St. Patrick's Day favourites (songs)

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: oldhippie
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 07:51 PM

"There Were Roses"

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 03:33 PM

Don't ya know 'The ballad of mc catherty's green and orange hillside by the edge of Loch Maball's', oh come on man, call yourself an Irish band and you don't play that one, you bastards !!! Come on, have a go ! It goes like this, ' da da dee da da diddly diddly dahh da di daa'

Subject: forty shades of green
From: GUEST,O'Brien
Date: 06 Dec 06 - 07:25 PM

i'm sorry to say that i DO NOT think that Johnny Cash actually wrote the song Forty Shades of Green. Every where i look it says the idea came to him while he was flying over Ireland...but it didn't. I know the man who actually wrote that song. There was a man in Ireland,Father Patrick Coughlin, who would write songs and then sing them at local pubs. One day he sang that song at a pub where the right person heard it and He either gave johnny Cash the song or he stole it(not like he would have wanted the royalties for it..that's not who he was)...either way johnny cash did not actually write that song. My great Uncle Paddy did and that story has been told and will continue to be told by everyone who knew and/or is related to this wonderful man and i thought it should be said for everyone to see....

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Cluin
Date: 22 Feb 05 - 02:07 AM

De drink an' de punch in de mout'.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: alison
Date: 22 Feb 05 - 02:03 AM

guest me

the words you quoted are the second half of the verse from the wearing of the green

the full lyrics are in the database

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: GUEST,Fountainfox
Date: 21 Feb 05 - 08:38 PM

One I don't see mentioned here is O'Donnell Abu...the melody, at any rate, is very rousing, glad and wonderful. Lyrics sound like somebody's term paper, though; probably shouldn't be sung unless someone writes a set of words someone not born two centuries ago can at least follow.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: PoppaGator
Date: 21 Feb 05 - 12:54 PM

Here in New Orleans, most of the Irish-Americans (the "homegrown" ones, anyway), are many generations removed from Ireland. The effects on local Irish-American culture are obvious.

New Orleans was the most popular of all American ports of entry during the first wave of Famine-induced emigration, because jobs were available for the digging of the New Basin Canal. Many of the immigrants who took these jobs ~ mostly Irish, but other Europenas as well ~ lacked immunity to various tropical diseases, notably yellow fever, and died in huge numbers. Folks back home in Ireland knew only too well about this mortality rate (an Irishman actually had better statistical odds for survival staying home and enduring the Famine than digging the canal in New Orleans), so Irish immigration to this city soon came to a permanent halt. The upshot: longtime New Orleanians with Irish surnames and/or ancestry generally have no known relatives in Ireland any more, and most of their family trees reflect multiple generations in the American "melting pot" ~ as many Italian, French, German and other ancestors as Irish.

The musical/cultural upshot of this situation is a general indifference to "real" Irish traditional music, in favor of Bing-Crosby-esque Irish-American sentimentality. You don't even hear much in the way of rebel songs. There is a small community of musicians and fans with an interest in more authentic Irish music (including folks with closer connections to the home country), but they may be less visible during St. Paddy's Week than at other times of the year, because they're "drownded out" by the onslaught of faux-Irish celebration.

A notable exception is the fairly recent emergence of "The Lakes of Pontchartrain" as a popular performance piece for any local act pretending to any degree of Irishness. This song, of course, is unique in the trad-Irish repertoire for being set here in south Louisiana. While the lyrics make no specific reference to the New Basin Canal nor to the flood of Irish immigrants who came to this area to work on the canal, I privately suspect that the song's origins must have something to do with that historical event.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: open mike
Date: 20 Feb 05 - 02:28 PM

http://www.blackthorn1.com/music/lyrics/Brendan's%20Fair%20Isle.txt
althought Jimmy Driftwood may not be Irish, St. Brendan certainly was!
(does anyone else get a big grey block on the post a couple above here
and on the place where you usually find google links below?)

ooh now something even spookier is happening...the grey block wnet away
but when i pas the cursor over the blank white space, 2 websites are
appanently there, as the URL's show up in the task bar below...

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: GUEST,me
Date: 20 Feb 05 - 01:56 PM

i met old napper tandy
he took me by the hand
he said how's dear old Ireland
Oh how does she stan
She is the fairest creature as yet I have seen
But they're hanging men and women for the wearing of the green.


does anybody recognise these lyrics and do you know the reason behind them? would love to know

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Brakn
Date: 04 Apr 04 - 09:38 PM

There's more to Peggy O'Neill than that.

Subject: Lyr Add: PEGGY O'NEIL (Pease, Nelson, Dodge)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Apr 04 - 06:21 PM

PEGGY O'NEIL was mentioned above, but I don't think anyone's ever posted the words.

Copied from http://ingeb.org/songs/peggyone.html
The sheet music is also available at The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music

PEGGY O'NEIL
(Words and Music by Harry Pease, Ed. G. Nelson and Gilbert Dodge, 1921)

Peggy O'Neil is a girl who could steal
Any heart, anywhere, any time;
And I'll put you wise, how you'll recognize
This wonderful girl of mine.

CHORUS: If her eyes are blue as skies,
That's Peggy O'Neil.
If she's smiling all the while,
That's Peggy O'Neil.
If she walks like a sly little rogue,
If she talks with a cute little brogue,
Sweet personality,
Full of rascality,
That's Peggy O'Neil.

Ev'rything's planned for a wedding so grand.
In the spring I will bring her the ring;
Then somewhere in town we'll both settle down
And all through the day I'll sing...CHORUS

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Den
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 10:54 PM

I will be decked out in my parka and my shamrock tiara and will be regaling a small audience with South Down anecdotes such as "lie on her head or she'll flood the byre", and "Die dog or shite the license". A sampling of favourite songs for the assembled throng will be, "If you think you know how to love me", by Smokie and "Jilted John", by Jilted John. Percy French will not be joining us as advertised as we have not had much success with our seances since Jimmy's house was haunted for monthes by the ghosts of Beannie and Barney the Batchelor Peas mascots. Den

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: hobbitwoman
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 09:36 PM

That's a lovely blessing, Rustic, thanks!

Annie

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Rustic Rebel
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 05:12 PM

May your neighbors respect you,
troubles neglect you,
the angels protect you,
and heaven accept you.
Rustic

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Genie
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 12:19 PM

In defense of "The Unicorn Song," let me say that I think it's often accepted as Irish not only because an Irish band made it a hit, but because it SOUNDS IRISH.

