jenny Jenkins! Yes, that’s the song. I looked up the lyrics. Thank you all so much, and Erin, thank you for letting me take advantage of your blog and generosity. I’m off to iTunes now…
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There is a great version of this song on the Jerry Garcia/Dave Grisman cd, “Not for Kid’s Only”, highly recommended!
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Dolly Varden, huh? I’m reading Barnaby Rudge right now (where Dolly Varden is a character.)
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