Did you ever see the devil?
In Chapter 10 of Mistress Pat, Judy Plum is dying:
Judy reached out and clutched Pat’s hand.
“‘Did ye iver see the devil
Wid his liddle wooden shovel
Digging pittaties in the garden
Wid his tail cocked up?’”
she quoted, laughing, and fell back on her pillows. Her kind loving eyes closed. Judy, who had laughed so bravely, gaily, gallantly all her life, had died laughing.
Judy’s quotation is from a popular piece of fiddle music.
Did you ever see the devil
Did you ever see the devil with his wooden spade or shovel,
Did you ever see the devil with his tail cocked out?
The potatoes were so big that the devil couldn’t dig,
So he ran through the fields with his tail cocked out!
The sheet music can be found here: Google Books - Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island
