Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green

Subject: Song title?
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 07:09 AM

Would anyone know the title of the song that has this verse?

"As the sun it goes down in the west dear and the evening falls fast with the dew
No more will the shamrocks be green dear since I lost my sweet memories of you
Since I lost my sweet memories of you dear, since I lost my sweet memories of you
No more will the shamrocks be green dear since I lost my sweet memories of you."

My thanks
Pazbhan

Subject: RE: Song title?
From: Helen
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 03:46 PM

Hi Pazbhan,

I tried searching for your lyrics with Google, but I found no clues.

To help with the search could you provide more information, please?

The usual questions:

Do you remember any more of the lyrics? Please post what you remember to help with internet searches.

When did you hear it or see it in written music collections? If it was in written music collections, what sort of collections are you likely to have seen it in?

Was it recorded? Did you hear it on the radio, see it on TV, hear it on vinyl, CD, digital, YouTube, etc?

Did you hear it live?

Singer(s) male, female, a group, solo?
Musicians? what instruments were used?

Lively, haunting, slow, fast, dance tune, etc, etc?

Any more information would be helpful.

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 06:24 PM

Has anyone heard of this song?

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jun 22 - 05:58 AM

Helen

The verse was sung by a grandmother of a friend of mine. She sang it in her house in North Kerry. That's all that can be remembered. Sorry I have no more information.
Thanks
Pazbhan

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 13 Jun 22 - 07:44 AM

Thanks Pazbhan.

I don't recognise the song lyrics. It's possible someone else here might know it.

It's more difficult for me if I can't hear the tune because I find it easier to recognise tunes more than the lyrics on their own.

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 13 Jun 22 - 03:44 PM

I found a book of old Irish songs in pdf format which I downloaded and then searched for a couple of the words in your song. No luck so far.

I'm not holding out much hope of finding the answer to the mystery, at this stage.

Subject: ADD: No More Will the Shamrock
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Jun 22 - 08:46 PM

Ha!!! I found it!!

NO MORE WILL THE SHAMROCK

1 Nae mair will the shamrock seem green, dear,
And the morning be wet wi' the dew,
Nae mair will the shamrock seem green, dear,
    If I lose my remembrance of you.
    If lose my remembrance of you, dear,
    If I lose my remembrance of you.
    Nae mair will the shamrock seem green, dear,
    If I lose my remembrance of you.

2 It’s I have but one heart for to keep, dear,
It would be madness to break it in two,
Take it all, though it be but small, dear,
For it never loved any but you.

3 When death at last us to part, dear,
And we from this world bid adieu,
The only thing left behind, dear,
Is the sweet recollection of you.

WILLIAM ARGO-D

#1360-A
The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection
Volume 7, page 146

Roud 7238

---

Click to play (joeweb)

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 12:38 AM

Hey Joe! That's great! I was giving up as a total failure as an ex-librarian, hanging my head in shame.

What was the secret to your success?

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 09:07 AM

To Joe & Helen

My thanks and appreciation to Joe & Helen. I knew this was a tough one! Special thanks from Eileen in Newfoundland whose grandmother used to sing the song. She has ben trying for years without success to find the title and the rest of the words.

Joe thanks for the offer for the MIDI but we are happy with just the words.
regards
Pazbhan

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 12:38 PM

Hi Pazbhan,

Joe found it, I just kept trying and failing. LOL

It's interesting that the song is listed as a Scottish song but your friend's grandmother sang it in North Kerry. The Scottish spelling in the lyrics made the search more difficult.

But this is why I love Mudcat. People want to help solve musical mysteries, and most of the time the answer is out there. It just needs the right person or people to pool their knowledge and expertise to find the answer.

Joe, I assume you have a copy of the music notation so if you want I can transcribe the MIDI. It would be good to have the tune included in this thread.

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 04:54 PM

Joe, I'd like to hear the tune of the song, or even see the notation. Is the notation available online, or is there any other way to hear the song or see how it sounds?

I'm happy to translate notation into a MIDI file and then convert it to ABC maybe (using a converter - I'm not able to write that myself) although I'm not so good at working out a tune by ear.

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 05:25 PM

This song just popped into my head, because the sentiment is very similar to No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green:

I Will Love You Ev'ry Time

I thought it was possible that the tune could be the same but it doesn't quite fit.

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 10:17 PM

OK, Helen. You've shamed me into it. There are two melodies. I'll transcribe them, but maybe not until Friday. I have to give a presentation on Thursday.

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 11:45 PM

Thanks Joe, but are you sure you don't want me to do it?

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 16 Jun 22 - 01:11 AM

I possibly could work it out by hearing the tune but it would be a slow process, but I'm happy to give that a go if it lets you off the hook.

Subject: ADD: No More Will the Shamrock Be Green
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Jun 22 - 02:48 AM

Ah, it's just as easy for me to transcribe the tune, as it is for me to scan it.

Here's Greig-Duncan #1360-B, just one verse, but I think the tune is more pleasing. Singer was Miss Annie Ritchie, and it was collected by Greig about 1910.

No more will the sham-rock be green, love,
the eve-ning be wet with the dew,
No more will the sham-rock be green, love
When I lose re-col-lec-tion of you.

---

Click to play (joeweb)

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 16 Jun 22 - 05:14 AM

Thanks heaps, Joe. I'll stop harassing you now. :-)

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 17 Jun 22 - 05:06 AM

All right, Joe. I'm back to bug you one last time with a question.

The link you added on 13 Jun 22 - 08:46 PM - does it contain a link to the tune/s? If not, where did you find the tune/s?

Or is that a big secret? LOL

I've tried looking at the page on that link and I can't find the tune/s anywhere on that page.

Thnx in anticipation of you taking pity on me and telling me the secret.

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jun 22 - 01:49 PM

Helen and Joe

Fingers crossed this works. Eileen has kindly sent a recording of herself singing a verse of the song so you can get an idea.
Pazbhan

/Users/francisokeeffe/Desktop/No more will the shamrocks be green.mp3

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jun 22 - 01:54 PM

Helen

I see it didn't work. If you send me an email maybe I can share it that way.
Pazbhan

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Jun 22 - 05:01 PM

Hi, Pazbhan - Can't access the URL you sent - that's an internal address on your computer. If you like, you can email me an mp3. I'll post it on my Website and post a link here.
Joe Offer, Mudcat Music Editor
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Jun 22 - 08:22 PM

And here it is. It's different from the melody I posted in the two MIDI files above, although there are similarities. Frankly, I like it better than the two MIDIs.

MaJoC the Filk and Google Chrome and Firefox remind me that my Website does not have an https: certificate. My Website hosting company, Network Solutions, tells me that indeed my Website is secure, but I need to pay then "only" $9.99 a month for the certificate that proves that. I paid ten years in advance for Web Hosting and I thought I was all set, and now I'm told I need I need these security certificates even though my Websites work just fine. I am assessing whether I need the certificate for the three low-traffic Websites that I manage. In the meantime, you can listen to the MP3 and MIDIs if you're willing to click past the Google Chrome and Firefox warnings.
-Joe-

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Click to play (joeweb)

Subject: RE: Song title?-No More Will the Shamrocks Be Green
From: Helen
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 06:04 AM

Thanks for the sound files, Joe and Pazbhan.

The tune on the second MIDI file and the one that Eileen is singing reminds me a little bit of the tune for My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.

The first MIDI file sounds vaguely familiar but I can't pin it down yet.