Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)

Subject: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: AKS
Date: 28 Apr 00 - 05:16 PM

Hi again, today I bought me another Dubliners' CD (40 greatest hits; thought I had them all already;)) and discovered a beautiful song unknown to me earlier. The lyrics - hastily transcribed from singing of Ronny Drew - are somewhat like this:

A Rich Bunch of Red Roses (this could be the title, I think)

A sober black shawl tights her body entirely
touched by the sun and the sole spray of the sea
but down in the darkness a (?shrim?) hand so lovely
carries a rich bunch of red roses for me

Her petticoat's simple and her feet all but bare
and all that she has is but neat and scanty
but stars of the deep off her eyes are exclaiming
I carry a rich bunch of red roses for thee

No arrogant jewel sits on throne on her forehead
or hangs from her white ear for all men to see
but ?jewel? desire in her bosom so (paly?)
carries a rich bunch of red roses for me

Now, anybody, proofread me please, and I'd also appreciate any additional information (I know this is not 'The Banks of the Roses' as it's misprinted on the sleeve).

AKS

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Apr 00 - 07:08 PM

It comes in "Red Rose for Me", a play by San O'Casey, set in the 1913 strike in Dublin, the James Larkin strike. Whether he wrote the song or not, I'm not sure. I think he might have - either way it's a great song. And no relation to "The Banks of the Roses."

The sober black shawl in line one "hides her body entirely", and its a "slim hand so lovely". (And I think it's be "jewelled desire in her bosom so palely", but I'm not sure about that.)

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Apr 00 - 07:13 PM

That should have been Sean O'Casey - and this is a link to a website about him

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: AKS
Date: 01 May 00 - 01:31 PM

Thanks a lot, MGoH! (The pages about SO'C seem to be under reconstruction right at this moment, but there's other good stuff readable there, btw)

AKS

Subject: Lyr Add: RED ROSES FOR ME (Sean O'Casey)
From: GUEST,Frank Harte
Date: 01 May 00 - 08:51 PM

RED ROSES FOR ME
(Sean O'Casey)

A sober black shawl hides her body entirely,
Touched by the sun and the salt spray of the sea,
But down in the darkness a slim hand so lovely
Carries a rich bunch of red roses for me.

Her petticoat simple and her feet are but bare,
And all that she has is but neat and scanty,
But stars in the deep of her eyes are exclaiming,
"I carry a rich bunch of red roses for thee."

No arrogant gem sits enthroned on her forehead,
Or swings from a white ear for all men to see,
But jewelled desire in a bosom so pearly
Carries a rich bunch of red roses for me.

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 01 May 00 - 08:59 PM

G'day,
Here's a slightly different set of words that seem to make good sense.

A RICH BUNCH OF RED ROSES

A sober black shawl hides her body entirely
Touched by the sun and the salt spray of the sea
But down in the darkness a slim hand so lovely
Carries a rich bunch of red roses for me.

Her petticoat's simple and her feet are but bare
And all that she has is but neat and scanty
But stars in the deep of her eyes are exclaiming
I carry a rich bunch of red roses for thee.

No arrogant jewel sits enthroned on her forehead
Or swings from her white ear for all men to see
But jewelled desire in her bosom so pearly
Carries a rich bunch of red roses for me.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 01 May 00 - 09:04 PM

Gee Frank, looks like we crossed in cyber space!

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: AKS
Date: 02 May 00 - 05:38 AM

Thanks a lot, Frank and Alan! I wasn't that far, was I! Mind you, I transcribed it from Ronnie Drew's singing:)

AKS

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 May 00 - 05:46 AM

Now we've got Frank on the case - where did Sean O'Casey get it? Did he write it himself, or was it there already?

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: GUEST,Frank Harte
Date: 02 May 00 - 07:45 PM

Kevin,

Good to hear from you, as far as I know Sean O'Casey wrote the song.

Can you tell me how can i write out a song and have it appear on the screen the way it did for Alan of Australia. Take a look at the two submissions and tell me why mine just appears as continuous lines and alan's is beautifuly set out in verse form.

Slan.......Frank

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 May 00 - 08:00 PM

Great to run into you here, Frank.

The trick is to put in line breaks. And the way you put a line break is that you type < and then you type> and in between you type BR - and the reaason I put it in that peculiar way is that, if I had just typed what I'm telling you to type, you wouldn't have seen it, you'd have just seen a line break
like that.

At the end of a verse or a paragraph you put in two line breaks. And if you want something to print in italics, you type an < and then an >, with an i in between (i for italic), and when you want to stop the italics at the end of the song, maybe, you put an < and then / and then i, and then >

And here is what it looks like

And that almost exhausts my knowledge of this kind of thing.

Do you know if Sean O'Casey wrote any other songs? I think Red Roses for Me is a great song, and the best thing in the play.

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: GUEST,Frank Harte
Date: 03 May 00 - 08:28 PM

Kevin,

Yes he wrote several songs the one that springs to mind id 'The Grand Old Dame Britannia'...a first world war anti recruiting song.

Come all you scholars saints and bards,
Says the grand old dame Britannia,
Will you come and join the Irish Guards,
Says the grand old dame Britannia

and there's more.....have you heard it before. I'm just trying out your instructions ...

Slan.......Frank

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 May 00 - 08:45 PM

I have (though I don't know it properly)- but I never knew he wrote it. You learn stuff here.

I'm glad the instructions worked. (That's something I learned here too...)

