Lyr Req: The Winding River Roe (from Cara Dillon)

Subject: Lyr Req: The Winding River Roe
From: GUEST,b.j.
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 06:34 AM

can someone help with the lyrics for the song/poem The Winding River Roe?

i saw cara dillon perform this song @ the 2003 Womad Festival here in Adelaide, Australia just recently and would love to get a copy.
preferably the traditional text but any variants would be more than o.k.

also could anyone advise who has recorded this piece....i know Ann Breen may have but are not sure from which album.

thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Winding River Roe
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 10:12 AM

There are several quite different songs called The River Roe; for one, see this earlier thread: ADD:The River Roe (first part; the second half of the song appears further down the page).

It can be found quite easily by typing river roe into the onsite search-engine which you'll find on the main Forum page. Winding river roe doesn't work; it isn't, I think, usually called that, though William Allingham set his Winding Banks of Erne to the tune, and some confusion may perhaps have arisen as a result. A search via Google certainly returns several "winding" references, mostly to Cara Dillon.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Winding River Roe
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Mar 03 - 04:05 AM

"The Winding River Roe" is performed by John James Kelly on CD #6 of the series "O Ghluin go Gluin" ("From Knee to Knee" i.e. passed down)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE WINDING RIVER ROE (from Cara Dillon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 15 Dec 09 - 08:34 AM

Found at http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Winding-River-Roe-lyrics-Cara-Dillon/6021167FC665290B48256F2E00270B51


THE WINDING RIVER ROE

Some poets sing of a noble king, all of a sweetheart fair;
Some tell a tale of ships that sail with treasures rich and rare;
But my humble pen still drifts again to scenes of long ago
Across the sea to the Benedy and the winding river Roe.

Right well do I remember now those happy childhood days,
And the times I had when just a lad on Carn's lovely braes,
And when my mind is thus inclined no other joys I know,
For my heart remains on the verdant plains near the winding river Roe.

Benbradagh's crown o'er Dungiven town is still within my view,
And the Benedy Glen I worshipped then still lives in memory too.
The beautiful scene of Cashel Green still haunts where'er I go,
And in all my dreams I see it seems the winding river Roe.

If fortune smiles on me a while, I'll cross the sea again,
And all those years of toil and tears will be forgotten then;
And when at last my life has passed, contentedly I'll go
Across the sea to the Benedy and the winding river Roe.


[On Cara Dillon's album "Sweet Liberty" this is called "traditional." To my ears, this has the flavor of a 19th-century poem, but I am unable to find it with Google Books.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Winding River Roe (from Cara Dillon)
From: Bearheart
Date: 18 Jul 20 - 05:23 PM

I was grateful to find most of the lyrics to this song on Mudcat, but need some help.

I discovered this link
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/itma.dl.audio/goilin/1179-ITMA-MP3.mp3

to an mp3 on the Irish Traditional Music Archive, part of the Góilín Song Project, sung by Dominic Kelly, and I have fallen in love with his version.

There are some differences in the verses.

He has a different 3rd verse and not being familiar with the terrain I can;t figure out the place name:

Twas my delight on a summer’s night by       braes to stand
And to watch the trout as they leap up about in their watery fairyland
While the moon above bestowed its love on the peaceful glens below
An angel’s song was borne along the winding river Roe.

Also the last lines of the last verse are different:

If fortune smiles on me a while, I'll cross the seas again,
And all these years of toil and tears will be forgotten then;
And when my mind is thus inclined no other joy I’d know
For my heart remains on the verdant plains near the winding River Roe.

would anyone mind listening and help me out with the place name?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Winding River Roe (from Cara Dillon)
From: Cattia
Date: 23 Mar 21 - 04:41 PM

I did a research for Due sorelle stessa terra Dungiven contea di Derry
for the lyrics of The Benedy Glen (traditional Irish)
Winding River Roe (traditional Irish)
Hill of Thieves (Dear Dillon),
I'm sorry but the blog is in Italian, however many references to the links are on pages in English
https://terreceltiche.altervista.org/due-sorelle-stessa-terra-dungiven-contea-di-derry/

Roe is the river that flows through Dungiven

Priory walls: the ruins of the monastery enclose what is (wrongly) believed to be the tomb of Cooey-na-Gall O'Cahan. Known as Dungiven Priory, it was founded by Saint Naechtain in the 7th century, succeeded by a 12th century Augustinian Canon Priory (St Mary's Abbey), associated with the O'Cahan family. As it happens we find a clootie well right in the immediate vicinity of the ruins. Literally "fabric fountains" are pools of water or fountains, with a tree next to it, where strips of fabric are tied to the branches, in the hope of healing from an illness

O'Cahan clans ruled this area for hundreds of years. They were one of the most powerful clans in Ulster.
Cooey-na-Gall O'Cahan, Cooey from the Gaelic Cu-Mhaighe which means hound.
Benbradagh (literally the hill of thieves) - is a mountain overlooking Dungiven

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Winding River Roe (from Cara Dillon)
From: Felipa
Date: 23 Mar 21 - 05:18 PM

Bearheart, could it be Clady's Braes?
you could also try asking at the facebook page of Derry Traditional Singers as until lockdown, people from Dungiven came to the singing sessions in Derry city.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Winding River Roe (from Cara Dillon)
From: leeneia
Date: 25 Mar 21 - 12:15 PM

Here's a link to a YouTube video with Cara Dillon singing this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4jaRD0Be7M

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Winding River Roe (from Cara Dillon)
From: leeneia
Date: 25 Mar 21 - 01:00 PM

Benedy seems to be a rural area in or near Dungiven in Northern Ireland.
Take a look at this page:

assoc.

It's still beautiful.

I'm composing a new tune.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Winding River Roe (from Cara Dillon)
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Apr 23 - 03:14 PM

‘‘Twas my delight on a Summer’s night near Corrick bridge to stand :)