Lyr/Tune Add: The Kerry Dancing

Subject: Kerry Dances
From: Katrina
Date: 20 May 98 - 07:33 PM

Can anyone give me the lyrics to the Kerry Dances

Subject: Lyr Add: KERRY DANCES (J. L. Molloy)
From: Teru
Date: 21 May 98 - 06:25 AM

I think this song was written by J. L. Molloy.

Here are the lyrics.

1. Oh, the days of the Kerry dancing!
Oh, the ring of the piper's tune!
Oh, for one of those hours of gladness,
Gone, alas! like our youth, too soon!
When the boys began to gather
In the glen of a summer night,
And the Kerry piper's tuning
Made us long with wild delight;

REFRAIN
Oh, to think of it, Oh, to dream of it,
Fills my heart with tears!
Oh, the days of the Kerry dancing!
Oh, the ring of the piper's tune!
Oh, for one of those hours of gladness,
Gone, alas! like our youth, too soon!

2. Was there ever a sweeter Colleen
In the dance than Eily More!
Or a prouder lad than Thady
As he boldly took the floor!
"Lads and lasses to your places,
Up the middle an' down again,"
Ah! the merry hearted laughter
Ringing through the happy glen!

=REFRAIN=
Time goes on, and the happy years are dead,
And one by one the merry hearts are fled;
Silent now, is the wild and lonely glen,
Where the bright glad laugh will echo ne'er again,
Only dreaming of days gone by, in my heart I hear.

3. Loving voices of old companions,
Stealing out of the past once more,
And the sound of the dear old music,
Soft and sweet as in days of yore.
When the boys began to gather
In the glen of a summer night,
And the Kerry piper's tuning
Made us long with wild delight;

=REFRAIN=

I hope they can help you.

Regards

Teru (of Japan)

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 11-Jul-02.

Subject: RE: Kerry Dances
From: Katrina
Date: 26 May 98 - 07:00 PM

many Thanks Teru (cant believe I found the words in Japan)

Subject: Tune Add: THE KERRY DANCING
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 30 Jul 99 - 07:19 AM

I've deliberately added every song I can find about Kerry over the last couple of months - there's hardly anything in the DT that mentions the counties of my grandfather. I don't know the origin of this song. I suspect that if my mother-in-law sings it in her choir that it must have been written this century, but I'm sure that you can set me straight.

PS My grand-dad came from just outside of Tralee. iS Aberdorney the correct spelling for the village?

Regards, John

---

Click to play

ABC format:

X:1
T:The Kerry Dances
M:6/8
Q:1/4=120
K:G
GGABAG|c2ed2B|g2BBAG|A2EF3|G2ABAG|c2ed2B|
g2BBAG|A2FG3|d2ed2e|d2ed2e|d2edfd|e2^cd3|
d2ed2e|d2ed2e|d2efaf|e2^cd3|g2ecde|f2dBcd|
e2Gd2c|BAGA3|G2ABAG|c2ed2B|g2BBAG|A2EF3|G2ABAG|
c2ed2B|g2BBAG|A2FG21/8||

To play or display ABC tunes, try concertina.net

Subject: RE: TUNE ADD - NEED LYRICS: The Kerry Dances
From: Wolfgang
Date: 30 Jul 99 - 07:51 AM

there's lyrics here , but memory says they're not very good. I have lyrics at home but won't be here again before next thursday. Beat me please to post the lyrics.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: TUNE ADD - NEED LYRICS: The Kerry Dances
From: Philippa
Date: 30 Jul 99 - 08:31 AM

Wolfgang, not a bit like it...my memory says the song begins:
Oh the days of the Kerry dances
Oh the ring of the piper's tune
Oh, for one of those hours of gladness
Gone alas like our youth too soon....

I'll bet they're to be be found somewhere on the net! But John probably will be happy to learn of yet another Kerry song.

Subject: RE: TUNE ADD - NEED LYRICS: The Kerry Dances
From: Wolfgang
Date: 30 Jul 99 - 08:53 AM

Philippa, blessed your memory. Mine only said there's something perhaps wrong, yours provided the first verse. A search (the only memory you need for that is in your computer) now found me this, somewhere on the web.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: TUNE ADD - NEED LYRICS: The Kerry Dances
From: Philippa
Date: 30 Jul 99 - 09:03 AM

Hi wolfgang! While you were finding that, I found the kerry Dance. Now I'll check whether we have the same site.

Subject: breaking all the rules
From: Philippa
Date: 30 Jul 99 - 09:07 AM

OH, it was on a Mudcat thread. Why didn't either of us start with a forum search?

Subject: Lyr Add: O THE DAYS OF THE KERRY DANCING (Molloy)
From: Alice
Date: 30 Jul 99 - 11:11 AM

Here are the 4 verses altogether. The third verse changes keys and slows down (piu lento) and also changes tune. The first two verses are bright and lively (vivace), and the fourth verse, same tune as the first two, is sung lento, sadly, in the beginning, then speeds up at "when the boys". I considered singing this in my program at the Victorian Ball last week, but decided to do "The Lass With the Delicate Air" instead. As it turned out, I didn't have time to sing The Lass.