A reflection of Shel Silverstein's gift was his versatility. A Los Angeles Jewish guy writes "Queen Of the Silver Dollar" (PURE COUNTRY), "Beans Taste Fine" (with good BLUES flavor), "Unicorn" (very IRISH motif), and quite a few children's poems and songs, as well as serious articles for adults. (I doubt that I know the half of his repertoire.)

The point is that composers/songwriters who become familiar with a genre can often write very convincingly in it, without the benefit of having been born to it.

I realize that lots of Irish bands are sick of playing it (having run it into the ground, as it were), but that's a different matter.

Genie

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: GUEST,Argenine
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 11:13 AM

Trying that BLICKYagain.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: GUEST,Argenine
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 03:42 AM

Sometimes I do Appalachian and other early American ballads on St. Patrick's because many of these songs came across the pond, as it were, from old Ireland.

Arge

BTW, Here is a parody of "Isle of Innishfree" that was posted at Mudcat. Sounds appropriate for a pub on St. Patrick's. .

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: hobbitwoman
Date: 08 Mar 02 - 06:33 PM

Well, I'm at least third-generation Irish American, and lately I've been getting into the music of the Chieftans, Clannad, etc., and know I have a lot to learn, but there's something about it - it must be in the blood because I wasn't raised on it, that's for sure. Please don't stone me, anyone, but all that tura-lura-lura stuff makes me gag!! When we go out for the High Holy Day, which I haven't done in recent years after having been squashed into the wall at the local "Irish" pub 3 yrs. ago when 500 people crammed into a space made for 125 (maybe) and broke every fire law on the books, we get into the "drinking" songs and the "rebel" songs and anything we can participate in and/or bang our hands on the table so hard people have to hang onto their drinks - attracted the attention of the performer the last time we were out so that he came over and visited w/ us during his break. He appreciated our participation, I know he did! Anyway, I'll also confess to liking the Unicorn - hell, we even have a dance we do to it! Anyway it's all about having a good time and not taking oneself too seriously as far as I'm concerned.

Annie

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Genie
Date: 08 Mar 02 - 06:16 PM

Weren't a lot of these 'cod-Irish" songs ("not real Irish songs) written by Irish-American songwriters whose families (if not they, themselves) were recent immigrants? George M. Cohan (who, BTW, was not only Irish-American but Jewish, to add to the mix) comess to mind, as well as J.R. Shannon and the Dr. Colehan who wrote the popular US version of "Galway Bay."

Sure, their music has a yank-influenced flavor, making it sound different from "authentic Irish" music (just as U2 and Van Morrison sound different from Childs ballads). But why should they be denied claim to their own ancestral heritage as expressed in the time and culture into which they were transplanted? Yes, their music was "American," but they brought to it their Irish roots, and I think in many of those songs it shows.

Is it surprising that a lot of Americans want to hear Irish-American music -- if only because it is familiar to them?

I fully agree that St. Patrick's Day (just like Christmas) has been commercialized in the US and the celebrations have little or no connection to its origin. Some bars will play secular (even bawdy) Irish songs and others will play secular Irish-American songs, some both. I say that both are celebrations of Irish roots, even if the Irish-American music is one or two steps removed from those roots.

Genie

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Watersong
Date: 08 Mar 02 - 12:01 PM

What's suitable music for a St. Patricks gig ? Almost anything goes ... Consider St. Patrick himself ... from writings of Terence Sheehy ... "A Roman Briton born in Caerwent, coast of Wales between 385 & 390 AD.The son of a deacon and grandson of a priest. He was captured in a massive slave raid by pagen Irishmen (406 AD). Spent his adolescence as a slave tending flocks for his Celtic master Miliuce... praying literally day & night and escaped to Britain c. 412. He then trained as a priest with St. Germanus of Auxerre France, at the monk Abby of Lerins . With his command of the Irish tongue and understanding of their ways (worship of nature & respect of tribal law), he dreamed that the Irish people begged him to return and convert them. He returned to the Isle in 432 as a bishop and spent some thirty years bringing Christianity to the Irish tribes. He founded his See at Armaugh in 444 and died in Saul in 461" ... reaching well into his 70's ... astounding in those times. He was known to work "from the top down" overcoming the sorcery of the Druid holymen with Christian mysticism, going head to head in tales with the all powerful bardic poets, and influencing the Irish Kings who's wives and daughters were usually the first to embrace his Christianity.

So, St. Patrick was not an Irishman but a son of Wales trained formally in France. He could be termed in todays language a man of wanderlust and must have possed skills in charm and chatter far above average. Can you imagine the scrapes he got himself out of! He'd love all the songs from the muddy banks of the Shannon to Tin Pan Ally... (but I think the Unicorn ditty would have silenced him like most of us who make a few bucks in Greensong season.)

My best-felt song that our band's doing this year is P.Maloney's adaptation of his grandmother's Little Maid From Malabar ... a la the Chieftain's Coast of Malabar ... and it's all about lovin' in India! Wanderlust is a good thing still.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: swirlygirl
Date: 08 Mar 02 - 08:49 AM

nope none not ever, never and i mean not in a million years....

I hate st patricks's day...you try growing up being born on that day and made to sing "Hail Glorious St. Patrick" and other related shit every year and look like you're enjoying it...

I want it banned...or at least de-Irished...

:)

xxx

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 08 Mar 02 - 08:34 AM

Guest Cara writes"Has it not occurred to anyone that the Irish might be a little pissed off that what is intended to be a celebration of Ireland has been taken over by the rest of the English-speaking world as an excuse to get drunk and sing cod-Irish songs that have nothing to do with you "

"The Irish" eh ? What, all the Irish ? Some of the Irish ? Or just a few sad curmudgeons ( who are to be found in every country ) who resent anybody touching what they perceive to be their exclusive property ?

Murray

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: GUEST,Frogmore
Date: 07 Mar 02 - 09:44 PM

I'll be backing up New England fiddler Allan Block, who knows many obscure tunes....but - he WILL sing Danny Boy! Not exactly an informed Irish crowd that night I suspect, but they always get excited by Sailors' Hornpipe. Popeye did that for us.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Big John
Date: 07 Mar 02 - 09:36 PM

Cara, I think you must have looked at my thread "Time Travel Troubles" posted on 7.3.02 in which I complained about third generation Americans having a distorted view of Irish history. I would not dream of extending the same criteria to "Irish" songs. So long as someone is singing a song, no matter where it originates, then hopefully, they are having the "craic". I can assure you that several "Irish" songs which were written for Broadway shows have found their way into Irish folklore and no one objects. On St Patricks Day in Dublin I will be singing everthing from The Fields of Athenry to Tecumsah Valley and whether its a Willie Clancy song or a Willie Nelson song won't matter - it's the "craic" that's important.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: GUEST,cara
Date: 07 Mar 02 - 09:13 PM

Just out of interest, how many of those who have posted to this thread about 'their' Irish songs are actually Irish? (and no, I don't mean 'yes I'm Irish - well, fourth generation Irish-American - well actually, my grandmother's aunt's dog was Irish' - I mean actually Irish, say for passports).

