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Lyr Add/Tune Request: The Boys of Fairhill Related thread: Lyr Add: A Song for Christy Ring (1) |
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Subject: The Boys of Fairhill From: Clifton 53 Date: 01 Nov 99 - 03:44 PM Does anyone have the lyrics to this number? I have it on a Wolfe-Tones live record and some lyrics are difficult for me to understand. They say it is a song from County Cork. Thanks , Clifton |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BOYS OF FAIRHILL (from Jimmy Crowley) From: Susanne (skw) Date: 01 Nov 99 - 06:44 PM This is how Jimmy Crowley sings it:
Come boys and have a drink of Fahy's well spring water
Come boys round by Gurranabraher there you will see the fields so green
Come boys and have a day with our hurling team so gay
Come boys and have a day with our Harriers Club so gay
Come on boys and have a day with our bowling club so gay
Come boys out to our club and from that to Quinlan's pub
[1977:] This is one of the best known of Cork songs. Wherever Cork people gather in celebration you're sure to hear De Boys at some stage. Originally it was a song in praise of Cork's traditional pastimes, bowling, drag-hunting and hurling. Because of its popularity, verses were added and the original has almost been forgotten. This version learnt from Paul Frost is probably close to the original. A few of the north city landmarks are mentioned - Quinlans Pub in Blackpool also known as the Harrier Bar, the haunt of the local beaglers and, by way of contrast, Fahy's Well, near Wash Brew Lane famous for the purity of its spring water. (Notes Jimmy Crowley, 'The Boys of Fair Hill')
[1998:] I have purposely scuttled the more recent vulgar verses and have returned to the original lyric which I collected in 1976 from Hadda O'Callaghan of Blacpool, Cork, brother of the author Séan. It seems less a city song here and more a pastourelle. Not surprisingly, as almost all of Cork's Northside was then open country and famous for the singing of its larks. (Jimmy Crowley, notes 'Uncorked!')
Also, we had a thread on it beginning in early 1997 which gave some more interesting info. I just can't find it again. - Susanne |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BOYS OF FAIRHILL (soccer version) From: Reiver 2 Date: 01 Nov 99 - 07:59 PM Here are the words that I have -- I think I got them from a Wolfe-Tones record. I believe this version is sung mostly by soccer fans at games.
BOYS OF FAIRHILL (soccer version)
The smell on Patrick's bridge is wicket (wicked)
Well, Blarney hens don't lay at all,
Well, Blackpool girls are very rude.
Dublin girls are very nice.
If you come to Cork, you'll get drisheen,
Well, Christy Ring, he hooked the ball. (repeat verse 1) I think Christie Ring was a well known soccer player, and there's also a story about Patrick's bridge and Father Matthew, but I can't remember the details. Perhaps someone from the British Isles (does that term still include Ireland?) can help with explanations -- including what are drisheen and pigs' crubeens, and whether or not I'm spelling those terms correctly! |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Boys of Fairhill From: Reiver 2 Date: 01 Nov 99 - 08:22 PM Susanne, just saw your post. Thanks for the "real" Boys of Fairhill and the background information. Much better than the version sung by the Wolfe Tones on "'Till Ireland A Nation", which is the version I have. Thanks again. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Boys of Fairhill From: Philippa Date: 02 Nov 99 - 01:48 AM somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think drisheen is black pudding (blood sausage) and crubeens are pig's feet (for eating). Crubeens are also referred to in the song "the Galway Races". Irish spellings: drisín, crúibín |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Boys of Fairhill From: Martin Ryan Date: 02 Nov 99 - 06:16 AM Father Matthew was thre "apostle of temperance". Christy Ring was a famous hurler - a kind of ice hockey on grass (or field hockey on speed, I suppose). Regards |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Boys of Fairhill From: johnpmurphy@hotmail.com Date: 02 Nov 99 - 02:21 PM Drisheen is indeed a type of blood sausage.Pigs blood to be precise and it usually boiled in milk and onions with lots of white pepper.Crubeens are pigs feet with the toes removed ,boiled for about three hours till the flesh is falling off the bone,after a feed of pints there is nothing nicer as we say in Cork "Me Dazza" |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Boys of Fairhill From: JTT Date: 02 Nov 99 - 05:57 PM Drisheen is a Cork version of black pudding - a spiced blood pudding. Crubeens are salted pig's feet, very gelatinous, usually eaten boiled with cabbage added at the end and nice floury spuds smothered in butter. The lyrics of the song are far too rude to comment on. And it's certainly a libel on the bantams of Blarney. Christy Ring was a hurler, playing a kind of blood sport related to karate, ice-hockey on grass (only for men) and sabre-fighting. Father Mathew was a campaigner against alcohol, who founded the Pioneers, a group of very holy men who don't drink at all (or in Cork, at all at all). |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Boys of Fairhill From: JTT Date: 02 Nov 99 - 05:58 PM Oh, and British Isles - it's probably more tactful to talk about "Ireland and Britain"! |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BOYS OF FAIRHILL (from Irish Weavers) From: MudGuard Date: 03 Nov 99 - 01:25 PM I have a different set of lyrics to the "unreal" version of this song. I tried to transcribe it from an Irish Weavers recording. Can somebody help me with the first line? What I wrote down is what I think I heard, but it does not make a lot of sense. Thanks, MudGuard THE BOYS OF FAIRHILL So Shannon needs those anvil slaves The river meets those underneath Chorus Hails of them all,The stink on Patrick's bridge is wicked How does Father Matthew stick it Well thousands come across the world Just to kiss that Blarney stone And if you want to join our club Just come along to Murphy's pub
