Subject: Blackwaterside From: The Celtic Bard Date: 23 May 01 - 07:40 PM I've been looking for this song for a while. It isn't the one in the DT and I can't find any discussions on it in the forum. The first verse goes something like this:
I am a roving Irishman, you need not know my name The narrator then goes on to state that, although he's been all over, Blackwaterside is still more beautiful. Then he promises that someday he's going to settle down near Blackwaterside when he's done rambling. Great song. I would really appreciate the lyrics. I have it on a CD titled "Irish Voices:The Best in Traditional Singing" on which it was done by Sean MacDonnchadha. Thanks you guys. Rebecca <>< |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 23 May 01 - 08:59 PM This one was asked for about a year back, but nobody had it. Wasn't it Ron Kavana rather than Sean MacDonnchadna who sang it on that record, though? Perhaps it might be best if you had a go at transcribing the words yourself and then posted them to this thread for a second opinion or two; it doesn't sound particularly like any of the Blackwater Side songs that I know of. Malcolm |
Subject: Lyr Add: BLACKWATERSIDE From: The Celtic Bard Date: 23 May 01 - 10:37 PM Considering I didn't even know about Mudcat until about a year ago, it's no wonder I missed that request. Ok, I sat down and transcribed what I heard from the CD. It's posted below. However first I would like to post a disclaimer: THE FOLLOWING VERSION IS NOT OFFICIAL. IT IS ONLY WHAT I THOUGHT I HEARD ON THE CD. BLACKWATERSIDE
I am a roving Irishman, you need not know my name
I've been along the Hudson wide, the Thames, the Seine, and Rhine
When I have done with rambling, never more to roam I am a roving Irishman, you need not know my name... There you go. That's what I thought I heard. Is there anybody out there that can correct my version? Rebecca <>< |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Sorcha Date: 23 May 01 - 10:40 PM Well, "Formine" might be Fermagh.........I did a Google search and only came up with the one in the DT, which is not this one. I'll look some more. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: The Celtic Bard Date: 25 May 01 - 01:45 AM Thank you, Sorcha. Rebecca <>< |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Sorcha Date: 25 May 01 - 02:58 AM No luck on the web......sorry. Hope you find it, and post it here so it can be found again. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: DebC Date: 25 May 01 - 09:22 AM I have recorded a version of Blackwaterside on my two most recent albums "The Long Grey Line" and "The Banks of Green Willow". The lyrics can be found here Cheers, Debra |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: DebC Date: 25 May 01 - 09:25 AM Boy am I a Pinhead. They are actually here Mea Culpa, Debra |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: jeffp Date: 25 May 01 - 09:27 AM Plow the golden veil is probably Plow the golden vale; a vale being a valley, usually with a stream. Looks like a lovely song. jeffp |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Peg Date: 25 May 01 - 09:47 AM I figured you meant the version on the John Renbourne Band album, Maid in Bedlam... which is the only version I am familiar with, and sung from the young woman's point of view... "One morning as I took the air, down by Blackwaterside/ Twas gazing all around me, twas an Irish lad I spied..."
