the shamrock shore - not the usual one

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the shamrock shore - not the usual one

10 Jun 10 - 12:45 PM (#2924690)
Subject: the shamrock shore -
From: GUEST,Rick

I've got a song which has lyrics which are different than the standard version of the song that I've heard - the one I have starts "Farewell dear Erin's native isle, for here I cannot stay" - it seems totally different than the other versions of "The Shamrock Shore" I've seen - does anyone know a song with the lyrics I mentioned - maybe it commonly has another title? Wondering if anyone knows anything about it - thanks -

10 Jun 10 - 12:55 PM (#2924698)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore -
From: Joe Offer

Hi, Rick-
We have it listed in our Irish Songbook Index, under the index for Irish Emigrant Ballads and Songs:

Irish Emigrant Ballads and Songs is a rare, expensive book. Let's see if somebody has the book and can post the lyrics.

Can you post what you have, to give us a start?

-Joe-

10 Jun 10 - 01:43 PM (#2924757)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: GUEST

thanks Joe - yes, I've got a verse - it's

- is that not a used version of the song or another song -

10 Jun 10 - 02:07 PM (#2924778)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: Joe Offer

Ah, that's very helpful. I looked through your verse for the phrase that was least likely to be changed or misunderstood or spelled differently, and I chose "intend to cross the sea." I put that phrase in Mudcat search, and came up with a few alternatives:

The Shamrock Shore, from O'Lochlainn's wonderful More Irish Street Ballads book
Farewell, My Own Dear Native Land, as sung by Margaret Barry.

The song from Irish Emigrant Ballads and Songs maybe be closer to the exact song you seek, but I think these two may be pretty close.

-Joe-

The Margaret Barry song is lost in a generic thread with lots and lots of songs, so I think I'll copy-paste the song here:

I had to go to the dentist, so I looked in at the city library on the way back and borrowed Farewell, My Own Dear Native Land (Topic TSCD 654). Here's the text as sung by Margaret Barry at Bill Leader's mother's house in Camden Town, mid-1968 :

FAREWELL, MY OWN DEAR NATIVE LAND

Farewell, my own dear native land, for here I cannot stay,
For I do intend to cross the sea bound for America.
To leave the land that gave me birth it grieves my heart full sore,
So fare thee well, old Ireland around the shamrock shore.

The ship she lies at anchor lee now ready for the sea.
May heaven send a vessel safe with sweet and pleasant gale,
And when I'm on the ocean wide you'll all be in my mind,
So fare thee well, old Ireland and all I left behind.

Farewell, my boys, her spars are spread; the wind is blowing fair.
Full steam to Castle Gardens! In a few days we'll be there.
It's hard to part with all I'd love that's in my heart, you know,
To leave that dear old Ireland around the shamrock shore.

The tears flow freely from my eyes, my heart suppressed with woe
To think I'd leave my native land, I am compelled to go.
To see my old aged mother and it fills her heart with woe
To leave that dear old Ireland around the shamrock shore.

Castle Garden, also known as Clinton Castle - located in Battery Park at the far southern tip of Manhattan, this facility served as the U.S. immigration processing center from 1855-1890 (Ellis Island opened in 1892).

Fil Campbell has a very nice recording of the Margaret Barry song.

10 Jun 10 - 04:37 PM (#2924925)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: GUEST

thank you!

10 Jun 10 - 06:21 PM (#2925015)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: Steve Gardham

There are at least 6 different broadside ballads with this title plus a 'New Shamrock Shore'. I haven't actually seen a broadside version of the one being discussed here but no doubt that's where O'Lochlainn got it.

10 Jun 10 - 06:30 PM (#2925026)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: GUEST,^&*

Roud's Folksong Index gives the number 1455 to this family of songs - you can hunt them out with the Search function. The first line varies quite a lot.

10 Jun 10 - 06:46 PM (#2925040)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: GUEST,^&*

Steve: Yes, O Lochlainn gives a broadside as the source of the words, with two references to Joyce texts for the tune.

11 Jun 10 - 07:40 AM (#2925345)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: Commander Crabbe

Here is another version which is sung by Karan Casey from the CD "Songlines".

