When you read a bit about Thomas Francis Meagher (Mar-her), you come to realize that he was not the kind of person that people were ambivalent about - he elicited strong feelings, you either loved or hated the man. Therefore, it was written that he was drunk at Antietam and, conversely, that his horse was hit by enemy fire. Either, certainly could be true; perhaps both were the case. He was sending his men into slaughter and probably needed a drink, and it was common practice to shoot at officers in hope of disabling them and causing confusion in enemy ranks.

Similarly, when T. F. Meagher died in Benton, Montana after the war, there was more than one story. The official version is that he was suffering from a fever and fell overboard into the Missouri River from the riverboat on which he was staying. Opposing "true" stories say he was drunk and plunged overboard or that he was murdered by Southern sympathizers who were opposed to his governmental policies in Montana.

[I have a few broadsides about Meagher and will be doing a bit of a story on him for Irish Music magazine in the future. Two songs mentioning him are on the new Folk-Legacy CD, "Irish in America."]

Dick - What constitutes a rhyme in Ireland is different than what constitutes a rhyme in England (or the United States). Martin Ryan, John Moulden and many others could explain far better than I. As far as "The Leaving of Liverpool" is concerned, it was only collected from tradition by Bill Doerflinger so all the other versions you've heard are post-1951 and reflect a modern need to rhyme. Personally, a long conversation I had with Lou Killen on this topic leads me to suspect that Luke Kelly may have been the person who started using "thee" instead of "you." Also, an Irish emigration song, "The Leaving of Limerick" or "The Leaving of Ireland," collected rarely may have been the forerunner of "The Leaving of Liverpool." It uses "you" instead of "thee" as well. (Thanks to Tom Munnelly who put me in touch with that information.)

All the best,
Dan Milner