Lyr/Tune Req: Exile's Lament

Subject: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 10 May 99 - 03:50 AM

G'day all,

I'm hoping that someone with a deep and distant knowledge of the Irish tradition (like, say, Liam's Brother) might know of a song called The Exile's Lament. A friend asked me about it after reading that it was sung in Sydney, in 1800, by a ship's captain and it moved his Irish crew to tears.

At first (before checking the dates) I thought of a local song The Exile of Erin, a rather wordy piece published in the Sydney Gazette in 1829. This version is clearly written by someone of Irish sympathies and real experience of forced labour in the clearing of the outer parts of convict era Sydney. I understand that it is based on an earlier model - presumably known in Ireland - and it is possible that this could also be known as The Exile's Lament.

I got no joy from DigiTrad with a general search for "Exile", so it is not there under either name. The tune, at least, must be found in printed literature as the Australian folklorist Ron Edwards set the Sydney Gazette words to a tune of the same name (which he presumably located during the 1950s). Ron is a few thousand kilometres away to the north of here and doesn't dabble with these new-fangled InterNet gadgets, so it may be some time before I can get an answer from him and I'm hoping for a strong response from the Irish Brigade!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Brakn
Date: 10 May 99 - 08:13 AM

1800 hmmm
Could it be one of these?

"The Convict's Lament" was written in the 1830's by Francis MacNamara. (It is sometimes called "The Convict's Arrival" or Moreton Bay")

"In Exile" by Percy French, but that's about being an exile in London.

"The Exile's Anthem" (Morning On The Irish Coast) is about being an exile in America.

Regards Mick Bracken

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Frank Maher
Date: 10 May 99 - 10:13 AM

I have the "Lament of the Irish Emigrant" and "The Exile of Erin" I don't know it if either one of these is the One You are Looking For,but I will send You the Words if You want Them !!!!

Subject: Lyr Add: THE EXILE OF ERIN (Australian)
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 10 May 99 - 06:59 PM

G'day Mick and Frank,

Thanks for your prompt responses.

Mick: It won't be the "The Convict's Lament"/ "The Convict's Arrival" / Moreton Bay") by Frank the Poet. Francis MacNamara arrived in 1832 (and finally finished his originally 7-year sentence in 1849!) and this song is over 30 years older. I am familiar with the Moreton Bay form of his poem, sung to the tune Youghal Harbour and, indeed, I was earlier (last year) chasing some variants of Youghal Harbour/Road to Youghal in order to trace the provenance of a collected variant.

Frank: I would appreciate the words, (tunes if possible) and any background information to both of these songs. I don't know whether they relate until I compare them.

Here are the words to the Australian Exile of Erin (and I will post them to a new thread, for possible inclusion in DT): The Exile of Erin

O! Farewell my country, my kindred, my lover;
Each morning and evening are sacred to you,
While I toil the long day, without shelter or cover,
And fell the tall gums, the black-butted and blue.
Full often I think of and talk of thee, Erin -
Thy heath-covered mountains are fresh in my view,
Thy glens, lakes and rivers, Loch Con and Kilkerran,
While chained to the soil on the Plains of Emu.

The ironbark, wattle and gum-trees extending
Their shades, under which rests the shy kangaroo,
May be felled by the bless'd who have hope o'er them bending,
To cheer their rude toil, though far exiled from you.
But, alas! without hope, peace or honour to grace me,
Each feeling was crushed in the bud as it grew,
Whilst 'never' is stamped on the chains that embrace me,
And endless my thrall on the Plains of Emu.

Hard, hard was my fate, far from thee to be driven,
Unstained, unconvicted, as sure was my due;
I loved to dispense of the freedom of Heaven,
But force gained the day, and I suffer for you.
For this hand never broke what by promise was plighted,
Deep treason, this tongue to my country ne'er knew,
No base-earned coin in my coffer e'er lighted,
Yet enchained I remain on the Plains of Emu.

Dear mother, thy love from my bosom shall never
Depart, but shall flourish untainted and true;
Nor grieve that the base in their malice should ever
Upbraid thee, and none to give malice her due.
Spare, spare her tears, and no charge lay upon her,
And weep not, my Norah, her griefs to renew,
But cherish her age until night closes on her,
And think of the swain who still thinks but of you.

