Lyr Add: Johnny Boland

Subject: Lyr Add: JOHNNY BOLAND
From: mark gregory
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:30 AM

JOHNNY BOLAND

Good Christians all round this country,
Come listen to my song,
I don't intend to raise it high,
To detain your attention long.
There are in it but verses few
To let the neighbours know
How Boland he was banished
From the land of sweet Ross Row.

It was on a Saturday evening,
As you may plainly hear
The stars were in the sky
And the moon shone bright and clear ;
Donovan came to my door
And this to me did say :
"Arise up, Johnny Boland,
And along with me come away."

While I was putting on my clothes,
This reply made he :
"If you turn Queen's evidence
A happy man you'll be.
You will have money plenty
Your wants for to supply
The Queen will give you employment
Where none will call you spy."

"Hold your tongue," said Boland,
"And don't say so to me;
If I am poor, I will endure
To live in poverty.
I'll never become Queen's evidence,
My comrades to overthrow;
I'd sooner live in poverty
On the land of sweet Ross Row."

In pops Tommy Corrigan,
And seized me by the hand:
"Arise up, Johnny Boland,
You must quit your native land.
Bid farewell to your children;
You never shall see them more."
He handcuffed me like a murderer,
And marched me out the door.

He marched me off to Six-mile Bridge,
And from that to Castlechrin.
Said Butler to Boland: "I
Will commit you back again."
Said Boland to Butler:
"Pray what have I done,
But the beating of Mr. Heckman,
And the taking of his gun?"

He marched me off to Ennis jail,
It's very well you'd know ;
From thence I was transported
From the land of sweet Ross Row.
Farewell to my five orphans,
I'm leaving here behind.
Friends and relations,

Both men and women kind.
The Lord, who is our witness,
Who right from wrong doth know,
Will punish those who banished us
From the land of sweet Ross Row.

Farewell unto the blunderbuss
That was hidden in the thatch ;
Farewell unto the powder horn
That was ready for the match ;
Farewell to the boys of County Clare;
Alas, I now must go ;
And adieu to you, old Ireland,
And the land of sweet Ross Row.

Notes

From the Sydney newspaper the Freeman's Journal Saturday 4 February 1905 p. 40.
JOHNNY BOLAND.
AN IRISH BALLAD OF FIFTY YEARS AGO.
(Kindly supplied by Mr. P. Doherty of Pambula) [Pambula is on the NSW, Australia, Sapphire Coast]

The only other reference I can find to this ballad is in a 1999 article by Sydney radical Bob Gould where he writes - 'My father used to say that he couldn't speak Gaelic, but that he could sing all the old rebel songs like Napper Tandy, and Rise Up Johnny Boland in Gaelic.'

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 06:43 AM

Interesting one.

Sixmilebridge and Ennis are place names in County Clare. "Ross Row" is presumably Rosroe, a few miles west of Sixmilebridge. Can't fathom "Castlechrin" , at the moment.

We have several Clare-based 'catters - so we should be able to check if there's still any trace of the song "at home".

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 06:48 AM

Got it, I think! There's a "Caherkine Lough" just west of Rosroe.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: mark gregory
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:17 PM

Andy Irvine emailed me with much the same comment

"A couple of things; it should be Rossoe which is the name of a river near Sixmilebridge.
Also Castlecrine was an estate near there. The Castle was demolished in 1955."

It was published in Australia in 1905 with a note that it was 50 year old so that takes it back to the 1850s ... There are records of a number of John Bolands being transported to Australia much earlier than that

m

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:35 PM

Yep! If I'd searched on "Castle Crine", (rather than browsing through a map!) I'd have found this, with photo:
Click here .
Note reference to Rosroe Castle, also.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: mark gregory
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 10:40 PM

Butler in the song owned Castle Crine !

Said Butler to Boland: "I
Will commit you back again."
Said Boland to Butler:
"Pray what have I done,
But the beating of Mr. Heckman,
And the taking of his gun?"

and Martin Ryan's find fits the song well

William Butler, of Rossroe Castle, County Clare, a lawyer by profession, acquired much of the Castle Crine estate through purchase from families such as the Burtons, Westbyus, McDonnells, O'Briens and Lysaghts.
He had two sons: Henry Butler of Rossroe, and Thomas Butler of Castlecrine. The said Thomas had a son, WILLIAM BUTLER, of Castlecrine, who inherited the estate of his uncle, Henry Butler, of O'Brien's Castle, in 1791. His eldest son, JAMES BUTLER, of Castle Crine, died in 1820 and was succeeded by his son, HENRY BUTLER, a Deputy Lieutenant for County Clare, as was also the latter's son and heir.

So probably Henry Butler had Johnny Boland transported ! in the 1840s !

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 17 Jan 14 - 02:49 AM

So we're left with "Mr. Heckman"... The name would be very unusual and may well be a corruption.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 17 Jan 14 - 03:58 AM

Got him! There were "Hickmans" at Castle Crine, according to some genealogical records I've been able to find.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: mark gregory
Date: 18 Jan 14 - 03:44 PM

Six mile Bridge has an interesting history to do with Irish resistance to colonisation

wikipedia:

1852 election affray

On 22 July 1852, a magistrate and eight soldiers of the 31st Regiment escorted 18 tenants of the Marquess of Conyngham to Sixmilebridge to vote for Colonel Vandeleur in the Clare county constituency at the general election. Vandeleur was a Conservative opposed to tenants' rights. A crowd of protesters, including two Catholic priests, was gathered near the ballot office, and an affray began between them and the voters' party. Soldiers opened fire, without the Riot Act having been read. Six people were killed at the scene and eight wounded, one of whom later died. At the coroner's inquest, the jury returned a verdict of murder; this was overturned by the Attorney-General for Ireland. An article in the Anglo-Celt accused the regiment of "willful and deliberate murder", and the editor was jailed for libel. The affair was discussed at Westminster, where Conservative members demanded the priests be prosecuted for incitement.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 30 Jan 14 - 04:23 AM