Has it not occurred to anyone that the Irish might be a little pissed off that what is intended to be a celebration of Ireland has been taken over by the rest of the English-speaking world as an excuse to get drunk and sing cod-Irish songs that have nothing to do with you ("Caledonia (actually a Scottish song I believe.)" indeed!)

Cara xx

PS - And yes, my family is Irish about 3 generations back on all sides, but I don't consider myself to be Irish, nor to have any 'rights' to Irish heritage. It's very good and I like it a lot, but it has nothing to do with me personally.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 07 Mar 02 - 10:15 AM

One thing I have learnt is that there is absolutely bno point in trying to be even remotely elitist about Irish music in America on St Patrick's Day. If the management are paying you (and St Patrick's Days were the best-paying gigs I have ever had ) then you give the crowd what they expect to hear, Unicorn and all.

There are many other opportunities to educate people about the glories of traditional Irish music, but St Ptrick's Day is not one of them.

Murray

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: GUEST,Hamshank
Date: 07 Mar 02 - 09:22 AM

Genie,

All my pals know I'm Scots/Irish (and proud of it!), so I'm the guy that gets called up to sing the good old cheery "Irish" stuff at my local Friday night open mic hangout (not an Irish bar). Aye, "Grace" is a bit melancholy for a typical Irish theme bar, especially here in the States. Actually, I sing it by request along with "Fields of Athenrye", "Rose of Tralee", "Red is the Rose" and others. Last year was the first time anyone asked me to sing "Grace" at a St. Patrick's Day do.

I'm not so much against "Unicorn" really. I just get a bit sick of it, and it irritates me a little that people associate it with Ireland. I suppose you can't blame them, considering the fellas that made it famous. You're absolutely right, though. People like to join in and do the actions.

"Slauncha"

HS

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Genie
Date: 07 Mar 02 - 01:34 AM

And heres a link to BS: St Patrick's Day Songs

Genie

BTW, What does "asthore" mean?

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Genie
Date: 07 Mar 02 - 01:26 AM

Boab, The gigs are not all on St. Patrick's Day itself--especially when St. Patrick's is not on a Friday or Saturday. Also, I kind of rotate the list and vary the selections depending ont he type of gig and audience.

If you look at all the threads on this topic, you'll find my list is a relatively SMALL one!

Genie §;-)

PS,
Here is a link to a thread onSt Patrick's Sing-Along Songs.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Kaleea
Date: 07 Mar 02 - 01:23 AM

What songs i choose depend upon the audience. Very near St. Pat's, I often am called upon to do the rounds of the local nursing homes where I always include: Rose of Tralee Whistlin Gypsy Rover When Irish Eyes are Smilin Molly Malone Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral My Wild Irish Rose Sweet Rosie O'Grady Sidewalks of New York (East Side West Side) Peg O My Heart Annie Laurie Danny Boy I'l Take You Home Again Kathleen assorted jigs like: Irish Washerperson Kesh

If I'm playing a Ceoli: many jigs & reels & hornpipes & songs such as: Wearin of the Green Wild Colonial Boy Down By the Sally Gardens Jolly Beggarman Rising of the Moon Rose of Moon Coin Slievenamon Courtin in the Kitchen they often ask for: Danny Boy Molly Malone Carrickfurgis Last Rose of Summer Wild Mountain Thyme

& we could go on forever & leave out a few hundred! a couple of my favs are: I'll Tell Me Ma All For Me Grog (nursing home folks love this one!!!)

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: michaelr
Date: 07 Mar 02 - 12:02 AM

Nigel - "Mavourneen" is an Anglicized spelling of "mo bhournin" which in Irish means something like "my darling".

I'll be playing on the day with my band, Greenhouse, and our set will be quite a bit different from our regular shew. We usually stay away from the standards, but on P-Day we'll be singing the following;
Maid When You're Young
Seven Drunken Nights
Whisky In The Jar
Finnegan's Wake
Johnny Jump Up
MacPherson's Rant
Invitation To A Funeral
St Patrick Was A Gentleman
The Scotsman
and the all-time great barroom singalong, "Boozin'".

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: GUEST,Boab
Date: 06 Mar 02 - 11:53 PM

Hey Genie----what do you spray yer tonsils with?? I could cover ten St Paddy's days wi' that lot!!!

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Genie
Date: 06 Mar 02 - 11:33 PM

Hamshank, to each his/her own, of course, but to me "Grace"--as beautiful as it is--seems awfully slow and sad for a pub party. (I think it's even sadder than "Danny Boy," which, of course, is kind of a tradition over here in Amerikay.) I'd say the same about "Scorn Not His Simplicity" and some other beautiful but somber Irish songs.

Concerts (e.g., the Irish Tenors on PBS), of course, are a different matter.

I think the reason folks like to sing "The Unicorn," "The Wild Rover," and "Harrigan" over here on St. Patrick's is that they are lively and have choruses folks can easily sing along with.

In the pubs I've been in on St. Patrick's Day the music is mostly lively and upbeat, with a lot of emphasis on dance tunes.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: GUEST,Hamshank
Date: 06 Mar 02 - 10:34 AM

If they even think about playing the Unicorn where I'm at on St. Patrick's Day, I'll be finding somewhere else to party. I'm so feckin' sick of that song, and of people who go to "Irish" bars and request it. I want to hear songs like, "Grace", "The Town I Love So Well", "A Nation Once Again", "The Wearin O' The Green." I can tolerate "Wild Irish Rose", "When Irish Eyes Are Smilin'", "If You're Irish...", and "Danny Boy", etc., as long as I can hear and sing some genuine Irish songs. My party-piece is "Fields of Athenrye." I sing it with a lass who harmonizes with me, and we bring the house down every time.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 06 Mar 02 - 04:25 AM

Interesting thread, and, admitting ny ignorance, I didn't know there was a song "Mavourney":
Listening to "The Whiffenpoof Song" (We are poor little lambs)I alway heard the line "Are you waiting, and Mavourney and the rest" as a mispronunciation of "Myfanwy":
Oh well, we live & learn.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Genie
Date: 06 Mar 02 - 03:41 AM

Oh, I almost forgot "Johnny Be Fair."

