"I came across this first page of a journal article - I can't access the whole article"
Rest of article plus obituary of the singer
Jim Carroll

'If you do leave your house-carpenter,
And come along with me,
I'll take you to where the grass grows green
On the Banks of the Sweet Viledee, my love,
On the Banks of the Sweet Viledee.'

'If I do leave my house-carpenter,
And go along with thee,
What have you there to support me with
Or to keep me from slavery, my love,
Or to keep me from slavery.'

'I have six ships now sailing out,
And seven more on sea,
Three hundred and ten, all jolly sailsmen,
And they all for to wait on thee, my love,
And they all for to wait on thee.'

She dressed her baby neat and clean,
And she gave him kisses three,
Saying, 'Stay, stay here, my darling baby boy,
And your father is company, my love,
And your father is company'

She dressed herself in a suit of green,
And her maiden's waist was green,
And every town that we passed by,
Sure they took her to be some queen, my love,
Sure they took her to be some queen.

We were but two days out on sea,
And I'm sure we were not three,
When this fair maiden began to weep
And she wept most bitterly, my love,
And she wept most bitterly.

'My curse, my curse upon all seamen,
Who brought me out on sea,
And deprived me of my house-carpenter
On the Banks of the Sweet Viledee, my love,
On the Banks of the Sweet Viledee.'

We were but three days out on sea,
And I'm sure we were not four,
When this fair maiden disappeared from the deck
And she sank to rise no more, my love,
And she sank to rise no more.

IFC BF 82. Recorded from Frank Browne, of Rathnallog, Ballanagare, county Roscommon, on the 25 March 1981, by Bairbre Ni Fhloinn (and also on many subsequent occasions). On the night in question, Frank sang the song for the collector in the front room of the house attached to Bruen's pub, in the village of Ballanagare. Like many other publicans in the area, the Bruens have always been most obliging in facilitating recording sessions on their premises. Frank died in February 1998 (see obituary notice in the present volume).
'The Banks of the Sweet Viledee' is the only recorded version in Irish tradition of Child no. 243, 'James Harris' or 'The Demon Lover' (F. J. Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Boston 1882-98). In Frank's version of the song, as in many others, the supernatural dimension appears to have been lost. The location of 'The Sweet Viledee' is unknown, and it may well represent a corruption of a placename. Some other versions of the song, from both sides of the Atlantic, contain placenames somewhat similar to 'Viledee'. Frank learned the song, along with many others, from his sisters. It was included on a compilation tape published in 1985 by European Ethnic Oral Traditions, entitled Early Ballads in Ireland 1968-1985, edited by Hugh Shields and Tom Munnelly.
Thanks are due to Debbie Metrustry, of the Top Type Music Bureau, for making the musical transcription.

IN MEMORIAM
FRANK BROWNE
(1909 - 1998)
Frank Browne, traditional singer and storyteller, died on the 21st of February 1998. Frank lived a long life, never moving far from his native Ballanagare, in county Roscommon, where he was born in November 1909. All his life he was a loyal Roscommon man, and he never lost an opportunity to sing his county's praises, in every sense. Until the end of his days, he had an energy and an enthusiasm for life which would put to shame a person half his age.
Music and song played an important part in Frank's life from his young days. He was a noted flute-player, and he used to be much in demand locally to play at house-dances and 'sprees', as they were called. He was a fine singer, with a very rich repertoire of songs, gathered from all kinds of sources. Some of Frank's songs were unique in Irish tradition, and had never before been recorded here (see Mam as Mala na mBailitheoiri — From the Field', in this volume).
In his later years, Frank became well-known in traditional music circles as a singer, performing at festivals and gatherings in several parts of the country. He visited Dublin frequently, where he sang at numerous sessions and conferences, and was a frequent and well-loved visitor at the Goilin Singers' Club, in particular. Only months before he died, he sang to a rapt audience of young people from various parts of the world as part of the programme of the annual International Summer School at University College Dublin.
His songs have been included on a number of commercial compilation recordings, most recently on a compact disc produced by UNESCO, consisting of a representative selection of Irish traditional music and song from the archives of the Department of Irish Folklore. This disc forms part of an international series of ethnic music from around the world.
Frank also had a great deal of traditional material relating
to other areas of life, including stories about \ the fairies and similar supernatural occurrences.
He was, in many ways, a walking archive of information about his own place, and a living link with the past.
First and foremost, Frank was his own person, and he remained indomitably himself on his visits to Dublin and elsewhere.   His   humour and his energy, his love of fun and of singing, were all central to his personality, and affected everyone who met him. It
is a consolation to know that so many of Frank's songs and stories were recorded by the Department of Irish Folklore, with whose staff he was always so generous and patient, and whose students he always welcomed so freely.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam uasal dilis.
BAIRBRE NI FHLOINN
BEALOIDEAS 66 - 1998