Subject: Lyr Add: RED ROSES FOR ME (Sean O'Casey)
From: Big Tim
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 11:13 AM

A sober black shawl hides her body entirely,
Touch'd by th' sun and th' salt spray of the sea,
But down in th' darkness, a slim hand so lovely,
Carries a rich bunch of red roses for me.

Her petticoat's simple, her feet are but bare,
An' all that she has is but neat an' scantie,
But stars in th' deeps of her eyes are exclaiming,
I carry a rich bunch of red roses for thee.

No arrogant gem sits enthron'd on her fore-head,
Or swings from a white ear for all men to see,
But jewel'd desire in a bosom, most pearly,
Carries a rich bunch of red roses for me.

The above is O'Casey's original words and spellings. The song first appeared in Volume 2 of his "Autobiographies", Pictures in the Hallway: published in February 1942. Positive critical comment encouraged O'Casey to use the song as the title for his next play, Red Roses for Me. The play is set during the Dublin strike and lockout of 1913 and was published on 17 November 1942. Again, the song was included in the play, sung in Act I by a character known only as Sam, "a young man with a good voice".

Subject: RE: A Rich Bunch of Red Roses
From: GUEST,Shaneo, can't log in
Date: 28 Mar 08 - 12:03 PM

Anybody know the guitar chords for Red Roses For Me ?
Is it an original tune or does it sound like another song, any help please.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)
From: Big Tim
Date: 24 Apr 08 - 01:01 PM

The music for 'Roses', and the other songs in the play 'Red Roses for Me', was set down by Brigid Edwards (1888-1977), a music teacher at Dartington Hall: the progressive school in Devon attended by O'Casey's children. I suspect that she didn't actually compose the tune. O'Casey had a wealth of traditional melodies in his head and probably just employed Brigid Edwards to write out the notation.

I always felt that the song was a bit too short - and therefore wrote two additional verses of my own! I can't find them at present (!) but if I do I'll post them.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)
From: Big Tim
Date: 24 Apr 08 - 01:27 PM

The woman in the song was O'Casey's first serious love, a young Dublin teacher called Máire Keating (c.1898-1982). She is 'Sheila Moorneen' in the play 'Red Roses for Me'. The relationship lasted about a year: eventually foundering on age, class and religious differences. Hurt by his portrayal of her as a repressed Catholic, Máire erected a wall of silence regarding O'Casey. She did though donate his letters to her to the National Library of Ireland, with the proviso that they remained sealed until 1980, a hundred years after O'Casey's birth.

Below are my own two verses (4 & 5).

She stands in the door, her eyes cast down lowly,
A catch in her voice, she spoke softly and slowly,
''Tis man's sad delusion, with wealth he'd be happy,
I'd rather a rich bunch of red roses from thee'.

And when darkness descends, on sweet Inishfallen,
And Liffey no more flows down to the sea,
Still will you hear a faithful voice calling,
'I carry a rich bunch of red roses for thee'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)
From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 24 Apr 08 - 02:35 PM

The melody of this song is derived from part of the Irish air, "Eamonn a chnuic", "Ned of the Hill", about the seventeenth-century "rapparee" Edmond Ryan of Tipperary. In the play, isn't it supposed to have been made by one of the characters, an amateur versifier? I think there's a deliberate allusion to "Romeo and Juliet" in the third verse. Finally, during the congratulations which follow a nervous young singer's performance of the piece, someone mentions that he sings as well as "Count John McCormack"; this supposedly in 1913, about twenty-five years (I think) before this Papal title was awarded.

PS O'Casey used the familiar air of "When you and I were young, Maggie" for the song "Nora" in another of his plays, set in Dublin during the Rising of 1916. For the moment, embarrassingly enough, the title slips my mind.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)
From: Big Tim
Date: 25 Apr 08 - 08:31 AM

After Sam sang the song in Act I of the play (first two verses only), the character Brennan o' the Moor said 'A second Count McCormack in the makin'! The play was published in 1942, set in 1913 and McCormack was made a Papal Count in 1928. O'Casey was probably aware of the chronological inconsistency but left it in anyway out of sheer mischievousness, he was a bit like that! Another similar example in the play, of which he was definitely aware, is that although the Sheila character is based on Máire Keating, he didn't meet her until 1917.

The play ends, 'Brennan unslings his melodeon, plays a few preliminary notes on it, and then sings softly,

A sober black shawl...
(First verse only).

In fact verse three doesn't seem to have been featured in the play (at least as far as I can see) but it was definitely included in 'Pictures in the Hallway' in February 1942 (the book was written over 1940-41).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 10 Sep 12 - 07:55 PM

Can anybody help with the tune for this song please?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 11 Sep 12 - 03:40 AM

The tune is part of the traditional air ' Eamon A Chnoic ' also known as ' Ned of the Hill.'

Dave H

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 11 Sep 12 - 03:43 AM

You can hear Ronnie Drew singing it on YouTube, with John Sheehan playing Eamon A Chnoic on the whistle, very beautiful.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 11 Sep 12 - 09:27 AM

Surely -

"Her petticoat's simple, her feet are but bare,"

is supposed to be -

"Her petticoat's simple, her feet ALL but bare,"

meaning she has poor, flimsy shoes. Otherwise, why the word 'but' in the line?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)
From: MartinRyan
Date: 11 Sep 12 - 09:56 AM

Mmmm... Looks alright to me. The sense is "only" or "just" and the repeat is deliberate?

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Red Roses for Me (Sean O'Casey)
From: MartinRyan
Date: 11 Sep 12 - 09:58 AM

p.s.

Nice to see one of the late, great Frank Harte's contributions to the 'cat resurface! Well timed...

Click here

Regards