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Genie
Date: 06 Mar 02 - 03:35 AM

Adding to this discussion, since my Irish-theme gigs will get into full swing about next Wednesday, I'd say the list depends a lot on the venue. When I sing for retirement communities (in the US), the folks want to hear the 'Irish' songs they know and love (most of which are Irish-American), e.g.:
Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral
MacNamara's Band
My Wild Irish Rose (with both verses)
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (with both verses)
The Kerry Dance
Tipperary
Who Threw The Overalls In Mistress Murphy's Chowder"
"Harrigan" (and the parody "Hair Again [On Me], which I dedicate to the "follically challenged" in the audience)
"Cockles And Mussels"
"A Little Bit of Heaven Fell"
"Peg O' My Heart"
"Peggy O'Neil"
"Mother Machree"
"No Irish Need Apply"
and, of course,
"Danny Boy" and
"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"

I usually throw in a couple of show tunes like
"Great Day For The Irish" and
"How Are Things In Glocca Morra"
as well as some of MY Favorites, such as:
Roddy McCorley
Mountains o' Mourne
Shule Aroon
Fennario
Maggie
If I Knock The "L" Out Of "Kelly"BR> Johnny Lad
The Minstrel Boy
Finnegan's Wake
Hares On The Mountain
Wild Mountain Thyme
Black Velvet Band
Song For The Mira
Come Back, Paddy Reilly
Blow The Candles Out
and, yes, The Wild Rover
Whiskey In the Jar
The younger the audience is, the more I steer towards the songs in the latter part of my list.

If my audience has diminished attention span (either due to Alzheimer's or alcohol), so that they're unlikely to track the lyrics, I may skip some of my favorite humorous songs such as:
To Morrow (the TUNE sounds Irish, anyway)
The Sick Note
No Irish Need Apply
Nell Flaherty's Drake
Quare Bungle Rye
Mick McGuire
Twa Heids Are Better Than Yin*
Ye Canna Shove Yer Granny Off A Bus*
The Orange And The Green**
Three Craws*

Many of the songs that would be very popular in Ireland or for the US folkies who are "into Irish music" may not be what the "piper who is paying me" has in mind for a St. Patrick's party. It never hurts to check out these expectations beforehand.

Anyway, to my delight, I have a much bigger repertoire of Irish and Irish-American (and other British Isles) music than I can fit into a typical gig. March is one of my favorite months, since it gives me an excuse for singing a lot of these songs.

Genie

*If a gig isn't right on St. Patrick's Day itself, I 'cheat' sometimes and throw in a Scots or Welsh song or two.
**I think I like this song especially because the story fits a bunch of my ancestors' situations.

Subject: St. Patrick's Day in class rooms
From:
Date: 20 Mar 99 - 02:35 PM

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Frank Maher
Date: 09 Mar 99 - 06:13 AM

I will also be Playing St.Patrick's Day at the Blarney Stone in St.John's Newfoundland.... My Favourite Songs are...The Spinning Wheel, The Irish Emigrant---The Limerick Races.... Dublin Bay....The Humour is on Me now.... The Meeting of the Waters.... Believe Me,if all Those endearing Young Charms... God Save Ireland......

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Brakn
Date: 09 Mar 99 - 03:59 AM

Has anyone mentioned Ireland's 32. It names every county. Some times people can get very upset if their county doesn't get mentioned all night. This one covers them all.

Regards Mick Bracken

Subject: Lyr Add: THE WEARING OF THE GREEN
From: Brakn
Date: 09 Mar 99 - 03:42 AM

Bruce, is this THE WEARING OF THE GREEN that you wanted?

One blessing on my native Isle!
One curse upon her foes
While yet her skies above me smile
Her breeze around me blows
Now, nevermore my cheek be wet
Nor sigh, nor altered mien
Till the dark tyrant I regret
The Wearing Of The Green

Sweet land! my parents loved you well
They sleep within your breast
With theirs, for love no words can tell
My bones must never rest
And lonely must my true love stray
That was our village queen
When I am banished far away
For The Wearing Of The Green

But, Mary, dry that bitter tear
'Twould break my heart to see
And sweetly sleep my parents dear
That cannot weep for me
I'll think not of my distant tomb
Nor seas rolled wide between
But watch the hour, that yet will come
For The Wearing Of The Green

O, I care not for the thistle
And I care not for the rose
For when the cold winds whistle
Neither down nor crimson shows
But like hope to him that's friendless
Where no gaudy flower is seen
By our graves, with love that's endless
Waves our own true-hearted green

O, sure God's world was wild enough
And plentiful for all!
And ruined cabins were so stuff
To build a lordly hall
They might have let the poor man live
Yet all as lordly been
But heaven it's own good time will give
For The Wearing Of The Green

regards Mick Bracken

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: John OSh
Date: 08 Mar 99 - 05:18 PM

As a minor collector of Irish folk, I guess I can hear it every day - but there is nothing quite like hearing a bar full of tipsy Irish (both of native birth and of descent) trying to sing "Rattlin' Bog", "Johnny McAldoo" "Holy Ground" or "Half Pint" at the top of their lungs! It's enough to bring tears to your eyes, from laughter, joy, amazement and often pain (from the screeching voices)

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 06 Mar 99 - 04:22 AM

Risin of the Moon gets my heart thumping everytime. We do a version in my band (rather electrified) and it is always a crowd-pleaser...LEJ

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Reta
Date: 06 Mar 99 - 12:32 AM

I'd love to hear these on St. Pat's day. With any luck, I will.

Slaney Valley,-----Come By the Hills,------Whiskey On A Sunday,-----Curragh Of Kildare,-----Dicey Riley,-------The Maid Of Slievenamon,--------The Spinning Wheel Song,--------The Snowy-Breasted Pearl,--------Eileen Aroon,---------Danny Boy,----------God Save Ireland ,----------Boolavogue,---------Rambler From Clare,---------Sliav Gallion Braes. And just for kicks, Harrigan, That's Me!

