Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)

Subject: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog
From: kitchen piper
Date: 28 Dec 03 - 04:27 PM

Hello!!
I've been asked if I could find some words to a song (being regarded as a folkie and all).
I've been given some, but not all. This is what I have already. It's not much, but thanks in advance!
:-))
Vicki

The Blind Harper and His Dog

On the Green Banks of Shannon
When Shelia was neigh
No Blith Irish lad was so happy as I.
No Harp like my own could so cheerfully play...
.......??
.......??
my poor doggie tray

on cold winters day.......
he loved although I was poor...
    ...??...
he lay dying at his feet

Subject: Lyr Add: The Harper
From: Sorcha
Date: 28 Dec 03 - 04:34 PM

Thomas Campbell : The Harper.
Please can anybody give me, or tell me where to look, for the complete poem, "The Harper" by Thomas Campbell? My mother used to recite it and I can't remember it all. I know it begins, "On the green banks of Shannon when Sheelagh was nigh, no blithe Irish lad was so happy as I".
From: [e-mail]

This is it - though possibly not absolutely accurate:

On the green banks of Shannon when Sheelagh was nigh
No blithe Irish lad was so happy as I
And no harp like my own could so cheerfully play
And wherever I went was my poor dog Tray

Poor dog, he was faithful and kind to be sure
And he constantly loved me although I was poor
When some sour-looking folks sent me heartless away
I had always a friend in my poor dog Tray

When the road was so dark and the night was so cold
And I and my dog were growing weary and old
How snugly we slept in my old coat of grey
And he licked me for kindness, my poor dog Tray

Though my wallet was scant I remembered his case
Nor refused my last crust to his pitiful face
Though he died at my feet on a cold winter's day
And I played a lament for my poor dog Tray

Where shall I go poor, forsaken and blind?
Shall I find one to guide me so faithful and kind?
To my dear native village so far, far away
I can never return with my poor dog Tray.

http://www.sbc.org.uk/poetry/quote/txtreply.jsp?quote_id=2270

(Seems to be a poem, not a song)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 28 Dec 03 - 05:36 PM

Thomas Campbell's (My) Poor Dog Tray, occasionally called The Irish Harper's Lamentation, was a popular sentimental parlour ballad. Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads has some seventeen editions from various printers:

Poor Dog Tray

You can see sheet music of 1799-1800 at the Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection:

My Poor Dog Tray. A Favorite Song.

The early folk song collectors didn't bother with it (they knew it already, and who had written it) but probably a lot of their sources sang it (Henry Burstow certainly did). On the strength of a couple of examples in collections from oral currency, it appears in the Roud Folk Song Index at number 2668. Most of the large number of entries refer to broadsides, songsters and so on.

Campbell was a Scottish poet and journalist who settled in London and had quite a successful literary career; he is buried in Westminster Abbey. Among his other lyrics are The Wounded Hussar, Ye mariners of England and Lord Ullin's Daughter. The Exile of Erin is also usually attributed to him, but claims have also been made for an Irish poet named Reynolds.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog
From: kitchen piper
Date: 28 Dec 03 - 05:45 PM

Thank you soooo much!
I can't believe how fast you guys found that for me!!!
I can print it off and give it to a very happy relative tomorrow!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
:-))
Vicki

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Dec 03 - 05:49 PM

Possibly some help here Reply

"Old Dog Tray" by Foster is reminiscent of the song; did Foster get the idea from Thomas Campbell's poem? (1777-1844).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 28 Dec 03 - 06:03 PM

Presumably Foster based his Old Dog Tray on Campbell's earlier piece. There are several sets of sheet music at Levy, and some broadsides at the Bodleian (all attributed to Campbell!)

I was wrong about Henry Burstow: it was probably the Foster song he sang, not the Campbell. Number 2667 in the Roud Index.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog
From: ard mhacha
Date: 29 Dec 03 - 03:36 AM

Sorcha, A long time ago my late sister was taught this song in the local Convent School,she sang it to the air of The Croppy Boy,["The dear men and true" version.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog
From: GUEST,Stephen
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 06:26 PM

Does anyone have a link to a video or mp3 of this song plz???

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 06:33 AM

Exercising Some Control

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog
From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 19 Feb 07 - 02:44 PM

"Tray" as a name for Dogs seems to go back a long way: King Lear mentions "Tray, Blanche and Sweetheart" as dogs' names.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HARPER (Thomas Campbell)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Feb 07 - 08:44 PM

This is a much-anthologized poem; Google Book Search has the complete text of 38 books that contain it. These lyrics were copied from The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell edited by J. Logie Robertson, 1907. I have boldfaced the differences between this text and the one posted by Sorcha above.

THE HARPER
Thomas Campbell, 1799

On the green banks of Shannon, when Sheelah was nigh,
No blithe Irish lad was so happy as I;
And no harp like my own could so cheerily play,
And wherever I went was my poor dog Tray.

When at last I was forced from my Sheelah to part,
She said (while the sorrow was big at her heart),
'Oh! remember your Sheelah when far, far away;
And be kind, my dear Pat, to our poor dog Tray.'

