Lyr Req: The Irish Navy (Dubliners)

Subject: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Benjamin Bodhra/nai/
Date: 21 Jan 98 - 09:31 PM

This time I think I have done a better search. Another Dubliners song, which names three ships (I think) and then goes:

The pride of the Irsih Navy When the captain blows on his whistle All the sailors go home for their tea.

Any ideas again of where the lyrics can be found, or any background on the song.

le buiochas

Benjamin

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Barry
Date: 21 Jan 98 - 09:38 PM

If you don't get a post on it, I'll see if I can't dig it out, have it on a tape (somewhere), done by an old Brittish merchant sailor, now into his 90's, he got a special kick out of singing it. Barry

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Benjamin Bodhra/nai
Date: 23 Jan 98 - 08:58 AM

Barry,

Cheers, a chara, as I said I can get most of it off the Dubliners tape I have but I can never work out the names of the ships or some of the people and places. Give the request a week and if there is nothing here then I would truly appreciate your help.

Sla/n

benjamin

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Barry
Date: 24 Jan 98 - 09:01 PM

Benjamin, I found the tape but can't make out much, the banjos decided to do their tuning thing durning this song. Anyway, some of what I could pull out of it was something about the Lakes of Killarney (sp?) & "while the army is off on menuvers in Cypress or some foregin parts" something else about "defending our holy ground" & something else about "we'll fight like the devil all morning provided we're home by the ?". Sorry Benjamin, hope I've been some help. Barry

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: MudGuard
Date: 28 Jun 99 - 02:42 AM

I know your request came a long time ago, but I wanted to check for these lyrics in the database to find out about the pieces marked in red below, but did not find it there, so I did a forum search and only found this request.
So here is as much of the lyrics as I got, perhaps someone can help with the red spots.
And does someone know which canal is meant in the second verse?

The Irish Navy
as recorded by The Dubliners

Chorus [before first and after each verse]

The (cleaner ???), the (mave ???) and the (mucker ???)
The pride of the Irish navy
When the captain he blows on his whistle
All the sailors go home for their tea

While the army is off in the Congo,
In Cyprus are some fighting parts
Our navy is strained to the limits
Deploying its nautical arts
One day from the Russian invader
Defending our very (yard ???) fish
We found it was just a red herring
From the signals we got from the (kish ???)

Each year they go on manouvers
To prepare for defence they are keen
Some times it's the Lakes of Killarney
More often the pond in the green
The canal it could be of assistance
In defending our own holy ground
But due to proposed legislation
We'll have to sail all the way round

We are a sea-faring nation
Defence of our land is our right
We'd fight like the Devil all morning
Provided we're home by the night

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Martin _Ryan
Date: 28 Jun 99 - 04:29 AM

The Clíona, the Maedbh and the Macha (your phonetic attmpts are not far off!) were the names of the three gunboats whihc constituted the whole of the Irish Naval Service at one stage.

The Kish refers to a lightship (now an automated tower) on a sandbank in Dublin Bay.

The "ond in the green" refers to a duckpond in St. Stephen's Green, in central Dublin.

There are two canals in Dublin: The Royal (as in another famous Dubliner's song) and the Grand (which also appears in a few songs).

I'm not sure, offhand, what the "fish" reference was.

Regards

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: MudGuard
Date: 28 Jun 99 - 04:45 AM

Thanks Martin!
Andreas

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 28 Jun 99 - 06:38 PM

Could it be 'our very odd fish'? That's what I've always assumed. Thanks everybody for the rest of the lyrics. Another problem solved ... :-)

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Martin _Ryan
Date: 28 Jun 99 - 08:19 PM

"or some foreign parts" seems more likely than "are some fighting parts"

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: MudGuard
Date: 29 Jun 99 - 03:41 AM

I always interpreted "are some fighting parts" as "are some fighting against partisans".
But tonight I will listen to the song again.
I will also listen intensively to the "very odd fish" part.