But your names shall still live, though like writing in water,
When confined to the notes of the tame cockatoo,
Each wattle-scrub echo repeats to the other
Your names, and each breeze hears me sighing anew.
For dumb be my tongue, may my heart cease her motion,
If the Isle I forget where my first breath I drew!
Each affection is warmed with sincerest emotion,
For the tie is unbroken on the Plains of Emu.

These words were published in the Sydney Gazette, 26 May 1829 and apparently attributed to "M" of Anambaba. The setting is Emu Plains, an agricultural establishment and convict settlement 57 kilometres west of Sydney. The apparent author would,be an Irish political convict, perhaps a rebel of 1798, on lifetime sentence, felling the native timber to clear the land for farming.
The tune set by Ron Edwards is apparently of the same name and comes from an earlier Irish song on the same theme, but (presumably) from the Irish perspective.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

^^

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 10 May 99 - 07:15 PM

Er ... G'day again,

Sorry about the double posting! The first one came up with a message saying "... contains no data ..." so I foolishly pressed 'Submit' again without first checking the refreshed thread.

Ah well:

The moving finger writes, and having writ,
Unthinking, foolish, strikes 'Submit'
And not all my profanity, less wit
Can lure it back, or cancel: Oh ...! Omar Ghod

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 10 May 99 - 07:43 PM

Sparling's "Irish Minstrelsy" (1888) has "Song of an Exile" by James Orr and gives the following note on the author:

Weaver, rebel and poet. Born in Ballycarry 1770; died April 26, 1816. Contributed to the Northern Star, became a United Irishman, fought at Antrim, went into exile and on the outward journey wrote "Song of an Exile". He soon returned to his home, however, and his loom, where he remained until he died. There is a monument to his memory in Templecolman churchyard, near Ballycarry."

Sounds like your man! I'll try scanning in the words if I get a chance over the next few days.

I have no idea where Ballycarry is - John Moulden may well be able to help.

Regards

Subject: Lyr Add: LAMENT OF THE IRISH EMIGRANT
From: Frank Maher
Date: 10 May 99 - 09:53 PM

LAMENT OF THE IRISH EMIGRANT

I'm sitting on a stile, Mary, where we once sat side by side,
On a bright may morning long ago, when first you were my bride,
The corn was springing fresh and green and the lark sang loud and high,
And the red was on your lip, Mary, and the love light in your eye,

The place is little changed, Mary, the day as bright as then,
The lark's loud song is in my ear, and the corn is green again,
But I miss the soft clasp of your hand, and your breath warm on my cheek,
And I still keep list'ning for the words you never more may speak.

'Tis but a step down yonder lane, and the little church stands near--
The church where we were wed, Mary, I see the spire from here,
But the graveyard lies between, Mary, and my step might break your rest,
For I've laid you, darling, down to sleep, with your baby on your breast.

I'm very lonely now, Mary, for the poor make no new friends,
But, oh, they love them better, the few our father sends,
And you were all I had, Mary, my blessing and my pride,
There's nothing left to care for now, since my poor Mary died.

I'm bidding you a long farewell, my Mary, kind and true,
But I'll not forget you darling, in the land I'm going to,
They say there's bread and work for all, and the sunshine's always there,
But I'll not forget old Ireland, were it fifty times as fair.

And often in those grand old woods, I'll sit and shut my eyes,
And my heart will travel back again to the place where Mary lies,
And I'll think I see that little stile where we sat side by side,
And the springing corn and the bright may morn, when first you were my bride.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE EXILE OF ERIN
From: Frank Maher
Date: 10 May 99 - 10:40 PM

THE EXILE OF ERIN

There came to the beach, an exile of Erin,
The dew on his robe was heavy and chill;
For his country he sighed, when at twilight repairing,
To wander alone, by the wind-beaten kill.

But the daystar attracted his eye's sad devotion,
For it rose on it's own native isle of the ocean,
Where once, in the flow of his youthful emotion,
He sang the bold anthem of Erin-go-bragh.

Oh! sad is my fate, said the heart-broken stranger,
The wild deer and wolf to cover can flee,
But I have no refuge from famine or danger,
A home and a country remains not for me.

Where my forefathers lived, shall I spend the sweet hours,
Or cover my harp with the wild-woven flowers,
And strike the sweet numbers of Erin-go-bragh.

Oh! Erin my country, though sad and forsaken,
In dreams, I revisit thy sea-beaten shore;
But alas! in a far foreign land I awaken,
And sigh for the friends that can meet me no more.

An thou, cruel fate, wilt thou never replace me
In a mansion of peace, where no perils can chase me?
They died to defend me, or lived to deplore.

