Origins: The green fields of Canada

Subject: Origins: The green fields of Canada
From: GUEST,London oldman
Date: 31 May 20 - 06:28 AM

Paddy Tunney's 'Green fields of Canada'. I've been searching for a version which includes the words:

My mother is old and my father defeated
By hard work and poverty, it grieves my heart sore
To see them so patient, with all hope departed,
And now I must leave them for a foreign shore.

but all the versions I can find say something similar, but not as powerful.

Have I rewritten the verse in my head to suit my politics, or is there a version by Tunney with the above words?

Ta.

A.

Subject: RE: Origins: The green fields of Canada
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 31 May 20 - 07:02 AM

MacColl re-wrote it along with a bundle of under-sung songs for the film, 'The Irishmen' - the film was never shown because the BBC got cold feet
Peggy gave me a file of all the songs if anybody would like them
Other rewrites include
Deveil and Ganger McGlinn,
Indeed I do
Rambler from Clare
Van Dieman's Land
Rocks of Bawn   and others
One of the only songs to become generally poopular was 'Tunnel Tigers, thanks to The Johnsons
Jim

FAREWELL TO IRELAND (1966)

Farewell to the groves of Shillelagh and Shamrock,
Farewell to the girls of old Ireland all round.
May their hearts be as merry as ever I would wish them,
When I'm away from my own native land.

My mother is old and my father defeated,
By hard work and poverty; it grieves my heart sore
To see them so patient with all hope departed,
And now I must leave them for a foreign shore.

Then farewell to the green hills and lakes of Killarney,
Farewell to the white strand where green billows roll;
Farewell to Blackwater and to wild Connemara,
The pinched face of charity and life on the dole.

The pastures are fenced and the woods are protected,
The pheasant and partridge they nest in the field;
While away 'cross the ocean go journeymen tailors,
And fiddlers who flaked out the old mountain reels.

Young boys and old men and the fathers of children,
In search of employment from Ireland must go;
Abandoned, disinherited, the landless of Ireland,
From Kerry, Cork and Leitrim and the County Mayo.

Then it's pack up your bag and consider no longer,
The boat's at the quay, so it's shoulder your load;
Turn the key in the door, take a last look at Ireland,
The land's for the bullock and the men for the road.

Re-written from a song of the same name recorded from Paddy Tunney of Beleek, Co. Fermanagh and used in a film called ‘The Irishmen’, about building labourers from Ireland working in Britain.

Subject: RE: Origins: The green fields of Canada
From: GUEST,London Oldman
Date: 31 May 20 - 09:58 AM

Ah, so it was Ewan McColl who rejigged the song, not me - that makes more sense. Thanks, Jimmy. Any links to recordings of that version? As I said, the only ones I could find were the less poignant, less powerful versions:

Oh my father is old and my mother's quite feeble
To leave their own country it grieves their hearts sore
Oh the tears in great drops down their cheeks they are rolling
To think they must die upon a foreign shore

which in fact makes little sense. It is the singer who is going to a foreign shore, not his aged parents. Ewan, as ever, got it right.

A.

Subject: RE: Origins: The green fields of Canada
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 31 May 20 - 10:08 AM

Have sent you an e-mail address via PM
Contact me
The song refers to the forced mass emigration which would often include the whole family

Jim

Subject: RE: Origins: The green fields of Canada
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 May 20 - 11:15 AM

That version was performed by Planxty, sung by Andy Irvine, nicely done too.

Subject: RE: Origins: The green fields of Canada
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 31 May 20 - 11:48 AM

It was not used for 'The Irishmen' though, not in any version I have seen. Rocks of Bawn and Roisín Dubh, by Joe Heaney and very much his own versions, Roving Jack of all trades, Rambler from Clare, Tunnel tigers, McAlpine's fusiliers but no Green fields.

Subject: RE: Origins: The green fields of Canada
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 31 May 20 - 12:58 PM

It was made for the film - I can't remember whether it was used though Iwe saw it at the Dublin Folk Fest a few years ago and we gave a pirvate showing of our own copy at the local history society
I've told this story many times - here goes again
The 'link-man' in the film, Josie Sean Jack McDonagh filmed in his home in Carna taking leave of his family and heading for the building sites in London (another story) - he features on the film poster standing on the Platform of Galway Railway Station
He and his mate, Johnny Martin O'Leary used to vist Miltown Malbay in February at the invitation of Roisín White - lovely weekends of singing
The last year he was here we arranged to show the film at a local pub with a big pull-down screen - unfortunately, nobody told Josie
The film had reached the scene was sating his farewells to his long dead parents in their farm kitchen when Josie walked through the door, stared up at the screen and stopped dead, giving the appearance of being kicked in the stomach -he hadn't seen the film since it was made in the 1960s

Josie's last public appearance was when he appeared at a showing of the foilm at the Dublin Folkfest - my partner Pat arranged it as the organisers hadn't realised Josie was still with us
Phillip Donellan's daughter gave the introduction and explained how her father made it a regular practice to ship a copy of the films he made abroad because he knew the BBC would destroy them - they invariably did
Great memories
Jim