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Peg Date: 25 May 01 - 09:49 AM ...oh and just to let you know, these lyrics are VERY similar to the ones posted by the famously-talented Deb Cowan... I would be happy to post the 'lil differences if anyone ifs at all interested... Peg
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: DebC Date: 25 May 01 - 10:06 AM I made a "mix-tape" for a friend of all the versions of Blackwaterside I have on albums. They numbered 8. The version I sing is a combo of Sandy Denny, Jacqui McShee, Mary Black, and a lifting of a couple of verses from "Folksongs of Britain and Ireland" collected by Peter Kennedy. Deb |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 25 May 01 - 12:12 PM All very interesting, but the Blackwaterside that Rebecca was asking about is a completely different song which just happens to share a title with one or two other songs. The Blackwaterside recorded by everybody and his or her dog over the last thirty-odd years has been localised in a number of different places such as the "Shannon Side", the "River Side", the "Tanyard Side" and so on. "Blackwaterside" was not the original title. Malcolm |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: GUEST,The Celtic Bard Date: 31 May 01 - 01:29 PM Jeffp, I'm not exactly sure what that last word is, only that it has to rhyme with prevail. Sorcha, thanks for your effort. As Malcolm stated, those versions listed ARE NOT the ones that I am looking for. Thank you for the effort anyway. If I find the lyrics, I'll certain post them here. Rebecca <>< |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Noreen Date: 31 May 01 - 02:02 PM Celtic Bard, it will be From North Cork through Fermoy, which is where this Blackwater flows, then onto the sea at Youghal Harbour. Noreen |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: The Celtic Bard Date: 05 Jun 01 - 06:07 PM Thanks for the clarification, Noreen. Rebecca <>< |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Brakn Date: 05 Jun 01 - 07:41 PM Debc sound Thank you |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Crazy Eddie Date: 06 Jun 01 - 04:02 AM I don't know the song, but i kmow the area. As Noreen said, "North Cork through Formine(?), be all down by the sea" Should read "North Cork through Fermoy, by Youghal* down by the sea." * Pronounced somewhere between "yawl" and "y'all" "plow the golden veil(?)" Should read "Golden Vale" (Vale = valley) The Golden Vale is a particularly fertile area covering parts of Cork, Tipp. & Limerick. IMHO, the writer is stretching things to bring it quite as far South as the Blackwater, but I guess that's poetic licence
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Crazy Eddie Date: 06 Jun 01 - 04:09 AM Or even, "plow the golden veil(?)" Should read "Golden Vale" (Vale = valley) The Golden Vale is a particularly fertile area covering parts of Cork, Tipp. & Limerick. IMHO, the writer is stretching things to bring it quite as far South as the Blackwater, but I guess that's poetic licence. If I can get the HTML right! |
Subject: Lyr Add: BLACKWATER SIDE (Clancy Brothers) From: Lin in Kansas Date: 06 Jun 01 - 09:15 AM John In Remote Kansas (JIRK) on Lin's cookie Obviously a different song, but the Clancy Bros "The Irish Songbook" Oak Publs gives Blackwater Side "This is a conversation between two lovers overheard one morning on the bank of the River Blackwater in County Cork One morning fair As I chanced the air Down by black water side 'Twas in gazing all around me That an Irish girl I spied All in the fore part Of the night They rolled in sport and play Then this young man arose and he put on his clothes, Saying Far - el - dy well to-day. That's not the promise you made to me When you lay upon my breast; You could make me believe with your lying tongue That the sun rose in the west. Go home, go home to your father's garden, Go home and cry your fill; And think of the sad misfortune I brought on with my wanton will There's not a flower in this whole world As easily led as I; And when fishes can fly and seas do run dry, It is then that you'll marry I Must confess I have a little trouble making sense of the lyric, but then it is a Clancy Bro. Pardon the kink in the string. John |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 06 Jun 01 - 12:33 PM Well, yes, John, those are pretty much the usual words of the song we're not discussing. A slightly more accurate set is in the DT: BLACKWATERSIDE Malcolm |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: IvanB Date: 06 Jun 01 - 12:55 PM If the Clancy version actually changes the speaker back and forth as the lyrics imply, it certainly could be confusing. The DT version that Malcolm cites above (which corresponds to the lyrics with which I'm most familiar) seems completely logical since it's all written from the point of view of the young lady's perspective. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: The Celtic Bard Date: 13 Jun 01 - 01:46 PM All very intersting but again not the song that I'm looking for. Crazy Eddie: Thanks for the corrections. Rebecca <>< |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: GUEST,cailin Date: 30 Aug 01 - 01:15 AM I am looking for the version of Blackwaterside that Ron Kavana sings...."I am a rovin Irishman, you need not know my name" Anyone know it? |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: wysiwyg Date: 30 Aug 01 - 01:32 AM RIGHT HERE I think. ~Susan |
Subject: Lyr Add: BLACKWATERSIDE (Ron Kavana) From: Jim Dixon Date: 19 Apr 02 - 07:13 PM Finally, the definitive version! I happen to own Ron Kavana's "Home Fire," and the lyrics are printed in the liner notes. (Is it still proper to call them "liner notes" although they're no longer printed on a "liner," which I presume is the paper sleeve that vinyl LP's used to come in? Anyway...) The Celtic Bard's transcription was pretty good. Besides the corrections that have been mentioned already, there is also "but no home can I claim" in line 2.
