This is a repository copy of Financial Reporting and Cultural History: a contribution. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/99389/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Maltby, J.A. (2017) Financial Reporting and Cultural History: a contribution. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 30 (2). pp. 472-474. ISSN 0951-3574 https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-04-2016-2519 Reuse Unless indicated otherwise, fulltext items are protected by copyright with all rights reserved. The copyright exception in section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows the making of a single copy solely for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study within the limits of fair dealing. The publisher or other rights-holder may allow further reproduction and re-use of this version - refer to the White Rose Research Online record for this item. Where records identify the publisher as the copyright holder, users can verify any specific terms of use on the publisher’s website. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal Financial Reporting and Cultural History: a contribution Journal: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal ForManuscript IDPeer AAAJ-04-2016-2519 Review Manuscript Type: Poetry, Prose, iterature and Insights $eywords: Financial reporting, social responsibility Page 1 of 8 Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 1 2 3 4 Financial Reporting and Cultural History: a contribution 5 6 7 8 Josephine Maltby 9 10 11 Sheffield University Management School 12 13 14 15 j maltby@sheffield ac uk 16 17 18 For Peer Review 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 1 Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal Page 2 of 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 1On the 4th of July, 1806 7 8 9 We set sail from the sweet cove of Cork 10 11 We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks 12 13 For the ,rand City Hall in New .ork 14 15 16 2 01was a wonderful craft, she was rigged fore and aft 17 18 For Peer Review 19 2nd oh, how the wild wind drove her 20 21 She stood several blasts, she had twenty seven masts 22 23 2nd they called her The Irish Rover 24 25 26 3 We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags 27 28 29 We had two million barrels of stone 30 31 We had three million bales of old nanny4goats0 tails 32 33 We had four million barrels of bones 34 35 36 4 We had five million hogs and si5 million dogs 37 38 39 Seven million barrels of porter 40 41 We had eight million sides of old blind horses hides 42 43 In the hold of the Irish Rover 44 45 46 7 1here was awl Mickey Coote who played hard on his flute 47 48 49 When the ladies lined up for a set 50 51 He was tootin0 with skill for each sparkling 8uadrille 52 53 1hough the dancers were fluther0d and bet 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 2 Page 3 of 8 Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 1 2 3 6 With his smart witty talk, he was cock of the walk 4 5 2nd he rolled the dames under and over 6 7 1hey all knew at a glance when he took up his stance 8 9 The Irish Rover 10 1hat he sailed in 11 12 13 7 1here was :arney Mc,ee from the banks of the Lee 14 15 1here was Hogan from County 1yrone 16 17 1here was Johnny Mc,urk who was scared stiff of work 18 For Peer Review 19 20 2nd a man from Westmeath called Malone 21 22 23 8 1here was Slugger O01oole who was drunk as a rule 24 25 2nd Fighting :ill 1reacy from Dover 26 27 2nd your man, Mick MacCann from the banks of the :ann 28 29 30 Was the skipper of the Irish Rover 31 32 33 9 For a sailor it0s always a bother in life 34 35 It0s so lonesome by night and by day 36 37 38 01il he launch for the shore and this charming young whore 39 40 Who will melt all his troubles away 41 42 43 10 2ll the noise and the rout, swilling poit>n and stout 44 45 For him soon the torment0s over 46 47 48 Of the love of a maid he0s never afraid 49 50 2n old sot from the Irish Rover 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 3 Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal Page 4 of 8 1 2 3 11We had sailed seven years when the measles broke out 4 5 2nd the ship lost its way in the fog 6 7 2nd that whale of a crew was reduced down to two 8 9 10 Just myself and the Captain0s old dog 11 12 13 12 1hen the ship struck a rock, oh Lord, what a shock 14 15 1he bulkhead was turned right over 16 17 1urned nine times around and the poor old dog was drowned 18 For Peer Review 19 The Irish Rover 20 I0m the last of 21 22 23 The Irish Rover (IR) has enjoyed long popularity as a piece of traditional music, 24 25 covered by numerous musicians. More than 20 recordings since 1960 are identified 26 27 in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Irish_Rover#Cultural_impact. There has been, 28 29 30 despite this high profile, little exploration of the song’s significance in Irish history. In 31 32 particular, its unique status as a piece of financial reporting has attracted no 33 34 attention. This paper is intended to open up an understanding of the song’s 35 36 contribution and stimulate a wider exploration of the links between culture and 37 38 39 financial reporting. 40 41 42 There are a number of different texts available for Irish Rover (IR) and the version 43 44 above is based on a very full one, as performed by The Dubliners and the Pogues at 45 46 a high0profile concert in 1912, to be found on 47 48 49 https://www.youtube.com/watch3v4au30c96MIPg 50 51 52 This includes the controversial verses 9 and 10 that are normally omitted. It also 53 54 employs some readings which may be challenged. These editing decisions will be 55 56 discussed below. 57 58 59 60 4 Page 5 of 8 Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 1 2 3 IR is normally received as the narrative of an Irish commercial voyage in the early 4 5 19thc. The ship and the crew are described in some detail, and the song ends with 6 7 the failure of the trip, a train of events comparable with e.g. Greenland Whale 8 9 1 2 10 Fisheries and The Good Ship Calabar . 7hat is distinctive in its form and content 11 12 are the choice of detail, and the attention paid to the governance, and to the material 13 14 and personal resources used in the shipping project. IR is, I will argue, a very early 15 16 financial report. The term 8report* is chosen advisedly. The song is not a financial 17 18 For Peer Review 19 statement 0 there are no monetary values invoked 9 but it is the account of an 20 21 economic project. 22 23 24 IR begins with a date 984th of July, 110 *0 and with a clear mission statement0 25 26 8,transporting- a cargo of bricks/For the Grand City Hall in New York*. 1 July might 27 28 29 have been e)pected as a start date ,with a 30 June year0end- but sea conditions 30 31 even at that time of year may have delayed departure, or pressure on harbour 32 33 resources in Cork may also be implicated. The redesign of City Hall in New York was 34 35 a project begun in 1102 but delayed by spending cuts and arguments between the 36 37 developer and the city council, as well as an outbreak of yellow fever among the site 38 39 40 staff ,http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/about/man_cityhall.shtml- The building was 41 42 completed only in 1111. Hence the 110 voyage was potentially a timely delivery of 43 44 materials. 45 46 47 The song immediately identifies the non0current asset, the ship IR itself. Its language 48 49 50 is more emotionally coloured than that of a modern financial report ,8a wonderful 51 52 1 He capsiAed the boat and we lost five men 53 And we did not catch the whale, brave boys, we did not catch the whale 54 ,trad- 55 2 No more ICll be a sail0i0ar or sail the raging main 56 And the ne)t time I go to Portadown, ICll go by the bloody train ,trad- 57 58 59 60 5 Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal Page 6 of 8 1 2 3 craft*- but gives enough detail to identify the ship and suggest that it had already 4 5 been sailed on a challenging route like the Atlantic crossing. ,This may be a hint at 6 7 the outcome of the trip-.