Fun thread! Thanks. Blessings, Reta

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Wotcha
Date: 05 Mar 99 - 08:47 PM

A stirring hymn St Patrick's Breastplate springs to mind.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: A Farrell
Date: 05 Mar 99 - 06:15 PM

Your thread conjurs up memories of parochial school concert practices. We little lambs stood for hours under the critical tutilage of the Sisters of Mercy (HA!) rehearsing 'Come Back to Erin, Mavourny' Hated that song then, have to hear it every March 17th now...go figure.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: mm
Date: 05 Mar 99 - 03:38 AM

Surely the songs to sing on St Patrick's Day would be songs about Irish saints?

In Ireland we usually sing the hymn "Hail Glorious Saint Patrick", which starts:

Hail Glorious Saint Patrick, dear saint of our isle On us thy dear children, send down a sweet smile..."

to which the saint invariably replies not by hailing but by raining heavily on the parade.

Or what about "In Glendalough lived a young saint, in odour of sanctity dwelling, an old-fashioned odour which now, you seldom or never are smelling".

You'll find the first in any collection of Irish hymns, the second was recorded by The Dubliners.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Ferrara
Date: 04 Mar 99 - 09:55 AM

I think my St.Patrick's day would be incomplete without hearing or singing Danny Boy. Yes, I *love* Danny Boy, ever since I realized it's a parent's lament for a son going off to war. Before that, I thought it was a morbid sort of romantic love song.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Elizabeth
Date: 04 Mar 99 - 05:00 AM

Our band will be giving a lot of the above mentioned songs a bit of a whirl on the 17th. One of my favourites is Fields of Athenry....brings a tear to the eye. We don't seem to have too much trouble here in Australia with the rebel songs. It all comes of being good convict stock I suppose. We also mix our vocal numbers with plenty of instrumental. Sometimes its the only way to compete with the drinking noise in the pub!! Cheers all :-)

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Brakn
Date: 03 Mar 99 - 08:01 PM

It's A Great Day For The Irish (as sung by Judy Garland)

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Terry
Date: 03 Mar 99 - 07:51 PM

I like to hear songs about Irish places on St. Patrick's Day. They evoke nostalgia, yet are somehow less sorrowful than most immigration songs. Two of my favorites are Galway Bay and The Cliffs of Dooneen. Christy Moore's version of the latter is lovely.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Scotty Rotten
Date: 03 Mar 99 - 06:28 PM

COME OUT YE BLACK AND TANS!!!

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Rich and Dee (inactive)
Date: 03 Mar 99 - 02:34 PM

Hi,

This song will never make anyone's top ten, but I've always thought the Pogues' Thousands Are Sailing is a must for St Patrick's Day. It may also be the finest emigration song written in quite a few years.

The line "Where'r we go we celebrate the land that made us refugees..." gives me chills.

We tried to play it one year on St Patrick's Day and the noise and the drone in the pub was such that only "Whiskey in the Jar" could register with anyone.

Rich

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Mandy
Date: 03 Mar 99 - 10:36 AM

Steven,

Hi sweetheart. I just want you to know that I love you and Im thnking of you while Im in school.

Don't give up on us!!!!!!!

Love Mandy

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From:
Date: 03 Mar 99 - 10:34 AM

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: alison
Date: 03 Mar 98 - 06:36 PM

Hi Marc,

THanks for that and welcome. If you go back to the main Mudcat page you should find something to click on about subscribing (it doesn't have to cost anything), then you'll be able to send us personal messages, if you want to... most of us use these threads to communicate anyway.

Slainte

Alison

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Wolfgang Hell
Date: 03 Mar 98 - 04:33 AM

for Tim Jaques: here's A soldier's song in English, Irish and with music.
Wolfgang

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Marc B
Date: 03 Mar 98 - 01:49 AM

What a great idea for a thread. Thanks, Allison.

I'll be playing with old friends and compatriots in Seattle over the course of the St. Patrick's weekend and day. Fortunately, the first gig is a concert so I get to do the slow stuff that's tough on the day itself.

A song I can't START St. Patrick's Day without is the U.S. national anthem. I introduce myself and the song by saying it's a traditional opening song set to the tune of an old drinking song, then sing a sean nos version of the Star Spangled Banner. The first year I tried it I was sure there would be dead silence then loud guffaws, accompanied by mass exodus. To my delight and surprise the entire pub, full to the gills, sang it in full throat. Haven't started without it since.

A few of my other "got to do it today"

Foggy Dew(Rebel version) Song For Ireland Green Fields of Canada(my favorite song to sing, period) Kilkelly Men Behind the Wire Mo Ghile Mear Lannigan's Ball McGinty's Meal and Ale(yeah, so it's Scottish) Green Fields of France Raglan Road Parting Glass Peeler and the Goat Dun Cow Paddy Lay Back St. Patrick Was a Gentleman My Name is Jock Stewart Easy & Slow Lily of the West Rocky Road to Dublin Monto Teddy Bear's Head Finnegan's Wake British Army Black & Tans Rambling Rover(Andy Stewart, yeah, I know it's Scottish ,too) Barrett's Privateers & Mary Ellen Carter(Stan Rogers) There Were Roses(I gotta be up for this, it kills me everytime, but a good answer to the rebel songs if you're conscious is bothering you).

RE: PC. I don't have much trouble with rebel songs. They are mostly from historical periods and for me celebrate people who have been willing to give all for what they believe in. I don't think it is an endorsement of current terrorist tactics. It does concern me some though, and I worry that some day I'm going to hurt someone in the audience who has lost a friend, relation, or ancestor to rebel violence. Funny thing is, I really consider myself more of a traditional English folk singer than Irish, though my repertoire is about 1/3 Irish, 1/3 English, 1/3 Scottish, with some Aussie, American, and tons of sea shanties(that at one time having been my speciality). Yeah, I know that doesn't add up to 100:) At the same time that I identify more personally with English stuff, I realize that the traditional rebel stuff alone has made my more Republican(Irish, not American) in my emotional views. My intellectual ideas are much more conflicted, other than being optimistic that a way to peace will be found one day - hopefully soon. But I do notice that I don't sing any Protestant songs of force. And a final note, I like to sing Rebel songs because they have in abundance an edge, a passion, which is the element of song, in any genre, that I am attracted to sing.

My, I could just go on. Throw in the lot of Australian, Scottish and English songs. Truth is, I use St. Patrick's Day, since it's a long gig, to sing every damn song I know! I don't do the Irish Eyes stuff, not because I object to it, but because I don't do it well, not my style, and there's usually some good tenor in the crowd who can pull it off, even besotted, better than I.

I'm new to this forum(though I've had a downloaded DigiTrad for a year or so) and haven't figured out how or if there is a way to address any of you individually or if there is another way to chat beside these threads. In any case I am glad to have found you.