Shamrock Shore (Quoted as Traditional)

You brave young sons of Erin's Isle
I hope you will attend awhile
'Tis the wrongs of dear old Ireland I am going to relate
'Twas black and cursed was the day
When our parliament was taken away
And all of our griefs and sufferings commences from that day
For our hardy sons and daughters fair
To other countries must repair
And leave their native land behind in sorrow to deplore
Fo seek employment they must roam
Far, far away from the native home
From that sore, oppressed island that they call the shamrock shore

Now Ireland is with plenty blessed
But the people, we are sore oppressed
All by those cursed tyrants we are forced for to obey
Some haughty landlords for to please
Our houses and our lands they'll seize
To put fifty farms into one and take us all away
Regardless of the widow's sighs
The mother's tears and orphan's cries
In thousands we were driven from home which grieves my heart full sore
We were forced by famine and disease
To emigrate across the seas
From that sore, opressed island that they called the shamrock shore

Our sustenance all taken away
The tithes and taxes for to pay
To support that law-protected church to which they do adhere
And our Irish gentry, well you know
To other countries they do go
And the money from old Ireland they squandered here and there
For if our squires would stay at home
And not to other countries roam
But to build mills and factories here to employ the laboring poor
For if we had trade and commerce here
To me no nation could compare
To that sore, oppressed island that they call the shamrock shore

John Bull, he boasts, he laughs with scorn
And he says that Irishman is born
To be always discontented for at home we cannot agree
But we'll banish the tyrants from our land
And in harmony like sisters stand
To demand the rights of Ireland, let us all united be
And our parliament in College Green
For to assemble, it will be seen
And happy days in Erin's Isle we soon will have once more
And dear old Ireland soon will be
A great and glorious country
And peace and blessings soon will smile all around the shamrock shore

CC

15 Jun 10 - 10:23 PM (#2928714)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: Jim Dixon

The Roud Index says that THE SHAMROCK SHORE, beginning "Farewell dear Erin's native isle" is in "A Garland of English Folk-Songs" by Frank Kidson (London : Ascherberg, Hopwood & Crew, [1926]), pages 52-53.

16 Jun 10 - 11:58 AM (#2929157)
Subject: Lyr Add: SHAMROCK SHORE: 'You curious searchers...
From: Jim Dixon

This seems as good a place as any to collect ALL the different songs that go by the name SHAMROCK SHORE. Here's one:

From the Bodleian Library broadside collection, 2806 b.10(211).
(The collection has at least 9 different editions of this song).

SHAMROCK SHORE.

You curious searchers of each nation,
Who can contentment and mirth afford,
Pray give attention to my relation,
Which I sincerely as truth lay down.
When first I passed that pleasant garden,
Where I the remnant of youth first wore,
I mean the valley free from contagion,
Like Blessed Eden, the Shamrock Shore.

My golden days I have surely wasted
In drinking, gaming, and such pastime,
And other joys which I have tasted,
Which sent me ranging a foreign clime.
Still embracing each fugent function,
At length to fair London town I came,
Where I beheld Venus in conjunction,
With blundering Bacchus did seem to reign.

There you see madams with loads of laces,
Enough to eclipse the rising sun,
Their modest looks and painted faces,
You would surely swear each was a nun.
But do believe me, their fond embraces
Are to delude us wanton slaves,
No love is fixed with their fond endearments,
And all are fools to their jilting games.

I spent my fortune there while it lasted,
Among these gaudy bewitching train,
And when I found it all exhausted,
I shipped to traverse the raging main.
I sailed to India, 'twas my desire,
And when the climate too was known,
I thought the world was all on fire,
Such heat derived from the torrid zone.

I viewed with pleasure and admiration,
Their silver streams and golden mines,
Their fruitful vallies and rich plantations,
That bounteous heaven hath so penn'd;
But had I the wealth of that great nation,
I would forsake and as many more,
To taste the sweet and pleasant recreation,
That is still reigning on the Shamrock Shore.

Ulysses twenty long years did wander,
His fame impeached, for to regain
His darling Penelope, in his absence
For his sake she would be slain.
Tho' I'm a stranger to all these losses,
And sad misfortunes these Grecians bore,
Yet I am plagued by these watering crosses,
That keeps me from my native shore.

You Moorish damsels, you fair Adonians,
Persians, Tartars, and Turks likewise,
You proud Mulattos, and Yanky tawnys,
Your gaudy shawls I do despise.
You gloomy aspects and greasy features,
Who can compare such tawdry core,
To smiling, charming, beautiful faces,
That are here on the Shamrock Shore.

But now we are ploughing the briny ocean,
And bound for home if God spares our lives,
I will tell you truly my settled notion,
If war be over peace still survives.
I'll struggle and strive without cessation,
To reach my native soil once more,
Where in pious work and contemplation,
I will end my days on the Shamrock Shore.