Where now is my cabin door so fast by the wildwood?
Sisters and sire did weep for its fall,
Where is the mother that looked on my childhood?
And where is my bosom friend--dearer than all?

Ah! my sad soul, long abandoned by pleasure,
Why did it dote on fast fading treasure?
Tears like the rain may fall without measure,
But rapture and beauty they cannot recall.

But yet all it's fond recollections suppressing,
One dying wish my fond bosom shall draw,
Erin, an exile bequeaths thee his blessings,
Land of my father's Erin-go-bragh.

Buried and cold, when my heart stills its motion,
Green be thy fields, sweet isle in the ocean;
And the harp-striking bards sing aloud with devotion,
Erin manoureen, sweet Erin-go-bragh.

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 11 May 99 - 03:46 AM

G'day and thanks again,

Martin: Your James Orr certainly fits into the time for the song I am seeking. He would have been about 30 when the song was sung in Sydney - certainly old enough to have been through the '78, spent time in enforced or evasive exile and written about it. If the song is neither of those provided by Frank Maher, I would appreciate your help with the words.

The second of Frank's looks like it may be related to our Australian song and could well be sung to the same tune.

Frank: Thanks for the two sets of words. I think the first, Lament of the Irish Emigrant may be from a little later, possibly the Famine era/goldrush period, but the second certainly fits the tune I have and has a reasonably similar 'style' to it. I wonder if it is the same as the Song of an Exile, by James Orr, that Martin Ryan has in Sparling's Irish Minstrelsy (1888). I shall have to find a library copy - or see what Martin can scan in.

I shall pass on all this to the lady who started this query and hope for even more!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: alison
Date: 11 May 99 - 09:05 AM

Hi,

Ballycarry is 2 miles North of Whitehead (which is at the mouth of Belfast Lough, 5 miles NE of Carrickfergus) and according to my book is " a quiet hilltop village, containing the ruins of Ireland's first Presbyterian church, built in 1613, which contains the grave of James Orr (1770 -1816), poet and United Irishman."

Slainte

alison

Subject: Lyr Add: SONG OF AN EXILE
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 11 May 99 - 10:05 AM

Bob
Here's Orr's song. Looks pretty unsingable to me.

SONG OF AN EXILE.

In Ireland 'tis evening-from toil my friends hie all
And weary walk home o'er the dew-spangled lea;
The shepherd in love tunes his grief-soothing viol,
Or visits the maid that his partner will be;
The blithe milkmaid trips to the herd that stands lowing;
The west richly smiles, and the landscape is glowing;
The sad-sounding curfew, and torrent fast-flowing,
Are heard by my fancy, though far, far at sea !

What has my eye seen since I left the green valleys,
But ships as remote as the prospect could be;
Unwieldy, huge monsters, as ugly as malice;
And floats of some wreck, which with sorrow I see?
What is seen but the fowl, that its lonely flight urges;
The lightning, that darts through the sky-meeting surges
And the sad-scowling sky, that with bitter rain scourges
This cheek care sits drooping. on, far, far at sea?

How hideous the hold is !-Here, children are screaming-
There, dames faint through thirst, with their babes on their knee
Here, down every hatch the big breakers are streaming,
And there, with a crash, half the fixtures break free!
Some court, some contend, some sit dull stories telling;
The mate's mad and drunk, and the tars tasked and yelling;
What sickness and sorrow pervade my rude dwelling!-
A huge, floating lazar-house, far, far at sea.

How changed all may be when I seek the sweet village:
A hedgerow may bloom where its street used to be;
The floors of my friends may be tortured by tillage,
And the upstart be served by the fallen grandee;
The axe may have humbled the grove that I haunted,
And shades be my shield that as yet are unplanted,
Nor one comrade live who repined when he wanted
The sociable sufferer that's far, far at sea !

In Ireland 'tis night-on the flowers of my setting
A parent may kneel, fondly praying for me;
The village is smokeless-the red moon is getting
That hill for a throne which I hope yet to see.
If innocence thrive, many more have to grieve for;
Success, slow but sure, I'll contentedly live for;
Yes, Sylvia, we'll meet, and your sigh cease to heave for
The swain your fine image haunts, far, far at sea!

HTML line breaks added --JoeClone, 29-Nov-01.

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 11 May 99 - 04:45 PM

Sorry about the formatting in the above!

