antedating "the old dart" (1880)

[Jonathon Green]

orig.uses, as Ireland:

1863 'Mulvaney and O'Flanagan' in _Donnybrook-Fair Comic Songster_ 54:
And if England should dare interfere, / Ould Ireland will have a chance
again [...] Then, when the old dart is free, / Annex'ion to America
we'll plan again. [Ibid.] 'Paddy Burke' 65: Here I am, Paddy Burke, a
true Irish Turk - / My fortune to mend, I've left the ould dart


JG

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org