Mmmmm, colcannon. A food not found all that often in the States these days, or in other words, not nearly enough. Strangely, like a lot of the old Irish dishes, the main reason colcannon seems to stick around at all is not so much because of its tastiness (which is considerable) but rather because of its close association with a traditional Irish folk tune, that goes...
Oh, did you ever eat colcannon,
Made from lovely pickled cream?
With the greens and scallions mingled
Like a picture in a dream?
Did you ever make a hole on top
To hold the meltin' flake
Of the creamy, flavoured butter
That yer mother used to make?
Chorus:
Yes you did, so you did,
So did he and so did I
And the more I think about it,
Well the nearer I'm to cry
Oh wasn't it the happy days
When troubles we knew not,
And our mothers made colcannon
In the little skillet pot
Did you ever take potato cake
In a boxty1 to the school,
Tucked beneath your oxter2
With your book, your slate an' rule?
And when the teacher wasn't lookin'
Sure a great big bite you'd take,
Of the creamy flavoured soft
And meltin' sweet potato cake
Chorus
Well did you ever go a-courting,
When the evenin' sun went down,
And the moon began a-peepin'
From behind the hill o' down.
And you wandered down the boreen3
Where the clúrachán4 was seen
And you whispered lovin' praises
To your own dear sweet cáilín5...
Chorus
A purely blissful ditty, for a purely blissful dish.
Notes:
1: A "boxty" is kind of hearty pancake made with potatoes and flour, especially handy for lumping other stuff inside of them (like colcannon)...
2: ... thus making it easier to carry beneath your "oxter" (that is, your armpit) when you're loaded down with books.
3: A "boreen" is a kind of small country lane. Barely a path, really.
4: "Clúrachán" is an old Irish word for leprechaun.
5: "Cáilín" simply means "girl". Generally implies a kind of simple country girl, though, one who is (of course) bonnie and sweet and fair and all things etc etc... you know, the ones that only exist in travel brochures and old folk tunes.