O THE DAYS OF THE KERRY DANCING
words and music by James Lyman Molloy
1837-1909

1. O the days of the Kerry Dancing,
O the ring of the piper's tune!
O for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas! like our youth, too soon.
When the boys began to gather,
In the glen of a summer night,
And the Kerry piper's tuning
Made us long with wild delight;

O, to think of it, O to dream of it,
Fills my heart with tears.
O the days of the Kerry Dancing,
O the ring of the piper's tune!
O for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas! like our youth, too soon.

2. Was there ever a sweeter colleen,
In the dance than Eily Moore!
Or a prouder lad than Thady,
As he boldly took the floor:
"Lads and lasses to your places,
Up the middle and down again,"
Ah, the merry hearted laughter
Ringing thro the happy glen.

O, to think of it, O to dream of it,
Fills my heart with tears.
O the days of the Kerry Dancing,
O the ring of the piper's tune!
O for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas! like our youth, too soon.

(piu lento, tune & key change)
3. Time goes on, and the happy years are dead.
And one by one, the merry hearts have fled.
Silent now is the wild and lonely glen,
Where the bright glad laugh
Will echo ne'er again.
Only dreaming of days gone by,
Fills my heart with tears!

(back to same tune as verse 1 and 2)
4. Loving voices of old companions
Stealing out of the past once more,
And the sound of the dear old music,
Soft and sweet as in days of yore:
When the boys began to gather
In the glen of a summer night,
And the Kerry piper's tuning
Made us long with wild delight;

O, to think of it, O to dream of it,
Fills my heart with tears.
O the days of the Kerry Dancing,
O the ring of the piper's tune!
O for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas! like our youth, too soon.

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: TUNE ADD - NEED LYRICS: The Kerry Dances
From: Alice
Date: 30 Jul 99 - 11:15 AM

By the way, my source is the sheet music published by Warner Brothers, who now own the copyright. They are posted here for educational puposes only.

---

Note from Joe Offer: copyrights of almost all songs written before 1923 have expired.

Subject: RE: TUNE ADD - NEED LYRICS: The Kerry Dances
From:
Date: 30 Jul 99 - 11:55 AM

John, have you come across this Kerry song which is in the DT - 'Home by Bearna' ?

Subject: RE: Kerry Dances
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 30 Jul 99 - 12:21 PM

Thanks Teru; I've known the first verse for sixty-odd years, but I'd never heard the second one.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: The Kerry Dancing
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Sep 08 - 06:11 PM

I posted a MIDI of John in Brisbane's MIDITXT tune. The only quarrel I have with John's rendition is that I think the first two notes should have a tie or should be combined.

Are the lyrics that Alice posted definitive, or are there other versions that are used more commonly?


Click to play

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: The Kerry Dancing
From: MartinRyan
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 02:41 AM

Joe

Don't think the words vary significantly, ever. It's a bit of a drawing room piece, usually with harp or piano accompaniment - so fairly unaffected by the folk process.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: The Kerry Dancing
From: MartinRyan
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 07:56 AM

A quick check shows "The Kerry Dance" in Hoagland's "1000 Years of Irish Poetry" exactly as Alice gives it above - apart from being set in four line verses.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: The Kerry Dancing
From: GUEST,bigJ
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 06:27 AM

Seeing your heading I thought you might like this:-

Uproar in Kerry as fleadh goes 'sets mad'
By Anne Lucey                Irish Independant Newspaper

Wednesday July 16 2008

'We are sets mad down here". There'll be "straight sets, illicit sets, wild sets, casual sets, gay sets, unprotected sets -- whatever turns you on!'
So goes a radio advert for the normally conservative Munster Fleadh Cheoil.
The advertisement has caused uproar in Kerry, where some listeners claim the ad has left them confused.
The advertisement's creator is Nick Ryan, honorary public relations officer for the fleadh. Some 30 years ago he created the 'Just One Cornetto' ice cream jingle, one of the most popular ever.
Now living in Kenmare, Mr Ryan, who plays traditional music locally, said he tried to liven up news of the Fleadh Cheoil na Mumhan 2008.

Amusing

"At the end of the day it was just an amusing way to present a fleadh, rather than just the usual 'diddle-da' advertisement," he said.
John Greene, a presenter with Radio Kerry, says the radio has had "an unmerciful amount" of text messages and calls about the advertisement, but only about half are complaints. Other calls are defending

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: The Kerry Dancing
From: Megan L
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 06:35 AM

Ach weel Big J as my old friend Kay from county Coprk would say "He;s daft as a Kerryman"

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: The Kerry Dancing
From: GUEST,bigJ
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 09:28 AM

Or, indeed, the story I was told by Brendan Begley (I thing) - a Kerryman himself; about the most intelligent man in Kerry going to live in Dublin, thereby reducing the average intelligence in both places!