- Ballyjamesduff (Irish: Baile Shéamais Dhuibh, meaning "Town of Black James") is a medium-sized town with a population of 2,240 in County Cavan in Ireland, located on the R194 regional road. It is famous for being in the Percy French song "Come back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff", which was written about a man from the area who acted as Jarvy (coach driver) for French and decided to emigrate to Scotland. It is said that he drove his horse and cart to Carrick-on-Shannon, parked the horse and cart outside the railway station and took the train to Dublin. Legend has it that the horse ran all across Ireland looking for Paddy, until Paddy Reilly was said to have returned. Paddy Reilly is now supposedly buried in St Joseph's graveyard, in the town of Ballyjamesduff.
Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:
Ballyjamesduff
DESCRIPTION: "The garden of Eden has vanished, they say, But I know the lie of it still": Its image survives in Ballyjamesduff. Paddy Reilly tells that he was a quiet baby because he knew he was born there. Now grown, every breeze tells him to come backAUTHOR: Percy French
EARLIEST DATE: 1953 (recording, Margaret Barry); French died 1922
KEYWORDS: home exile baby
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
DT, BALLYJAM*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 32, #4 (1987), pp, 24-25, "Come Back, Paddy Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Barry, "Ballyjamesduff" (on IRMBarry-Fairs)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bally James Duff
NOTES: In addition to a transcription of this song, there was an interesting article about Percy French, who was an Irish-born engineer and entertainer, in Sing Out magazine, Volume 32, #4 (1987), pp, 18-20, It quotes extensively from James N. Healy, Percy French and His Songs, 1966, a book which I have not seen.
Apparently this song was based on the story of a real person.
The "Sing Out!" article reports a story that French was challenged to write a song containing the name "Ballyjamesduff," and this is the result. But it may also have been based on the line of one of French's friends, who for economic reasons went the Scotland. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: RcBalJDu
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The Ballad Index Copyright 2015 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
And here are the lyrics we have in the Digital Tradition:
- COME BACK PADDY REILLY
(By Percy French)
The Garden of Eden has vanished, they say
But I know the lie of it still;
Just turn to the left at the bridge of Finea
And stop when halfway to Cootehill.
'Tis there I will find it,
I know sure enough
When fortune has come to me call,
Oh the grass it is green around Ballyjamesduff
And the blue sky is over it all.
And tones that are tender and tones that are gruff
Are whispering over the sea,
"Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me".
My mother once told me that when I was born
The day that I first saw the light,
I looked down the street on that very first morn
And gave a great crow of delight.
Now most newborn babies appear in a huff,
And start with a sorrowful squall,
But I knew I was born in Ballyjamesduff
And that's why I smiled on them all.
The baby's a man, now he's toil-worn and tough
Still, whispers come over the sea,
"Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me".
The night that we danced by the light of the moon,
Wid Phil to the fore wid his flute,
When Phil threw his lip over "Come Again Soon",
He's dance the foot out o' yer boot!
The day that I took long Magee by the scruff
For slanderin' Rosie Kilrain,
Then, marchin' him straight out of Ballyjamesduff,
Assisted him into a drain.
Oh, sweet are the dreams, as the dudeen I puff,
Of whisperings over the sea,
"Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me".
I've loved the young women of every land,
That always came easy to me;
Just barrin' the belles of the Black-a-moor brand
And the chocolate shapes of Feegee.
But that sort of love is a moonshiny stuff,
And never will addle me brain,
For the bells will be ringin' in Ballyjamesduff
For me and me Rosie Kilrain!
And through all their glamour, their gas and their guff
A whisper comes over the sea,
"Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me".
Encore verse
I've struck oil at last!
I've struck work, and I vow
I've struck some remarkable clothes,
I've struck a policeman for sayin' that now,
I'd go back to my beautiful Rose.
The belles they may blarney,
the boys they may bluff
But this I will always maintain,
No place in the world like Ballyjamesduff
No guril (sic) like Rosie Kilrain.
I've paid for my passage, the sea may be rough
But borne on each breeze there will be,
"Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me".
@Irish @emigrate @home
filename[ BALLYJAM
TUNE FILE: BALLYJAM
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Apr98