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 11 May 99 - 06:51 PM

G'day Martin,

Thanks for the words. Don't fret about the (lack of) formatting - I always have to do some reformatting in any text from the web or email and, since I work in a publishing are, I'm quite used to completely re-formatting text.

The words are pretty high-flown at times, but that was common enough in its day. I suspect that the Australian version could be written by someone who wanted to put his real experience of convict servitude on the record - and used the tune of a song that just seemed too sentimental to sing out here.

I ran through the first verse and it fits perfectly to the Exile of Erin tune that I know. The tune is pretty typical of the sort of song suitable for a trained tenor. The range is one octave and a fifth (from Bb to F in the octave above in the printed version I have seen).

For my voice, I pitch it a bit lower, in G, and the range is from a low G to D in the next octave above. This is the same range as the Londonderry Air (Danny Boy, Acushla Mine, etcetera) another tune that is easy to muck up if you don't have a trained voice or a good natural range.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: Lyr Add: THE IRISH EXILE
From: Lesley N.
Date: 11 May 99 - 06:55 PM

Then there is also "The Irish Exile" listed as an "Old Melody" from a songbook circa 1877.

Oh! where has the esile his home?
Oh! where has the exile his home?
Where the mountain is steep,
Where the valley is deep,
Where the waves of the Ohio foam;
Where no cheering smile,
His woes may beguile,
Oh! where has the exile his home?

Oh! When will the exile return?
Oh! When will the exile return?
When our hears heave no sigh,
When our tears shall be dry,
When Erin no longer shall mourne;
When his name we disown,
When his mem'ry is gone,
Oh! then will the exile return...

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 12 May 99 - 06:47 PM

G'day all and further thanks;

Lesley N: This looks like a separate song - in a different metre and a definitely later feel than the 1800 song I'm after, but it is one more for the folder.

Frank and Martin: It is interesting how similar James Orr's and The Exile of Erin from Frank are. Both are the same length and both share the unusual ABABCCCB rhyme scheme and the same general 'style'. They could be seen as two poems in the same series of James Orr's period of exile - the first written as he sailed away (to America?) and the second being his reflections as he stood on a foreign shore and thought of home.

BTW: Frank - I think that a couple of lines might have been left out of your typing/scanning/whatever - probably the 6th line in stanza 2 and the 7th in stanza 3. I don't know if these are missing or missed. If you have the extra lines, I would be grateful for completing the text.

General: Comparing the Song of an Exile and (Frank's) The Exile of Erin with the Australian The Exile of Erin shows some interesting relationships. This one is also the same length - 5 stanzas of 8 lines but it doesn't follow the same rhyme scheme (this is ABABCDCD)and the author seems to be from Connacht, if I take his references to Loch Con and Kilkerran as Lough Conn and Kilkieran, rather than Orr's Antrim.

There are some interesting coincidences in language and I suspect the Australian song is written with an awareness of Orr's songs - perhaps 10 or 20 years later.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Frank Maher
Date: 14 May 99 - 05:38 PM

Bob, Here's the rest of the Lyrics...

A home and a country remains not for me.
Ah! never again in the green shady bower,
Where my forefathers lived, shall I spend the sweet hours,
Or cover my harp with the wild woven flowers
And strike the sweet numbers of Erin Go Bragh.

And sigh for the friends that can meet me no more.
And thou, cruel fate, wilt thou never replace me,
In a Mansion of Peace, where no Perils can Chase Me?
Ah! never again shall my brothers embrace me,
They die to defend me, or live to deplore.

HTML line breaks added --JoeClone, 29-Nov-01.

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 17 May 99 - 02:31 AM

G'day Frank,

Thanks again - it will be nice to have all the lyrics. I imagine that the song my friend was seeking was the Song of an Exile that Martin Ryan posted - written by James Orr as he left Ireland. That fits in well with the time (sung in Sydney in 1800 - Orr fled after involvement in the '98).

I suspect that your song The Exile of Erin is a follow-up by Orr, once he reached America, so it could also qualify, but narrowly. The style is very similar, and the texts really flow on from each other, So there would be a fair chance they have the same author.