Poor dog! he was faithful and kind, to be sure,
And he constantly loved me, although I was poor;
When some sour-looking folk sent me heartless away,
I had always a friend in my poor dog Tray.

When the road was so dark and the night was so cold,
And Pat and his dog were grown weary and old,
How snugly we slept in my old coat of gray,
And he licked me for kindness—my poor dog Tray.

Though my wallet was scant I remembered his case,
Nor refused my last crust to his pitiful face;
But he died at my feet on a cold winter day,
And I played a sad lament for my poor dog Tray.

Where now shall I go, forsaken and blind?
Can I find one to guide me so faithful and kind?
To my dear native village, so far, far away,
I can never return with my poor dog Tray.

---

Click to play (The Harper-My Poor Dog Tray)

Subject: Lyr Add: CAOCH O'LEARY (John Keegan)
From: Gulliver
Date: 23 Feb 07 - 08:18 AM

At the risk of cluttering up this thread, here's a poem in a similar vein that I remember from my childhood
("Caoch" means "blind" in Irish). There's a painting in the National Gallery in Dublin of a blind piper that I always associated with this:

Caoch O'Leary
(John Keegan 1809-1849)

One winter's day, long, long ago,
When I was a little fellow,
A piper wandered to our door,
Grey-headed, blind and yellow;

And, how glad was my young heart
Though earth and sky looked dreary,
To see the stranger and his dog -
Poor Pinch and Caoch O'Leary.

And when he stowed away his bag,
Cross-barred with green and yellow,
I thought and said, "In Ireland's ground
There's not so fine a fellow."

And Fineen Burke, and Shaun Magee,
And Eily, Kate and Mary,
Rushed in with panting haste to see
And welcome Caoch O'Leary.

O God be with those happy times
O God be with my childhood.
When I bareheaded roamed all day
Bird nesting in the wildwood

I'll not forget those sunny hours
However years may vary.
I'll not forget my early friends
Nor honest Caoch O'Leary.

Poor Caoch and Pinch slept well that night,
And in the morning early
He called me up to hear him play
"The wind that shakes the barley:"

And then he stroked my flaxen hair
And cried, "God mark my deary"
And how I wept when he said "Farewell,
And think of Caoch O'Leary."

And seasons came and went, and still
Old Caoch was not forgotten,
Although we thought him dead and gone
And in the cold grave rotten:

And often when I walked and talked
With Eily, Kate or Mary,
We thought of childhood's rosy hours
And prayed for Caoch O'Leary.

Well twenty summers had gone past,
And June's red sun was sinking,
When I, a man, sat by my door,
Of twenty sad things thinking.

A little dog came up the way,
His gait was slow and weary,
And at his tail a lame man limped -
'Twas Pinch and Caoch O'Leary.

Old Caoch, but O how woebegone!
His form is bowed and bending,
His fleshless hands are stiff and wan,
Ay, time is even blending

The colours on his threadbare bag;
And Pinch is twice as hairy
And thinspare as when first I saw
Himself and Caoch O'Leary.

"God's blessing here!" the wanderer cried,
"Far, far be hell's black viper:
Does anybody hereabouts
Remember Caoch the Piper?"

With swelling heart I grasped his hand,
The old man murmured. "Dreary,
Are you the silky-headed child
That loved poor Caoch O'Leary?"

"Yes, yes," I said—the wanderer wept
As if his heart was breaking—
"And where, avic-machree," he sobbed,
"Is all the merry-making

I found here twenty years ago
"My tale," I sighed, "mighty weary:
Enough to say there's none but me
To welcome Caoch O'Leary."

"Vo, vo, vo!" the old man cried
And wrung his hands in sorrow:
"Pray let me in, astore machree,
And I'll go home tomorrow.

My peace is made, I'll go home tomorrow.
My peace is made, I'll calmly leave
This world so cold and dreary;
And you shall keep my pipes and dog, And pray for Caoch O'Leary."

With Pinch I watched his bed that night,
Next day his wish was granted,
He died and Father James was brought,
And the Requiem Mass was chanted.

The neighbours came, to dig his grave
Near Eily, Kate and Mary.
And there he sleeps his last final sleep—
God rest you Caoch O'Leary.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog
From: GUEST,Basdai
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 08:17 PM

My father died Last August..just one month short of his 91st birthday.
As a child i remember him singing the chorus whenever he was sad
   "Poor doggie was kind and faithful to be sure
    He constantly loved me although I was poor"

He may have known most of the words but hummed the rest of it while he went about his chores ....he was a peasant farmer and father of 11.
For years I have searched for the lyrics....Thanks...I feel as though I have won a lottery

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: GUEST,Jill and Steve
Date: 28 Sep 07 - 06:29 PM

I,d been looking for this poem for a while but having learnt it it as a child I thought it was Ön the fair banks of Shannon when Sheila was nine."
Last nine our little eighteen year old dog died. So this morning I tried again with "On the far banks of Shannon" and found your sight. Very timely. Couldn't read it without a few sobs.

