The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #164332 Message #3931480
Posted By: Jim Carroll
17-Jun-18 - 02:45 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Child Ballads in Ireland
Subject: RE: Origins: Child Ballads in Ireland
"My hat's off to people like you, Jim," It was a pleasure Kevin - done for the enjoyment - and it was a privilege to spend time with every one of them Not long before Martin Howley died we heard hed'd been ill so we went to visit him We'd been there for about five minutes when he asked did we have a tape recorder with us Pat hastened to explain that we hadn't come to record but to see how he was. He replied, "I am a poor man; I have nothing to leave behind me but my songs". Pat chokes up whenever she tells that story.
Similarly, the day before we returned home to London, Martin's fellow Noth-Clareman, Pat MacNamara handed us a scrap of paper with a list of stories and songs he hadn't yet given us - he said, "I haven't told you these yet, but I will when you come back next year - if I'm not here, come up to the graveyard and I'll tell them up to you". Pat died the following winter.
With memories like those, you don't need much else Jim