BTW: You wouldn't, by any chance, have relatives out here in Sydney? There is a longstanding (now life) member of the Bush Music Club of the same name who has been known to apply his vocal chords to a few fine Australian songs over the decades past.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: MartinRyan
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 02:33 PM

A postscript to this thread

The "Exile of Erin" song commencing "There came to the beach..." (see Frank Maher above) was the subject of a long-running row as to whether it was written by an Irishman called Reynolds or by the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell - over whose name it was frequently published. I recently picked up a book published in 1921 which replays the entire controversy, coming down in favour of Reynolds. Anyway, along the line, the author gives this account :

"The Exile"(of Erin) was written in 1799 in answer to a request made by an exile named John Cormick, who had to fly the country in the Rebellion of 1798, after the raiding of his house by the military and the seizure of all his effects and property. John Cormick was a relative of Reynolds and lived quite close to him in Leitrim. Amongst the papers which were seized and whose loss he deplored most bitterly were poems in manuscript by Reynolds. Writing from the United States, his place of exile, to his brother, he besought him to procure some of Reynold's poems for him. The request was made known to the poet and he complied with it by giving a copy of some of his poems. At the same time Reynolds became so interested in the man's fate that he wrote a new song for the purpose of sending it out to him. The subject of the new song was John COrmick's exile and Reynolds stated that he considered it the best song he had ever written...."

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Snuffy
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 06:08 PM

Back in May 99 Martin posted Orr's song but said "Looks pretty unsingable to me". Bob Bolton wrote "It is interesting how similar James Orr's and The Exile of Erin from Frank are. Both are the same length and both share the unusual ABABCCCB rhyme scheme and the same general 'style'. ".

Reading through this thread for the first time today, both songs immediately brought to mind the tune of Langolee/Banks of the Dee. These two songs also share this ABABCCCB rhyme scheme. Is this the tune that is normally used? If not, where can I get hold of the tune?

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: MartinRyan
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 07:50 PM

Snuffy

Good thinking!The "Exile of Erin" is sung to a tune called "Savourneen Deelish" (spell it how you wil!). But I'm damned if I remenmber what that is! Someone will identify it, I'm sure - otherwise I'll chase it up.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 12:08 AM

G'day Snuffy,

I can give you a MIDI or MIDIText file of the tune I know for our Australian Exile of Erin. If you give me an email (via personal pages/private message if desired), I can send you a B/W GIF image of the song and music from on of the Australian books.

I will be interested to hear how Savourneen Deelish compares to the tune I know.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: Tune Add: EXILE OF ERIN
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 06:09 AM

G'day again Snuffy,

Now that I am at home, I looked up the computer files and found a transcription I had done of the tune used by Ron Edwards for Exile of Erin. I have noted it down as being Savourneen Deelish and it is essentially the same tune that I sing to Exile of Erin except a few chromatic wanderings and one or two other notes.

I suspect that this is from a standard source of some kind (I should check with Ron, now that he has joined the cyderworld!).

Anyway, I have inserted below the MIDIText file, which can be converted back into a MIDI file using Alan of Australia's program (noted in the text). As I wrote earlier, I can also send a MIDI file or a GIF image of the music to an email, if you wish.

Enjoy!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

MIDI file: exilernb.mid

Timebase: 240

TimeSig: 4/4 24 8
Tempo: 100 (600000 microsec/crotchet)
Start
0840 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 0144 0 67 064 0036 1 66 080 0048 0 66 064 0012 1 66 080 0096 0 66 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 64 080 0144 0 64 064 0036 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 66 080 0096 0 66 064 0024 1 64 080 0144 0 64 064 0036 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 59 080 0096 0 59 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 60 080 0096 0 60 064 0024 1 59 080 0096 0 59 064 0024 1 57 080 0096 0 57 064 0024 1 55 080 0096 0 55 064 0024 1 57 080 0096 0 57 064 0024 1 59 080 0096 0 59 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 66 080 0144 0 66 064 0036 1 67 080 0048 0 67 064 0012 1 67 080 0288 0 67 064 0072 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 67 080 0113 0 67 064 0007 1 69 080 0113 0 69 064 0007 1 67 080 0113 0 67 064 0007 1 66 080 0113 0 66 064 0007 1 66 080 0113 0 66 064 0007 1 67 080 0113 0 67 064 0007 1 64 080 0144 0 64 064 0036 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 64 080 0144 0 64 064 0036 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 59 080 0096 0 59 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 60 080 0096 0 60 064 0024 1 59 080 0096 0 59 064 0024 1 57 080 0096 0 57 064 0024 1 55 080 0096 0 55 064 0024 1 57 080 0096 0 57 064 0024 1 59 080 0096 0 59 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 64 080 0113 0 64 064 0007 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 66 080 0225 0 66 064 0015 1 67 080 0288 0 67 064 0072 1 62 080 0113 0 62 064 0007 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 64 080 0225 0 64 064 0015 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 66 080 0192 0 66 064 0048 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 59 080 0288 0 59 064 0072 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 74 080 0096 0 74 064 0024 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 0225 0 67 064 0015 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 64 080 0144 0 64 064 0036 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 59 080 0096 0 59 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 60 080 0096 0 60 064 0024 1 59 080 0096 0 59 064 0024 1 57 080 0096 0 57 064 0024 1 55 080 0096 0 55 064 0024 1 57 080 0096 0 57 064 0024 1 59 080 0096 0 59 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 66 080 0096 0 66 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0312 0 67 064
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:
M:4/4
Q:1/4=100
K:C
D8|G2GAG3/2^F/2^FG|E3/2D/2E^FE3/2D/2B,E|DCB,A,G,A,B,D|
E2^F3/2G/2G3D/2D/2|G2GAG^F^FG|E3/2D/2EFE3/2D/2B,E|
DCB,A,G,A,B,D|EG^F2G3D|G2GAB2BB|c2BABE2E|
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Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 06:36 AM

