The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #80506 Message #3010242
Posted By: GUEST,Guest-BH
18-Oct-10 - 08:38 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: The Legend / Mandela (Dan Hannon)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Legend (Dan Hannon)
Sorry - correction: Dan Hannon himself first sang it, Mary Courtney first recorded it (to the best of my knowledge).
MikeJC,
The name of the song about the Spanish sailor and the ring is based on a true story: Danny saw the ring in the Ulster Museum in Belfast and saw the inscription "No Tengo Mas Que Darte" (I have Nothing More to Give You) and is entitled "The Girona" (written by Danny Hannon), which is the name of the ship in the Spanish Armada that sank off the coast of Ireland Oct 1588 near Giant's Causeway and among who's wreckage the ring was found. Mary Courtney still stills the song in NY, and relates the above information about it's composer when she does. I'll try and record it next time I see her, and put it on YouTube.
Hope this helps!
Sin-é.
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/pirates/girona.html
an excerpt:
The identity of the owner of another of the best-known pieces is unknown: a gold ring – probably a lover's gift – showing a hand holding a heart and bearing the poignant inscription 'No tengo mas que dar te' – 'I have nothing more to give thee.'
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http://soap.tibus.com/ulster_museum/filestore/documents/world_cultures_factsheets/goldofthegirona.pdf
an excerpt:
The Galleass Girona
The Girona was captained by Fabricio Spinola of Genoa and she was one of four galleasses of the Naples squadron. However, at the time of her sinking off Lacada Point, near the Giant's Causeway in County Antrim, on the morning of 26 October 1588, she was actually commanded by Don Alonso Martinez de Leiva. He was a member of one of Spain's noblest families and one of the youngest and most admired of the military leaders. A favourite of Philip II, he was Commander Designate
of the Armada in the event of the death of Medina Sidonia. Having survived the wreck of two other ships, the Sancta Maria Encoronada and the Duquesa Santa Ana, he heard that the Girona was sheltering in Killybegs harbour, Donegal, attempting to make some repairs. He struggled north with the remnants of the crews and infantry of
the two ships. Jettisoning most of the heavy cannon on board the Girona, a ship designed to hold 550 men became crowded with 1,300. When the Girona was dashed to pieces at Lacada Point, only five men survived and the brave de Leiva was not among them.
The first object which Robert Stenuit and his team found was a heavy boat-shaped lead ingot carried by Armada ships to make shot for muskets and arquebuses. Gradually, objects of a much more opulent and glamorous nature began to be recovered.