Mark
I've not come across either this fascinating song nor the character before - grateful for your putting it up.
It's not mentioned in Zimmermann's 'Songs of Irish Rebellion'
I thought it might turn up in the incredibly useful, but sadly obtainable 'Ballads of County Clare' (Sean P O Cillin) - not there either.
Can't find any reference to the character or the incident in any of our Irish political history books, but will take a closer look when I wake up.
It might well be one of the many hundreds of made-on-the-spot local songs that never left their area and have been neglected by national researchers because of their parochial nature.
I assume you've tried the Irish Traditional Music Archive - an invaluable resource and always helpful for this sort of search.
There is an extremely active local oral history group we have contact with who may be able to throw some light on the song, or at very least, the incident - I'll pass on your query to them later - they are-
Cuimhneamh an Chláir, the Clare Oral History and Folklore Group
Also, you might try Oidhreacht an Chláir (OaC) - a heritage group based here in Miltown Malbay - their archivist is only in attendance a few times a month, but w're due to meet with her in the next couple of weeks, so I'll ask when we do.
There's a chance that collector Tom Munnelly got it from singers in Clare, but his collection is housed in the Folklore Department at U.C.D. and I'm not sure how accessible it is.
I'll pass on whatever I find, if I manage to find anything.
Good luck
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 30 Jan 14 - 04:56 AM

Sorry - hadn't woken up properly
I should have added that many of the incidents such as this were recorded in song or verse form at the time of their happening - there is a possibility that this is no exception
While this is quite likely to be an Australian-made song it is possible that it had a companion-piece in Ireland   
Breakfast....
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 30 Jan 14 - 05:31 AM

Interesting one, isn't it? I have a few other Clare-based feelers out for both the song and the incident.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 30 Jan 14 - 06:44 AM

It is indeed
The source of the song, 'The Freeman's Journal' suggests that this is a "Clareman's' Association" publication - our County paper, The Clare Champion was, I think, originally called 'The Freeman's Journal'.
More later I hope
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 30 Jan 14 - 07:08 AM

The Irish "Freeman's Journal" was a national newspaper of long standing:

Click here for some background.

The Clare Champion may well have had some association with it - I'd need to check.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 30 Jan 14 - 07:14 AM

The Australian "Freeman's Journal" eventually became "The Catholic Weekly":
Click here

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 30 Jan 14 - 07:35 AM

Some details and a photo of Castlecrine:
Click here

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 30 Jan 14 - 12:39 PM

I'm on a promise from my nice friend in Clare Central Library (so to speak!)
She says she will look tomorrow and let me know what she finds.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 07 Feb 14 - 12:09 PM

Refresh

Subject: Lyr Add: JOHNNY BOLAND
From: mark gregory
Date: 29 Apr 14 - 12:43 AM

Looking at the original again there seems to be a compositor's mistake in the 3rd last verse which instead of having 8 lines only has 7 the line being

Friends and relations,

which you will see ends in a comma

If we take the first line of the next verse and move it up we end up with an 8 line verse and the expected full stop rather than the comma ... we thus also get a 4 line verse which might serve as a chorus

The Lord, who is our witness,
Who right from wrong doth know,
Will punish those who banished us
From the land of sweet Ross Row.

so now the song reads


JOHNNY BOLAND

Good Christians all round this country,
Come listen to my song,
I don't intend to raise it high,
To detain your attention long.
There are in it but verses few
To let the neighbours know
How Boland he was banished
From the land of sweet Ross Row.

It was on a Saturday evening,
As you may plainly hear
The stars were in the sky
And the moon shone bright and clear ;
Donovan came to my door
And this to me did say :
"Arise up, Johnny Boland,
And along with me come away."

While I was putting on my clothes,
This reply made he :
"If you turn Queen's evidence
A happy man you'll be.
You will have money plenty
Your wants for to supply
The Queen will give you employment
Where none will call you spy."

"Hold your tongue," said Boland,
"And don't say so to me;
If I am poor, I will endure
To live in poverty.
I'll never become Queen's evidence,
My comrades to overthrow;
I'd sooner live in poverty
On the land of sweet Ross Row."

In pops Tommy Corrigan,
And seized me by the hand:
"Arise up, Johnny Boland,
You must quit your native land.
Bid farewell to your children;
You never shall see them more."
He handcuffed me like a murderer,
And marched me out the door.

He marched me off to Six-mile Bridge,
And from that to Castlechrin.
Said Butler to Boland: "I
Will commit you back again."
Said Boland to Butler:
"Pray what have I done,
But the beating of Mr. Heckman,
And the taking of his gun?"

He marched me off to Ennis jail,
It's very well you'd know ;
From thence I was transported
From the land of sweet Ross Row.
Farewell to my five orphan's,
I'm leaving here behind.
Friends and relations,
Both men and women kind.

The Lord, who is our witness,
Who right from wrong doth know,
Will punish those who banished us
From the land of sweet Ross Row.

Farewell unto the blunderbuss
That was hidden in the thatch ;
Farewell unto the powder horn
That was ready for the match ;
Farewell to the boys of County Clare;
Alas, I now must go ;
And adieu to you, old Ireland,
And the land of sweet Ross Row.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Johnny Boland
From: MartinRyan
Date: 05 Dec 14 - 12:08 PM

Refresh