Perhaps I've got a bit confused along thw, nut I have the lyrics to Reynold's 'The Exile of Erin' and those for ' Savourneen Dilish'. Will my submitting these help your cause at all? Regards, John

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: Snuffy
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 09:10 AM

Martin and Bob,

Many thanks for your help on the tune. I'm at work now, but I'll convert the miditext this evening when I get home.

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: Lyriscs/Tune? Exile's Lament
From: MartinRyan
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 10:35 AM

John

Frank (Maher) has given Reynold's words earlier. Its the tune of Savourneen Deelish that's of interest for now. I think its a well known one - but am damned if I can remember which! Reynolds wrote several sets of words to it.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Exile's Lament
From: Fergie
Date: 07 Sep 09 - 03:59 PM

Hi all

Concernings Martin Ryan's reference above (28th June 00) to the controversy over authorship of "The Exile of Erin"

check this link out

Campbell/Reynolds

Fergus

Subject: Lyr Add: THE EXILE'S LAMENT (Scottish)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 08 Sep 09 - 11:50 PM

OK, this isn't Irish; it's Scottish, but at least it has the right title.

From
Jacobite Minstrelsy by Robert Malcolm (Glasgow: Richard Griffin & Co., 1829), page 343:


THE EXILE'S LAMENT.

Frae the friends and land I love,
Driven by fortune's felly spite;
Frae my best belov'd I rove,
Never mair to taste delight:
Never mair maun hope to find
Ease frae toil, relief frae care.
When remembrance racks the mind,
Pleasure but unveils despair.

Brightest climes shall mirk appear,
Desert ilka blooming shore,
Till the fates, nae mair severe,
Friendship, love, and peace restore;
Till revenge, wi' laurell'd head,
Bring our banish'd hame again,
And ilka loyal bonny lad
Cross the seas and win his ain.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE EXILE'S LAMENT (Scottish)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 08 Sep 09 - 11:59 PM

Another Scottish song, from The Modern Scottish Minstrel by Charles Rogers (Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black, 1856), Vol. III, page 107:


THE EXILE'S LAMENT.

1. By the lone Mankayana's margin gray
A Scottish maiden sung;
And mournfully pour'd her melting lay
In Teviot's border-tongue:

CHORUS: O bonnie grows the broom on Blaiklaw knowes,
And the birk in Clifton dale;
And green are the hills o' the milk-white ewes,
By the briery banks o' Cayle!

2. Here bright are the skies; and these valleys of bloom
May enchant the traveller's eye;
But all seems dress'd in death-like gloom,
To the exile who comes to die!

3. Far round and round spreads the howling waste,
Where the wild beast roams at will;
And yawning cleughs, by woods embraced,
Where the savage lurks to kill!

4. Full oft over Cheviot's uplands green
My dreaming fancy strays;
But I wake to weep 'mid the desolate scene
That scowls on my aching gaze!

5. Oh light, light is poverty's lowliest state,
On Scotland's peaceful strand,
Compared with the heart-sick exile's fate,
In this wild and weary land!

Subject: Lyr Add: THE TYNE EXILE'S LAMENT
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Sep 09 - 12:15 AM

One from northern England, from Allan's Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Thomas & George Allan, 1891), page 524:


THE TYNE EXILE'S LAMENT.