Marc B [e-mail]

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From:
Date: 02 Mar 98 - 10:32 PM

What is Ireland's national anthem, anyway? I'm sure I must have heard it at some point but can't recall.

I am also thinking of another soft song you don't hear often, at least in pubs. It has the lines:

When my ship is anchored, and my journey o'er
I'll make my way, to Erin's shore
And in my native counteree . . .

You also tend to hear Pogues songs on Saint Patrick's Day.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: leprechaun
Date: 28 Feb 98 - 03:51 PM

Some day I'll get to venture out into the world and listen to some of you play on St. Patrick's Day.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Tim O'Kane
Date: 24 Feb 98 - 12:13 PM

Martin and Buce. "One Morning in May" tells a similar story with similar lyrics to The Nightengale (about the soldier). However, it's a different melody, different time signature, and sung somewhat slower. Also, there is no chorus, just verses.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Bruce O.
Date: 23 Feb 98 - 08:16 PM

Leprechaun, both Dominic Behan's "The Patriot Game" and also the song "Johnson's Motor Car" are sung by Behan on 'Easter Week and After', Topic 12T44 (1958, rereleased with new notes, 1965.)

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 23 Feb 98 - 04:44 PM

We'll sort this out yet. I don't think its anything to do with the Nightingale (ship or soldier) at all! Its just that Tim wasn't talking about "One morning in May", as I know it.

I'll post it later

Regards

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Bruce O.
Date: 23 Feb 98 - 12:19 PM

Martin, where does yours come from? It doesn't look like the one 'Nightingale (Wreck)' in DT. A fragment of an extreme variant of the DT one is in Kidson's 'Traditional Tunes', and I think I've seen other versions of it but can't recall any of the other titles.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 23 Feb 98 - 10:16 AM

Bruce

Depends which side of the problem you're approaching from! I was assuming the "One morning in May" was this one:

One morning in May, as I carelessly did stray
Down by yon green gardens where lambs sport and play
In the clear morning dew, as I lay down to muse
A fair maiden of honour, apeared in my view.

I see the other connection alright.

Anyway.....

Regards

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: hanrahan
Date: 23 Feb 98 - 08:01 AM

Leprechaun, the song you heard on the radio is Robbie O'Connell's.

hanrahan

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Bruce O.
Date: 22 Feb 98 - 04:48 PM

Sorry, on rereading Timothy J.'s posting the "Nightingle" he meant is obvious. I thought I had posted the original version of it, but can't find it among the threads here. I'll go dig it up and post it to a new thread.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Bruce O.
Date: 22 Feb 98 - 04:33 PM

Which "Kathleen Mavourneen"?

"Kathleen Ma Vourneen Cushlah Ma Chree" (printed in 1826, and probably earlier) commences "O distant, but dear, is that sweet little island" (no author cited). This was to the tune of "The Humours of Glen", an Irish tune.

"Kathleen Mavourneen', by an Irish Woman with a Scots name, Mrs. Crawford, c 1835, commences "Kathleen Mavourneen! The grey dawn is breaking". Tune for this one is by F. W. N. Crouch.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Phideaux
Date: 22 Feb 98 - 03:41 PM

Keeping in this vein, I used to hear "Kathleen Mavourneen" back when I was a kid in Wisconsin. Had a 12" 78 of it until the famous house cleaning. It's a real nice song as is "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen".

Another good song is really Canadian, but Maura O'Connel did it when she was with Da Dannen. That would be "Maggie".

Bob Schwarer

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Bruce O.
Date: 22 Feb 98 - 03:34 PM

Which "Wearing of the Green" are you talking about? The tune "Wearing of the Green" (Oswald's "The Tulip", 1747) was known before Dion Boucicault's song "The Wearing of the Green" was written (for 'Arrah na Pogue', 1865). My request for the older song on the Irish music list (IRTRAD-L) has gone unanswered. Does anyone here know it?
Re: Timothy J.'s question, yes, which "Nightingale"?
"Tim Finnegan's Wake" (air- "The French Musician", commencing "Tim Finnegan lived in Walker Street") is by John F. Poole, according to John K. Casey in his 'The Rising of the Moon, and other Ballads, Songs and Legends.'

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Phideaux
Date: 22 Feb 98 - 01:41 PM

A beautiful song.

Bob S.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Alice
Date: 22 Feb 98 - 12:34 PM

Tim made the point above that the slow love songs get lost in the roar and stomping of the crowd on March 17. So true, but regretable, since the roller-coaster of emotions from laughing to crying is such a part of the BIG experience of the day. A couple of weeks ago when I was asked to stand and sing a song at our session, I started by saying, "This is a song my father used to sing." That brought a big roar, since the crowd seemed to expect a drinking or rebel song. Then I stood there for half a minute, (because I couldn't remember how it started!!) and commented, "My father was a very quiet man." (Trying to buy some time until I could jog my memory) Which brought a big laugh. Then, I started the song, and it was "The Rose of Tralee". By the end of the two verses I sang, the woman in front of me was wiping tears from her cheeks. I think part of it was the idea that my real Irish father used to sing such a sweet song. When I was a girl, I would sit at the piano and play The Rose of Tralee and he would come and stand by me and sing. alice, montana

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 22 Feb 98 - 12:20 PM

Tim (Jaques)

"When a man's in love" is certainly sung in the tradition in the North of Ireland. That wouldn't stop it being, e.g., Scots, of course!

Tim (smae?). I'm intrigued byt the reference to "One morning in may" and the Nightingale! The "one morning" I know is to a very beautiful tune and is one of my favourites. Which "Nightingale"? The ship?

Regards

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Feb 98 - 04:35 AM

Leprechaun, Columbia/Legacy has a two-disc Clancy Brothers/Tommy Makem set called "Ain't It Grand, Boys: unissued gems." It has "Johnson's Motor Car," "Patriot Game," and a good number of other good songs that maybe didn't make it to LP's years ago because they were too political. The title song is really powerful. As I recall, the collection wasn't very expensive. You get about a hundred minutes of music for maybe twenty bucks. That ain't bad for Columbia, which seems to like to give you 70 minutes of reissued music on two CD's and charge you $25 or more.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: leprechaun
Date: 22 Feb 98 - 02:36 AM

I heard a song on the radio about an Irish musician who comes to America and everywhere he goes to play music, the people get mad because he doesn't play "real Irish" songs. The chorus went: "You're not Irish, you can't be Irish, you don't know Danny Boy, nor TooRaLooTaLooRa, or even Irish Eyes. You've got a hell of a nerve to say you came from Ireland. Now cut out all the nonsense and sing MacNamara'a Band."