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Boys of Fairhill From: Reiver 2 Date: 03 Nov 99 - 02:49 PM Many thanks to all of you from Philippa on to Mudguard. Very edifying and helpful information. Still one question: the connection between Patrick's Bridge (am I wrong in assuming it's in or near Cork?!)and Father Murphy? Is the "wicked" smell, the smell of a nearby brewery and both near Father Murphy's church, or something like that? Just curious. Good suggestion JTT -- I'll try to break a habit of sixty or more years and stop referring to the "British Isles" at all, at all. I had a notion that it would be politically incorrect nowadays but was in too much of a hurry to try to think of the proper term. (And I note particularly that it's "Ireland and Britain" and not the other way around.) Thanks. One more point/question: I can't fit the words from the Jimmy Crowley version, to the Wolfe Tones tune. IS there more than one tune, then, as I suspect, to Boys of Fairhill? |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BOYS OF FAIRHILL (from Jimmy Crowley) From: Susanne (skw) Date: 13 Nov 99 - 05:02 PM Reiver2, I've listened again to Jimmy Crowley's version and found small differences between what is printed in the booklet (which was what I posted earlier) and what he actually sings. This may help you :
Come boys and have a drink of Fahy's well spring water
Come boys round by Gurranabraher tis there you'll see the fields so green
Come on boys and spend the day with our hurling club so gay
Come on boys and spend the day with our harrier pack so gay
Come on boys and spend the day with our bowling club so gay
Come boys up to Quinlan's pub that is where you'll join our club
I've also listened to the Wolfe Tones recording. They use the same tune, with one slight variant. At the end of the second line, which is the same as the fourth line in the WT version, Jimmy Crowley takes the third last note high (about two full notes higher that WT, I'd say) and goes down from there. (Sorry, I'm not a musician and can't explain better.) It is a small thing but has the effect of making the tune more lively and less - yes, I'll say it - boring. Also, he takes it a little faster and seems to be able to sing more syllables at a time than other people. - Susanne |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Boys of Fairhill From: Martin _Ryan Date: 14 Nov 99 - 06:48 AM As mentioned earlier. Father Matthew was a famous temperance preacher in the 19th C. His statue stands on Patrick's Bridge, in the centre of Cork City. A Cork man would always sing "How DO Father..." rather than "How DOES...."! "half-a-tierce" is a small barrell. Jimmy Crowley's version is intensely local in reference. As you move further from Cork, the bawdy-factor usually increases disporoprtionately! Regards |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Boys of Fairhill From: MMario Date: 01 Apr 03 - 12:11 PM Tune anyone? |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Boys of Fairhill From: MMario Date: 30 Oct 03 - 12:10 PM tune? |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Boys of Fairhill From: MartinRyan Date: 16 Dec 11 - 05:27 PM To hear Jimmy Crowley's version: Click here Regards |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add/Tune Request: The Boys of Fairhill From: Joe Offer Date: 18 Sep 12 - 05:24 AM Can anybody send me a MIDI for this melody? joe@mudcat.org |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add/Tune Request: The Boys of Fairhill From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 18 Sep 12 - 10:32 AM MIDI sent to Joe. Watch this space. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add/Tune Request: The Boys of Fairhill From: Joe Offer Date: 24 Sep 12 - 01:05 AM Here's Leeneia's MIDI. Click to play (joeweb)Doesn't work for me. I'll ask her to send another. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add/Tune Request: The Boys of Fairhill From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 24 Sep 12 - 09:45 AM I'm sorry, Joe. It's no go. For some crazy reason, my saved file of 'Fairhill' is empty. And although it is a short tune, it was surprisingly hard to write down. I don't have the time to try again. I checked the MIDI for Adieu Madras. It doesn't play, but it saves just fine. (i.e. I copied it back into Noteworthy under a new name, opened the new name, and it was okay.) 'Fairy Annie'Wedding doesn't play either. Is there an incompatibility between your new software and my old Noteworthy? Because I'm not doing anything different. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add/Tune Request: The Boys of Fairhill From: GUEST,CrazyEddie Date: 24 Sep 12 - 10:46 AM Mudgards Post November 99 gives ther opening lines as: So Shannon needs those anvil slaves The river meets those underneath This should be: The ShanDon bells ring out so sweet, The river LEE flows underneath. The Shandon bells are a major feature in songs, poems, or stories partaining to Cork (city). |
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