Mr. Crawhall, in his quaintly illustrated "Beuk o' Newcassel Sangs by deceased writers," includes "The Tyne Exile's Lament." Everything, it is said, comes to the man that waits, but in this instance Mr. Crawhall has not waited long enough: the writer is still alive.

Tune—"Banks o' the Dee."

I sit by the side of the broad rolling river,
That sparkles along on its way to the sea;
But my thoughts fly again o'er the wide heaving main
To the home of my childhood so happy and free;
The sun with rare splendour may brighten each scene,
All nature in hues the most gorgeous may shine,
But all is in vain the fond wish to restrain,
I wish I were again on the Banks of the Tyne.

How clearly before me again each bright scene
Of my childhood appears to my sad longing eye,
The wild rugged banks where so often I've played,
And listened the river roll murmuring by;
Though brighter the river that rolls at my feet,
And fairer the banks where I sadly recline,
All, all, I'd resign for the bleak hills of mine,
Oh! I wish I were again on the Banks of the Tyne.

Oh fortune! befriend me, oh! list to the prayer
Of the exile who mourns on a far foreign shore,
If here I must die 'neath the fierce blazing sky,
And the home of my youth I must never see more;
Take me far, far from here in my still narrow bier,
And lay me where lie all the past race of mine,
With them would I lie where the river rolls by,
On the banks dearly loved of my own native Tyne.

Anonymous. Author's Manuscript, 1862.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE EXILE'S LAMENT (Irish-Australian)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Sep 09 - 12:28 AM

This might actually be the one that was wanted.

From Irish Song Book, No. 1 (New York: Wehman Bros., 1909), page 32:


THE EXILE'S LAMENT.

1. Beneath a far-off Australian sky, an Irish exile lay.
The sand from out his glass of life was ebbing fast away.
The friends that stood around his bed his eyes could scarcely see.
His thoughts, which soon would be at rest, were far across the sea.
In spirit once again he stood upon his native sod,
Where as a child and as a man, his foot had lightly trod.
In fancy he could feel upon his brow the mountain air,
And from his parted lips there issued forth the exile's prayer:

CHORUS: Lay me on the hillside with my face towards the West,
Towards that sacred island, the land that I love best.
Let a bunch of shamrocks green be planted o'er my grave.
My dying prayer is: May God bless the island of the brave!

2. Eviction foul and cruel sent him far across the foam
From that sweet spot which Irishmen, where'er they may be, call home,
The land whose halls have felt the tread of princes and of kings,
Whose harp once wooed the world, is now a mass of broken strings.
They were forced to leave the land which gave their birth,
As strangers and as outcasts to wander o'er the earth.
The time came back to him again, when he was but a child,
With mem'ries of sweet rambles through her wood and valleys wild.

3. Each eye was wet with briny tears. His words had touched the heart,
For they were exiles, too, and time had failed to heal their smart.
In every clime beneath the sky the Irish race are seen,
Yet still their every thought is fixed upon that isle of green.
He calls his friends around him, for the end is drawing near,
And from his pale and haggard cheek they wiped away a tear.
Another victim of misrule has felt the hand of death.
God bless you, Ireland! were the words which filled his dying breath.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE EXILE OF ERIN (Thomas Campbell, 1803)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 01:18 PM

Here's a more accurate and complete version of the poem that Frank Maher posted above.

From The Pleasures of Hope: With Other Poems by Thomas Campbell (London: Printed for the Author, 1803), page 102:


THE EXILE OF ERIN.

There came to the beach a poor exile of Erin;
The dew on his thin robe was heavy and chill;
For his country he sigh'd, when at twilight repairing,
To wander alone by the wind-beaten hill.
But the day-star attracted his eye's sad devotion;
For it rose o'er his own native isle of the ocean,
Where once in the fire of his youthful emotion,
He sung the bold anthem of Erin-go-bragh.

"Sad is my fate! (said the heart-broken stranger,)
The wild deer and wolf to a cover can flee;
But I have no refuge from famine and danger,
A home and a country remain not to me.
Never again in the green sunny bowers,
Where my forefathers lived, shall I spend the sweet hours;
Or cover my harp with the wild-woven flowers,
And strike to the numbers of Erin-go-bragh.