Thank you
Jill and Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: GUEST,Tom McCann
Date: 31 Jul 09 - 02:55 PM

sure an am glad to see these words I remember learning as a lad fifty and more years ago and I liked well the words of Caoch O'Leary Thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: GUEST,Derek Felix
Date: 09 Sep 10 - 10:12 AM

My grandfather, long deceased, used to sing that song. After 35 plus years, i can still remember his voice singing it. It is one of my few memories of him. For years i tried to find the words to that song but was unsuccessful till now. You don't realize how important that is to me. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: maeve
Date: 09 Sep 10 - 10:28 AM

Mudcat is a special place.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 10 Sep 10 - 01:01 PM

The song on the Levy site has a pretty tune. I decided to make a MIDI of it. I'll send it to Joe, and soon it should appear here.

It would make a lovely harp piece. I decided to have harp intro and coda and have recorder simulate a voice, the better to understand the piece.

Watch this spot.

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Sep 10 - 05:12 PM

Here's the tune, not to be confused with Stephen C. Foster's Old Dog Tray.

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: GUEST,sheila
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 12:43 PM

An old friend of mine asked me did I know this poem, he read the first line to me, although he also thought it was 'when sheelagh was nine' and I hadn't heard it, now I have researched it and have written it all out on paper and tomorrow I will recite the poem for him in it's entirety, he is 97 and as bright as a button, hope he enjoy's it.
thankyou. P.s don't know if I should even begin to explain the internet and how I got words.
sheila

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: Paul Burke
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 01:49 PM

I not only though it was "when Shiela was nine" but also that it referred to my cousin Shiela. This is the tune my mother sang. I used to beg her not to sing the bit where the dog dies. Sorry it sounds like a door chime.

X:1
T: Poor Dog Tray
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
Q:1/4=120
K:D % 2 sharps
% From the singing of Peggy Burke
% (1917-2000)
% from Agecroft, Lancashire
x4AF| \
D3/2x/2F3/2x/2A3/2x/2| \
A3/2x/2F2-F/2x/2A| \
d2-d/2x/2 ec3/2x/2|
d3- d/2x/2A3/2x/2| \
d3/2x/2c3/2x/2B3/2x/2| \
A3- A/2x/2FD| \
B3/2x/2A3/2x/2F3/2x/2|
E3- E/2x/2AF| \
D3/2x/2F3/2x/2A3/2x/2| \
A3- A/2x/2FA| \
d2-d/2x/2 ec3/2x/2|
d3- d/2x/2Bc| \
d3/2x/2c3/2x/2B3/2x/2| \
A3- A/2x/2DE| \
F3/2x/2G2-G/2x/2E|
D3- D/2x/2AF| \
D3/2x/2F3/2x/2A3/2x/2| \
A3/2x/2F2-F/2x/2A| \
d2-d/2x/2 ec3/2x/2|
d3- d/2x/2A3/2x/2| \
d3/2x/2c3/2x/2B3/2x/2| \
A3- A/2x/2FD| \
B3/2x/2A3/2x/2F3/2x/2|
E3- E/2x/2AF| \
D3/2x/2F3/2x/2A3/2x/2| \
A3- A/2x/2FA| \
d2-d/2x/2 ec3/2x/2|
d3- d/2x/2Bc| \
d3/2x/2c3/2x/2B3/2x/2| \
A3- A/2x/2DE| \
F3/2x/2G2-G/2x/2E|
D3- D/2x/2A3/2x/2| \
d3- d/2x/2cB| \
A3/2x/2D2-D/2x/2E| \
F3- F/2x/2GE|
D3- D/2x/2A3/2x/2| \
d3- d/2x/2cB| \
A3/2x/2F3/2x/2D3/2x/2| \
B3/2x/2A3/2x/2F3/2x/2|
E3- E/2x/2AF| \
D3/2x/2F3/2x/2A3/2x/2| \
A3/2x/2F2-F/2x/2A| \
d2-d/2x/2 ec3/2x/2|
d3- d/2x/2A3/2x/2| \
d3/2x/2c3/2x/2B3/2x/2| \
A3- A/2x/2DE| \
F3/2x/2G3/2x/2E3/2x/2|
D4-D3/2

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 04:35 PM

Many in Canada consider "The Harper" IE our glorious Prime Minister, to be the dog. That, I suppose would make him a son of a bitch.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: GUEST,Alison Boyle
Date: 27 Oct 10 - 02:42 PM

My grandfather used to recite this poem to me all the time.. it was one of his favorites. He was born in Ireland and came to America in 1930. He died a few years ago and finally finding the exact words of this poem on here means sooo much to me.. as someone commented above me " i feel like i won the lottery" Thats excatly how i feel finding this... thanks so much! I even named my new puppy after the dog in this poem and in memory of my loving Irish grandfather whom i admire more than words could descibe. RIP popop.. love you & miss you soo much!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Oct 16 - 03:44 PM

I am looking for the music for this song for a lady who will be ninty on Saturday and I would like her granddaughter to play it on the piano, also the harp. If anyone can oblige I would really appreciate

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Harper and His Dog (Thomas Campbell)
From: leeneia
Date: 03 Oct 16 - 05:58 PM

Find the Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection. When you get there, search for My Poor Dog Tray, a Favorite Song.

See if you can print the PDF.