Nevertheless, my third generation, west coast USA St. Patrick's Day would be tragically incomplete without the following songs:

It's the Same Old Shillelagh, A Nation Once Again, Seven Nights Drunk, Wearin' of the Green, Whiskey in the Jar, To Welcome Paddy Home, Mrs. Murphy's Chowder, Foggy Dew, Danny Boy, Carrickfergus, Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ra, Song For Ireland, Both Sides the Tweed, Mother Machree, Finnegan's Wake, The Rose of Tralee, Bold Fenian Men, The Back Door, Arthur McBride, Boulavogue, Mo Ghile Mear...

I probably won't get to hear all of them on March 17, but fortunately for me, St. Patrick's day is 365 days a year.

I've yet to hear "Johnson's Motor Car" or "The Patriot Game," though the lyrics are in my lost Dubliner's Song Book. Can somebody recommend a good anthology of revolutionary songs on CD? Then I could sing along with David & Phideaux, while drinking my Jameson's straight.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: NEWFOUNDLANDER
Date: 20 Feb 98 - 04:15 PM

Here's an excellent site for those Paddy's Day singalongs. http://pantheon.cis.yale.edu/~declaris/ballads/songs.html

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Phideaux
Date: 20 Feb 98 - 12:56 PM

Heard another song today which would be good for St Patrick's day: "Kelly, the Boy From Killane".

Hadn't heard that in a while.

BTW our old parish priest would get livid if anyone would refer the good saint as Pat or Paddy.

Bob Schwarer

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From:
Date: 11 Feb 98 - 06:14 PM

If the drunks like to stomp, try "The Old Dun Cow." (the song where everyone shouts "MCINTYRE!".

Pity about The Unicorn Song. It's actually a rather nice childrens' tune but it has been done to death.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Jaxon
Date: 11 Feb 98 - 11:18 AM

Wolfgang - The song Peter Pan & Me was recorded by Moloney, O'Connell & Keane on their "Kilkelly" album. It was written by Mickey McConnell (?sp) who also wrote "Only Our Rivers Run Free". My original tape is missing but I will get a replacement this week and post the lyrics. For more info on Robbie O'Conell try his web site -

http://www.celtica.com/robbieoconnell/

He well worth the effort to see him if he tours near you.

Jack Murray

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: alison
Date: 10 Feb 98 - 04:56 PM

Hi

Yes, Alan and I are playing too. We just thought it would be good to hear what other people are doing.

Keep the ideas coming.

Slainte

Alison

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Tim
Date: 10 Feb 98 - 04:02 PM

We're also playing on St. Pat's day, but at a sort of redneck Irish bar, so we don't get any grief over the rebel songs.

Among the most requested is the dreaded Unicorn song, Danny Boy, A Nation Once Again, Seven Drunken Nights, Maid of Fife, Mary Mac and generally anything they can stomp too (clapping being next to impossible while standing and holding a beer).

We also eschew the ballads because of the crowd noise. Our favorites include One Morning in May (a version of the Nightengale), Right All Right, and a rather uptempo Star of the County Down segueing right into a rocking Kid on the Mountain.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: rich r
Date: 09 Feb 98 - 10:23 PM

In two contrasting moods, I love to hear Mary Black sing "Song For Ireland" and Tommy Makem do "Freedom's Sons" then go and sing "The Patriot Game"

rich r

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From:
Date: 09 Feb 98 - 10:20 PM

Alison, Actually, I'll be playing on St Pats. I like to hear (and play) rebel songs. My favorites are "I wish I was back home in Derry" written by Bobby Sands, "Foggy Dew"(the one about easter week 1916), and "Follow me up to Carlow". Songs I could go all year without hearing are "The Unicorn", "Kerrigan", and "when Irish eyes are smiling". I do play them, but the tip (or whiskey) has to up front.

Slainte Rick

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From:
Date: 09 Feb 98 - 07:05 PM

Foggy Dew. Being opposed to stirring up old quarrels I prefer the love song version.

I also like the song that Celtic Thunder sings about Paddy getting married, the name of which I can never remember.

A Nation Once Again, in both the slow and fast versions.

You always hear the Unicorn Song, which seems to be associated with the Irish merely because The Irish Rovers sang it. (Shel Silverstein wrote it.)

Up here they sometimes throw in a few Newfoundland songs, which in some cases could well be of Irish origin anyway. They often throw in a few Scottish tunes too, and few of the drunks notice.

They never sing the slow, melancholy love songs at which the Irish excel, probably because it's hard to make out slow, melancholy love songs over the din of hundreds of roaring drunks. "When A Man's In Love" is one such, and although the Chieftains did it I wouldn't swear that it is Irish in origin.

I also like a band that doesn't just do the pub favourites, but does sets of dances too.

Please, stay away from that silly green beer. Drink real Irish brew (why drink green Bud when you can drink real Guinness Extra Stout?), and real Irish whiskey (neat, not in Irish coffee.) I rather like that Irish whiskey called Redbreast, although it is a rare pub here that carries it.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Phideaux
Date: 09 Feb 98 - 12:36 PM

How about "Bold Fenian Men"?

Bob S.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Wolfgang Hell
Date: 09 Feb 98 - 12:31 PM

Jack Murray,
I know all the songs mentioned so far, but I've never ever heard of "Peter Pan and me". I'm curious.
Wolfgang

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: David
Date: 09 Feb 98 - 12:00 PM

Hmmm.... for fun, i would have to say: Wild Rover, or maybe Old Dun Cow. For the lament and love: The Nightingale and Caledonia (actually a Scottish song I believe.) And for the rousing rebel spirit: Irish Soldier Laddie, Kevin barry, and A Nation Once Again. I'd have to go with Bob on the non-PC thing. Along with "Johnson's" there could be "the Broad Black Brimmer" and "Come Out Ye Black and Tans." Songs not to hear: "The Sash My Father Wore"

Slán! David

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Jon W.
Date: 09 Feb 98 - 10:22 AM

How about "The Minstrel Boy." I was at the St. Patrick's Day parade last year in Salt Lake City, and it seemed like every bagpipe band in the state marched through playing that tune (not that I didn't enjoy it).

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Jaxon
Date: 09 Feb 98 - 08:13 AM

Being Irish all year round exposes me to more than the once a year type. Four Green Fields, Kilkelly, A Nation Once Again, Peter Pan & Me and Spancil Hill are some that I like to play or hear all year round.

