In Chambers' _Scottish Songs_, Edinburgh, 1829, p. 273. is a piece
beginning--
"And was you e'er in Crail toun?
_Igo and ago_;
And saw ye there clerk Fishington?
Sing _irom, igon, ago_."
And in _Blackwood_ for Jan. 1831 ("Noctes Ambrosianæ, No. 53.") is "A
Christmas Carol in honour of Maga, sung by the Contributors," which begins
thus--
"When Kit North is dead,
What will Maga do, Sir?
She must go to bed,
And like him die too, Sir!
Fal de ral de ral,
_Iram coram dago_;
Fal de ral de ral,
Here's success to Maga!"
I suspect that the "chorus or refrain" of the first of these ditties
suggested that of the second; and that _this_ is the song which was running
in your contributor's head.