(The last GUEST was me, folks; forgot to put in my handle).

Thanks, Malcolm, for the additional info.

Re: black and tan. It seems a little unlikely (although not impossible) that it would be a breed of dog or sheep, because of what seems to be the political implications of the context: "May they never be rejected, and home rule be protected". What would the black and tan dogs or sheep have to do with home rule? And why is there concern that they could be "rejected" - which seems an oddly deliberate thing to do to dogs or sheep?

For some reason my computer is having trouble connecting, so I can't listen to the Midi ... But the tune as I know it I would not say is the popular tune to Muirsheen Durkin; there are similarities, but to my ear it's different enough that I would think of it as a separate tune.

I believe it was DIANE Oxner that recorded the song ... I'm curious now as to what year that was; I'll see what I can find on the 'net ...