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: MudGuard
Date: 29 Jun 99 - 01:00 PM

Now after listening a few times more to that song, it sounds like "are some foighting parts", definitely not "foreign parts"!
the "very yard fish" could be "variate fish" if that makes any sense (can't reach my dictionary website right now!).

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: dulcimer
Date: 29 Jun 99 - 05:49 PM

Sitting here listening and comparing words on the stream with what I'm hear it would suggest the two phrases in quetion are "or some fighting parts"--definitely not "are" and then the sentence makes sense. And I heard "odd" fish

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Martin _Ryan
Date: 01 Jul 99 - 02:05 PM

Had a listen to Ronnie Drew singing this - doesn't seem to be in any of the Dubliners songbooks I could lay hold of. He definitely sings "or some foreign parts". The reference is to a time (sixties) when the Irish Army was on peace-keeping duties in Cyprus and the Belgian Congo.

He also sings "very odd fish" alright! I suspect its a fairly typical Irish play on words: apart from being an occasional denizen of the deep, an "odd fish" is an eccentric or rather strange character!

I was wondering about the reference to "all the way round". Coincidentally, there's an item in today's paper about a proposal to reopen "Spenser Dock" - which used to be the nly non-tidal way of getting from the Royal Canal to the Grand (or, indeed, vice versa!). The reference may be to its closure.

Regards

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Nick
Date: 16 Jan 00 - 02:20 PM

This is very old thread -- but is case anyone is interested Ronnie (Drew) and Luke (Kelly) the song.

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Snuffy
Date: 16 Jan 00 - 07:01 PM

I have always assumed that the canal was the Grand Canal which ran due east from Dublin, possibly as far as Galway, but certainly to the River Shannon, making it possible to travel from east to west coasts by inland waterways. (instead of having to go "all the way round" to reach the Atlantic.

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Martin _Ryan
Date: 16 Jan 00 - 08:29 PM

Both canals originally went west to the Shannon. The Grand is still just about navigable, the Royal in repair/reconstruction.

Regards

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Owlkat
Date: 17 Jan 00 - 02:06 AM

Hi hi,
The cleaner, the MAID, and the mucker...
From the signal we got from the KITCH(abbreviated form of kitchen)
Defending our very OWN FISH
That's my opinion and I'm stickin to it.
Cheers
Owlkat/Mart

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Martin _Ryan
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 03:48 PM

Owlkat

Would youi settle for "flitch" instead of "fish"?! Regards

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: Owlkat
Date: 19 Jan 00 - 02:04 AM

Hi hi,

Martin, I'll see your "flitch" and raise you annnnnn Halibut named Eric.

Cheers.
Owl.

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: dulcimer
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 06:43 PM

Just to set the record straight

Irish Navy, The
Ronnie Drew
Luke Kelly

The Clíona, the Meabh and the Mucha
The pride of the Irish navy
When the Captain he blows on his whistle
All the sailors go home for their tea

While the army is off in the Kongo
In Cyprus or some foreign parts
Our navy is strained to the limits
Deploying its nautical acts
One day from the Russian invader
Defending our very odd fish
We found it was just the red herring
From the signals we got from the cis'

The Clíona, the Meabh and the Mucha
The pride of the Irish navy
When the Captain he blows on his whistle
All the sailors go home for their tea

Each year they go on manoeuvres
To prepare for defence they are keen
Sometimes it's the Lakes of Killarney
More often the pond in the Green
The canal it could be of assistance
In defending our own holy ground
But due to proposed legislation
We'll have to sail all the way round

The Clíona, the Meabh and the Mucha
The pride of the Irish navy
When the Captain he blows on his whistle
All the sailors go home for their tea

We are a seafaring nation
Defence of our land is a right
We'd fight like the devil all morning
Provided we're home by the night

The Clíona, the Meabh and the Mucha
The pride of the Irish navy
When the Captain he blows on his whistle
All the sailors go home for their tea

Subject: RE: REQ: Pride of the Irish Navy
From: MartinRyan
Date: 20 Feb 04 - 06:24 PM

Kish as explained earlier. And Macha

Regards