Jack Murray

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: BAZ
Date: 08 Feb 98 - 06:45 PM

The ones we play down at our local on St Patricks cos we like are: The Galway Shawl Spanish Lady (the tune as a polka) Bantry girls lament and Banks of the Morlough shore

Keep the list going

regards Baz

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Phideaux
Date: 08 Feb 98 - 06:09 PM

I'm happy hearing "Johnson's Motor Car". May not be PC anymore, but I like it.

Bob Schwarer

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HARP WITHOUT THE CROWN
From: Barry Finn
Date: 08 Feb 98 - 05:27 PM

A different version (more related to St. Patrick's Day) of "The Harp Without The Crown" than what's in the DT.

T'was of a famous Yankee ship
To New York she was bound
The captain being an Irishman
Belonged to Dublin Town

Ch. Harrah, harrah, to the gals of Dublin Town
Harrah for the bonnie green flag & the harp without the crown

And when he gazes land
That town of high renown
It's break away the green burgee
And the harp without the crown

The stars & stripes way high aloft
And fluttering all around
But underneath her monkey gaff
Flew the harp without the crown

T'was on the 17th of March
We arrived in New York Bay
The captain being an Irishman
Must celebrate the day

And now we're bound for Frisco, boys
And things are getting wild
The officers & men dead drunk
Around the decks they pile

But by tomorrow morning sir
We'll work without a frown
For on the saucy Shenandoah
Flies the harp without the crown

"Also called 'The Shenandoah' or 'The Gals Of Dublin Town'. Joanna Colcord has it as a forebitter or foc's'le song sung to the tune of 'The Banks Of Newfoundland' Hugill has it as a capstan shanty with the verses sung similar to the tune of 'The Wearing Of The Green' & the chorus 'The Bonnie Blue Flag", from Hugill's Shanties Of The Seven Seas.
Barry

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 08 Feb 98 - 04:25 PM

Alison......

I'm glad you started this thread, because it highlights an interesting musical genre. That is, what I always thought were Irish songs, at least what people sang around St. Patrick's day. Now'days, I know a little better.

In fact, there's not a Fenian or an Orangeman to be found. No Gaelic, no mountain dew. Most of the popular St. Pat's songs come right out of Tin Pan Alley (Forty Shades of Green was written by Johnny Cash, for God's sake). That's not to say they aren't great (or even produced by Irishman) - just a comment that what we enjoy as good music has many roots, some patently commercial.

Were I to sing my REAL Irish songs at the St. Pat's parties, the reception would be lukewarm, at best. Other times, OK.

Anxiously awaiting other folks' selections......Tiger

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Rosie
Date: 08 Feb 98 - 02:41 PM

It'll have to start off with: IF YOU'RE IRISH COME INTO THE PARLOR followed by ISLE OF INNISFREE then AN IRISH SOLDIER BOY.* * * * * * Ahhhh! :^)

Subject: Lyr Add: ST. PATRICK'S DAY
From: Bruce O.
Date: 08 Feb 98 - 01:25 PM

Here's a couple of old tunes that maybe someone can supply songs for.

St. Patrick's Day [in the morning]. Here is an early and strange copy. The familiar tune is the 6/8 part at the end. Read sideways S over a note as 'tr'.

X:1 T:ST. PATRICK'S DAY N:Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion N:Bk. 11, c 1759-60 Q:60 M:C L:1/4 K:G D/2E/2 GG(A/2B/2)|d3/2e/2 (d/2B/2)(A/2G/2)|B(A/2B/2) (c/2B/2)(A/2G/2)|EE~E3/2D/2|(D/2E/2)G(G/2A/2)(B/2c/2)|d3/2e/2 (d/2B/2)(A/2G/2)|B(A/2B/2) (c/2B/2)(A/2G/2)|EGG2::d(e/2g/2)g3/2f/2|(g/2f/2)(e/2d/2)~e(d/2B/2)|d(e/2g/2)g3/2f/2|(g/2f/2)(e/2d/2)e3/2g/2|(d/2B/2)(A/2G/2)G(A/2B/2)|d3/2e/2 (d/2B/2)(A/2G/2)|g3/2e/2 (d/2B/2)(A/2G/2)|EEE3/2G/2|(D/2E/2)G(G/2A/2)(B/2d/2)|(e/2c/2)(B/2G/2) (d/2B/2)(A/2G/2)|BA/2B/2 (c/2B/2)(A/2G/2)|EGG2:|M:6/8 L:1/8 GAG GAB|ded dBA|BAB BAG|EFE~E2D|GAG GAB|ded dBG|~BAB BGD|E3G3:: def g2e|f2d~e2B|def g2e|~f2de3|def g2e|~f2d edB|defg2e|~f2de2g|dBG GAB|ded dBG|BAB BGE|EFE E2D|GAG GAB|ded dBG|BAB BGE|~E3G3:|]

X:2 T:St. Patrick's Day in the Evening N:R. Bride's 24 Country Dances for the Year 1766 Q:60 M:6/8 L:1/8 K:Dm (d2e) (f2g)|fed^c2A|(d2e) (f2g)|afd^c2A|(d2e) (f2g)|(A3 A)GF|G2AB2G|AFDD3::F2F F2/F/2cF|A2F cAF|G2AB2G|cAG FDE|F2F F/2F/2cF|A2F cAF|G2AB2G|AFDD3:|]

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Bruce O.
Date: 08 Feb 98 - 12:52 PM

"Danny Boy" was set to an Irish tune, "Londonderry Air" (I think there's an old thread on this) but the song isn't Irish.

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Alice
Date: 08 Feb 98 - 11:07 AM

(Danny Boy is the one I need to sing, whether anyone hears me or not). It's hard to choose just one, but there is a tenor in my town who does a great "Mist Covered Mountains of Home". That would be my choice this year. alice, in mt

Subject: RE: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 08 Feb 98 - 09:13 AM

I guess I like them all, but if I had to name one it would be:

"Where the River Shannon Flows"

.....Tiger

Subject: St. Patrick's Day favourites
From: alison
Date: 08 Feb 98 - 12:55 AM

Hi,

Just thought it would be interesting to find out what you expect to hear on St. Patrick's Day..... You know that one song which need to played in order for your day to be complete.

I don't mind if you tell me the one's you'd rather not hear too..... you know the homesick drunk sobbing a version of "Danny boy" into a glass of green beer.

Slainte

alison