Lyr Req: The Boycotting Song

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'The Boycotting Song'
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 10 Feb 10 - 07:49 PM

"one of the very few songs which refer to the evictions "
There are dozens, if not hundreds of Irish song which refer to the evictions.
Try Wright's Emigration Irish Songs and Ballads as a starter.
Skibbereen is probably the best known, which not only mentions them but describes the houses being burnt down to prevent the tenants returning.
The most spectacular of these songs is probably Farmer Michael Hayes, which is based on an actual event.
Hayes was a farmer who was evicted from his farm "on fine, good land between Tipperary and Knocklong" and reacts by either killing the agent who evicted him, or killing all the livestock on the farm, depending on which version you believe. He flees on foot chased by a posse of men with bloodhounds. The marathon chase covers the area from Tipperary to West Cork, through Kerry, then up the coast, through Clare and Galway, eventually ending up in Mayo, where he takes passage on a ship to America.
Foklore has it that he contacted tuberculosis there and returned to Ireland to die.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'The Boycotting Song'
From: GUEST,999
Date: 10 Feb 10 - 07:45 PM

I am refreshing this thread because:

1) It's a song title for which I cannot locate a song

2) Does anyone know it? Has anyone ever heard of it?


I'm seriously stumped.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'The Boycotting Song'
From: GUEST,999
Date: 09 Feb 10 - 08:10 PM

Just saw that Sorcha's link is to the page I found the quoted material on.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'The Boycotting Song'
From: GUEST,999
Date: 09 Feb 10 - 08:10 PM

"Ballyoughtereagh, or Baile Uachtarach, the upper townland, which lies several miles further along the road, features in The Boycotting Song, one of the very few songs which refer to the evictions which were a dominant fact of life in the 1880s. Landlords at that time evicted, or tried to evict, many tenants who could not pay their rent, and the struggle by the tenant farmers to defend their livings was a bitter one. The tactic of boycotting was used to great effect: anyone who cooperated with the landlords or police or who took over houses and lands from which tenants had been evicted incurred the violent contempt of their neighbours; publicans and other business people who provided for the needs of the landlords and their agents found themselves instantly isolated by the rest of the community."

It's a for-real song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'The Boycotting Song'
From: PoppaGator
Date: 17 Nov 04 - 02:54 PM

Don't know the song, but I can add some related info:

The word "boycott" came into the English language during the "land wars" in the west of Ireland (probably Co. Mayo), sometime around the 1880s.

A particularly cruel and intransigent landlord was one Colonel Boycott; under the leadership of Michael Davitt, the Land League organized non-violent resistance to this landlord -- so effectively that the name of the object of their protest became synonymous with that particular type of action.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'The Boycotting Song'
From: GUEST,David Ingerson
Date: 16 Nov 04 - 08:35 PM

I've not heard of this song but am interested, too. I'll check my database when I get home.

David

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Need words to the song
From: Sorcha
Date: 16 Nov 04 - 10:36 AM

A reference on this page is all I found.

Subject: Lyr Req: Need words to the song
From: GUEST,Treasa
Date: 16 Nov 04 - 10:19 AM

Hi everyone

I need some help here. Does anyone know the Words to "The Boycotting Song"?It's about people being thrown out of thier own house and land inIreland because they could't afford the rent for the Landlords.
I would realy appreciate it if you could post them on the board.

Thanks a million

Treasa

Thread title edited to be more specific - joeclone