Erin, my country! though sad and forsaken,
In dreams I revisit thy sea-beaten shore;
But, alas! in afar foreign land I awaken,
And sigh for the friends who can meet me no more!
Oh cruel fate! wilt thou never replace me
In a mansion of peace, where no perils can chase me!
Never again shall my brothers embrace me!
They died to defend me, or live to deplore!

Where is my cabin door, fast by the wild wood?
Sisters and sire, did ye weep for its fall?
Where is the mother that look'd on my childhood?
And where is the bosom-friend dearer than all!
Ah my sad heart, long abandon'd by pleasure!
Why did it dote on a fast fading treasure!—
Tears like the rain-drops may fall without measure;
But rapture and beauty they cannot recall.

Yet all its sad recollection suppressing,
One dying wish my lone bosom can draw:
Erin! an exile bequeaths thee his blessing!
Land of my forefathers, Erin-go-bragh!
Buried and cold when my heart stills her motion,
Green be thy fields, sweetest isle of the ocean!
And thy harp-striking bards sing aloud with devotion,
Erin, mavournin Erin-go-bragh!*

* Ireland, my darling Ireland for ever.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Exile's Lament
From: Bill Brown
Date: 14 May 11 - 11:59 AM

Attention Jim Dixon, do you have a tune for the "The Exile's Lament," the Irish/Australian song you give the lyrics for above?

I ask because the chorus is remarkably similar to the chorus of "The Shanghaied Dredger," a song written around 1890 to the tune of "The Irish Exile."

Chorus of Shanghaied Dredger:

"Then lay me in the forepeak with my face towards Baltimore
Praying I never get shanghaied again down on the Eastern shore
Where they feed you on corn dogs and sour bellies twice a day
And you're counted a lucky dredger if you ever get your pay"

Compare to the chorus of "The Exile's Lament""
"Lay me on the hillside with my face towards the West,
Towards that sacred island, the land that I love best.
Let a bunch of shamrocks green be planted o'er my grave.
My dying prayer is: May God bless the island of the brave!"

I'm wondering if this is the tune that was meant to be used.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Exile's Lament
From: Bill Brown
Date: 14 May 11 - 12:11 PM

And while we're at it, anybody know the tune for this version of "The Irish Exile?"

from "the Golden Treasury of Irish Songs and Lyrics" published 1907 (NY)

It can be found here - song number 57


Here's a verse:

WHEN round the festive Christmas board, or by the Christmas hearth,
That glorious mingled draught is poured, wine, melody, and mirth
When friends long absent tell, low-toned, their joys and sorrows o'er,
And hand grasps hand, and eyelids fill, and lips meet lips once more

It seems to be the same meter as "The Exile's Lament."

- Bill

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Exile's Lament
From: MartinRyan
Date: 14 May 11 - 12:30 PM

Came across a Youtube video of the Farewell my Country, my kindred, my lover song much earlier in this thread.

Click here

Regards .

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Exile's Lament
From: Marje
Date: 14 May 11 - 12:48 PM

Thank you for posting that, Martin. I once heard Martyn Wyndham Read sing this and had never been able to remember the tune properly.

This has now prompted me to explore and discover that Martin W-R has recorded Exile of Erin to this tune on his album Emu Plains, and I'm now listening to it on Spotify. This has got to be the definitive version, it's really lovely.

Marje

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Exile's Lament
From: Bill Brown
Date: 14 May 11 - 03:03 PM

Here are two broadsides with lyrics and music for "The Exile's Lament"

The Exile's Lament

J. F. Mitchell is credited as the author, both broadsides published 1886, NYC.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Exile's Lament
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 May 11 - 04:35 PM

You can see this sheet music at the web site of The University of California, Berkeley:

THE EXILE'S LAMENT
Or
LAY ME ON THE HILLSIDE
Words and music by J. F. Mitchell
New York: Harding's Music Office, 1886.

I think the lyrics are nearly the same as those in The Irish Song Book I quoted earlier.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Exile's Lament
From: Jack Campin
Date: 17 Mar 16 - 03:46 PM

The editor J. Logie Robertson's notes on the song, as printed in The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell [Frowde, 1907]:

The person referred to in this poem was a poor and delicate youth, Anthony McCann, exiled for being implicated in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Campbell met him at Hamburg in 1800. 'It was in consequence of meeting him one evening on the banks of the Elbe, lonely and pensive at the thoughts of his situation, that I wrote "The Exile of Erin."'...

The poem was published January 28, 1801.

It first appeared in book form in Campbell's The Pleasures of Hope, 7th ed., June 1803.