Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: SHULE AGRAH or JOHNNY HAS GONE...
From:
Bruce O.
Date: 23 Feb 99 - 02:27 AM
Shule Agrah, or Johnny has gone for a soldier.
[Howe's 'Songs of Ireland', 1864.]
Oh Johnny dear has gone away,
He has gone across to Bombay,
Oh my heart is sad and weary today,
Since Johnny has gone for a soldier.
[Cho:] Shule, shule, shule Agra!
Time can only ease my woe,
Since the lad of my heart from me did go;
Oh, Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Some say my love is gone to France,
There his fortune to advance,
And if I find him, its but a chance,
Oh, Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Shule, shule, &c.
I'll sell my flax, I'll sell my wheel,
I'll buy my love a sword of steel,
So in the battle he may reel,
Oh, Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Shule, shule, &c.
I wish I were on yonder hill,
It's there I'd sit and cry my fill,
So every tear may turn a mill,-
Oh, Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Shule, shule, &c.
I'll dye my dress, I'll dye it red,
And through the streets I'll beg my bread,
Oh, how I wish that I was dead,
Since Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Shule, &c.
The 'D' under the asterisk has been corrected from an eighth note.
X:1
T:Shule Agrah, or Johnny has gone for a soldier.
S:Howe's 'Songs of Ireland', 1864
Q:60
L:1/4
M:C
K:Dm
A|f3/2f/e3/2e/|d(d3/4c/4)AA/ A/|c3/2A/ (c/d/) (f/e/)|\
(c3/2A/)GF/ G/|A3/2G/ (F/G/) (A/B/)|(c3/4d/4) (c/ A/ f3/2e/|\
(d3/4e/4) d/ c/ (A3/4G/4) A/ c/|d2"*"D z|\
"Chorus"f2e2|d (d3/4c/4)A2|cB/A/fe|cc/A/GF/ G/|\
AA/ G/FG|d3/2e/f(a3/4g/4)|f/ f/ e3/4 e/4a^c|d2D|]
Following is a traditional version from a Mrs. MacNamara in 'The Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society', XII, p. 27 (1914?, I forgot to copy the date, but this can't be more than a year off.)
I'll sell my rock, I'll sell my reel,
When the flax is spun, I'll sell my wheel,
I'll buy my love a suit of green--
'S go dteidh tu a mhuirnin slan. I'll dye my petticoat, I'll dye it red;
And round the world I'll beg my bread,
For all my parents wish me dead--
So go dtheidh tu a mhuirnin slan.
I wish I were on yonder hill;
'Tis there I'd sit and cry my fill,
Till every tear would turn a mill--
So go dtheidh tu a mhuirnin slan.
It's often I sat on my true love's knee,
And many the false story he told to me!
He told me things that never could be--
So go dtheidh tu a mhuirnin slan.
I wish I were on the top of a wall--
The top of a castle would be higher than all--
I'd view the hurl and I'd spy the ball,
And I'd know my true love among them all.
Following this, on the same page, is given "Si/ubhail a Ghraidh", a translation into Gaelic by Dr. Douglas Hyde of a composite version of "Shule Aroon" said to have been put together by A. P. Graves. It consist of seven verses and chorus. Part of it is given above by Phillipa. I do not know when Grave's or Hyde's versions appeared, but Graves' publications commenced in 1873, and Hyde's in 1888. [O'Donahue, 'The Poets of Ireland']
Fragment from Perthshire, Scotland, in 'A Ballad Book', by C. K. Sharpe, 1824 (without music).
I went to the mill, but the miller was gone
I sat me down and cried ohone!
To think of the days that are past and gone,
Of Dickie Macphalion that's slain.
Shoo, shoo shoolaroon
To think on the days that are past and gone,
Of Dickie Macphalion that's slain.
I sold my rock, I sold my reel,
And sae hae I my spinning wheel
And 'a to buy a cap of steel
For Dickie Macphalion that's slain.
Shule Aroon, Shule Agra
I'll believe that bit about the wild geese origin for "Shule Aroon" and the revolutionary war "Johnny has gone for a soldier" when I see some real evidence for it.
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