BLACKWATERSIDE
I am a rovin' Irishman. You need not know my name.
I've been along the Hudson wide, the Thames, the Seine and Rhine,
When I have done with ramblin', never more to roam,
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 19 Apr 02 - 08:51 PM So he wrote it himself; I'm not surprised. I wasted a lot of time looking for sets of The American Stranger (which is clearly what Kavana's text was based on, Blackwater Side reference and all) and so on in case they were what Rebecca was looking for, but never found anything close enough. Now all is explained; thanks, Jim. If people wanting help would quote the exact composer credits on their compilation CDs, we could probably get them answers rather sooner. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: AmyLove Date: 16 Dec 16 - 10:01 PM Thank you yet again, Mudcat - and Jim Dixon in this particular case. This is the only place online to find these lyrics, as far as I can tell. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Taconicus Date: 02 Jan 22 - 08:51 PM Here's how I sing this song. It's a beautiful song but I found it unsatisfying not only because it exhibited a cruel misogyny with no repercussions, but also because it lacked a satisfying ending (or any ending, really). So I finished the song on my own. It's rather maudlin, but then so many of that era are. I've read that it's thought the song originated in Northern Ireland, but after considerable research I've decided to place it at the River Blackwater in Mallow, County Cork. There was a famous "Ten Arch Bridge" there, but I believe it was bombed and destroyed during the Irish Rebellion. =========================== Blackwater Side Traditional; arrangement and additional lyrics © 2019 by Eric M. Bram G C D One morning fair as I chanced the air Em F G Down by Blackwater side. C G C G It was gazing all around me C Em G That an Irish girl I spied. All in the fore-part of the night We rolled in sport and play Till this young man arose and he put on his clothes Saying, "Fare thee well today." That's not the promise that you made to me As you lay upon my breast. You could've made me believe with your lying tongue That the sun rose in the west. Go home, go home to your father's garden. Go home and cry your fill. And think of the sad misfortune You brought on with your wanton will. There's not a flower in this whole wide world More easily plucked than thee. And when fishes can fly and seas do run dry That's when you'll marry me. She turned, she turned, and she slow walked away Along Blackwater side. And I called out "good day" and I went on my way. And I could hear how she softly cried. I went to the tavern, and I there drank my fill Till I heard the news from the town. That a young woman had jumped from the Ten Arch Bridge And in the cold Blackwater had drowned. Now there's not a man in this whole green land More deservedly damned than I. For she loved me the best and I drove her to her death. And I'll know it until I die. Coda/Outro: Em C G |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Helen Date: 03 Jan 22 - 01:47 PM Eric's version is for the song lyrics posted above by Lin in Kansas - PM Date: 06 Jun 01 - 09:15 AM, and he has posted the lyrics in the other thread which relates specifically to that song: Tune Req: Blackwaterside (Bert Jansch) |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: RunrigFan Date: 04 Jan 22 - 06:53 PM Altan version One evening fair to take the air Down by Blackwaterside 'Twas a-gazing all around me That the Irish lad I spied All through the far part of the night We did lie in sport and play When this young man arose and gathered his clothes Saying, "Fare thee well today" That's not the promise that you gave to me When you lay on my breast You could make me believe with your lying words That the sun rose in the west Go home, go home to your father's garden Go home and weep your fill And think on your own misfortune You brought on with your want and will For there's not a girl in this whole wide world As easily led as I And when fishes can fly and the seas run dry It is then that you'll marry I It is then that you'll marry I |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Blackwaterside From: Mrrzy Date: 04 Jan 22 - 06:56 PM The one we aren't talking about is almost the only Clancy Brothers song I never liked. The one we *are* talking about sounds lovely. |
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