Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo (Saw Doctors)

Subject: Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo
From: Big Mick
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 12:29 PM

A little help, please, from Saw Doctors fans. I have decided to add this song to the repertoire of my band. I am working up an arrangement that will be at once familiar, yet unique. We are not rock band, but I think that with the right arrangement we can do a wonderful job with this song.

The snag comes on one word in the lyrics. It occurs in the second verse which goes like this:

From it's rolling coastal waters, I can see Croagh Patrick's peak,
Where one Sunday every summer the pilgrims climb it's ????...

weak? reek? leek? I listen to it on "Sing a Powerful Song" as well as "Live From the Melody Tent" and it seems to say "reek" or "leek" or "week". "Reek" doesn't make sense to me as there is no usage of the word which works, unless it is a colloquialism that I am unfamiliar with. "Leek" might work if the the mountain is onion shaped. I am not sure, in the context of the words how it could be "weak", but I can see using it in a stretch.

Nice song, and nice sentiment. I think the arrangement I have in mind will be pretty cool and a bit of a departure from our usual music which is a good thing to do occasionally.

Thanks for the help and all the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo
From: Effsee
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 12:46 PM

Mick, maybe this could be a connection:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macgillycuddy's_Reeks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo
From: gnomad
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 03:06 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croagh_Patrick gives more info, looks like Reek will be right. (though I was surprised, as CP is not part of the famous MacGillycuddy's Reeks that so amused me when I first heard the name as a child)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo
From: Big Mick
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 03:23 PM

Thanks, folks. Reek it is. Good folks, the lot of you!

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo
From: MartinRyan
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 04:36 PM

Croagh Patrick is indeed known as The Reek and the occasion of the main annual pilgrimage to the shrine at its top is knowm as "Reek Sunday".

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo
From: PoppaGator
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 05:37 PM

Had I stumbled across this thread earlier, I could have answered: my late mother-in-law's maiden name was "Reeks," and she very often had to explain that her name (A) was Irish and (B) meant "mountains."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo
From: Big Mick
Date: 22 Jan 10 - 08:28 AM

Martin, do you know the entymology of the word?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo
From: MartinRyan
Date: 22 Jan 10 - 10:16 AM

Mick

The most plausible derivation I can find is in Dolan's Dictionary of Hiberno-English where he says (with minor technical material removed):

Reek : a heap, stack (of hay, turf etc.) from dialect English and Middle English hreac, , rick.

Application to a mountain is, therefore, by extension - obvious enough with Croagh Patrick, given its shape. Less so for McGillicuddy's!.

Mind you, my own experience is of only hearing the short "i" rick form in regard to turf.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo
From: MartinRyan
Date: 22 Jan 10 - 10:18 AM

p.s. just had my first experience of a seriously non-stick message - it took three attempts to get it through, despite everything appearing to work fine. Maybe we need teflon numbers?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Green and Red of Mayo
From: Big Mick
Date: 22 Jan 10 - 10:55 AM

Thanks, Martin. Given my background, and the fact that there were many Irish speakers in my life, it seems odd to me that I didn't know this one. I would have guessed at sliabh, cnoc, fa/na, or some other derivation from mountain, mount or hill. Live and learn is good sauce. I knew that reek is not from an Irish word for mountain, but apparently it is indeed a colloguialism of sorts. Thanks to all for the education.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: Lyr Add: THE GREEN AND RED OF MAYO (Saw Doctors)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 23 Jan 10 - 06:38 PM

THE GREEN AND RED OF MAYO
Jarir Al-Majar, Davey Carton, Leo Moran

1. Oh, the green and red of Mayo, I can see it still:
Its soft and craggy bog lands, its tall majestic hills,
Where the ocean kisses Ireland, the waves caress its shore,
Oh, the feelin' it came over me to stay forevermore,
Forevermore.

2. From its rolling coastal waters I can see Croagh Patrick's peak
Where one Sunday every summer the pilgrims climb The Reek,
Where Saint Patrick in his solitude looked down across Clew Bay
And with a ringin' of his bell called the faithful there to pray,
There to pray.

3. Oh, take me to Clare Island, the home of Gráinne Mhaol.
Its waters harbour fishes from the herring to the whale.
Now I must depart it, and reality is plain.
May the time not pass so slowly 'fore I set sail again,
Set sail again.

[REPEAT VERSE 1.]

Oh, the green and red of Mayo [3x].