16 Jun 10 - 12:36 PM (#2929171)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE SHAMROCK SHORE: 'You Muses nine...'
From: Jim Dixon

From the Bodleian Library broadside collection, 2806 b.11(168). 2806 b.9(258) is nearly identical. The collection has about 5 versions of this song. Furthermore, it has about 7 unrelated songs that begin "You Muses nine...", which seems to be one of the stock beginnings, like "Come all ye..." or "As I walked out..."

THE SHAMROCK SHORE.

You Muses nine, with me combine,
And grant me some relief,
While here alone I sigh and moan,
And overpowered with grief;
I am left here in dread and fear,
Far from my friends at home,
With a troubled mind, no rest can find,
Since I left the Shamrock Shore.

In the blooming spring, when birds do sing.
And the lambs do sport and play,
My way I took, my friends forsook,
Till I came to Dublin Quay:
I entered as a passenger,
For Liverpool I sailed o'er,
And I bid farewell to all my friends,
And the girl of the Shamrock Shore.

To Glasgow fair I did repair,
Some pleasure there to find,
I own it was a pleasant place,
Down by the banks of Clyde;
The people there were very nice,
And rich were the pearls they wore.
I seen none there that could compare,
To the maids of the Shamrock Shore.

'Tis when at night I go to bed,
For rest I cannot find none,
When I compose my eyes to close,
I think on the joys at home;
'Tis when I drink I always think,
As I often did before
When I thought long to compose my song
In praise of the Shamrock Shore.

So now to conclude, God bless my friends,
For my quill begins to fail,
Farewell unto you, mother dear,
I hope you won't bewail;
Farewell now to my comrades all,
And the girl I do adore,
And I think long to sing my song,
In praise of the Shamrock Shore.

16 Jun 10 - 12:56 PM (#2929188)
Subject: Lyr Add: SHAMROCK SHORE: 'Come all you fair...'
From: Jim Dixon

From the Bodleian Library broadside collection, Harding B 28(158). Harding B 28(154) seems to be nearly identical, but is partly illegible.

SHAMROCK SHORE

Come all you fair maidens draw nigh,
Draw nigh that fear soldiers to wed,
And by my example take warning,
And banish them out of your head.
For I was light-hearted and happy,
But now all my pleasures are o'er,
Since my soldier he is gone and left me,
Far, far, from the Shamrock shore.

My father's snug neat little cottage,
Was plac'd on the banks of the Dee,
And as blythe as a lark every morning,
Contented I rose up to spin.
When my soldier he enter'd my dwelling,
Such transports I ne'er knew before,
But, alas! he has left me bewailing,
Alone on the Shamrock Shore.

In Lifford the regiment was quarter'd,
To which my bonny brave soldier belong'd,
And through some small dispute with a serjeant,
My bonny brave soldier was wrong'd.
My love was tied up to the halberts,
His back with the lashes was torn,
And that was the cause of him going
Far, far from the Shamrock shore.

My love has volunteer'd and has left me.
To my soldier I'll always prove true;
How can I forget the sad moment,
When parting he bid me adieu.
I'll press my sweet child in my arms,
Until I behold him once more,
Safe back from the cannon's loud rattle,
And safe home on the Shamrock Shore.

Adieu to the banks of fine water,
Adieu to my parents and all,
Since the father has own'd his own daughter,
Unto some distant village I'll go.
I'll take my sweet child in my arms,
And I will go see him once more.
He's safe home from the cannon's loud rattle,
Safe home on the Shamrock shore.

16 Jun 10 - 02:23 PM (#2929248)
Subject: Lyr Add: SHAMROCK SHORE: 'Ye broken hearted heroes
From: Jim Dixon

The Bodleian Library broadside collection has only one copy of this song: Harding B 17(280b)—more's the pity, because in places it is barely legible. Also, some lines don't scan well, having too few syllables; and some don't seem grammatical, hinting that some words were mistakenly left out. Nevertheless, I have tried to transcribe it exactly as I see it, warts and all, so to speak, except for a couple of places I have added remarks in brackets.

SHAMROCK SHORE

Ye broken hearted heroes that love your liberty
I pray you give attention and listen unto me
Till I relate our hardships great which we have suffered sore,
Since we passed our native isle called the Shamrock shore.

Its in our native country we might have liv'd well
But trade being bad and taxes high our lands were forced to sell
Unto that land of liberty we then did venture o'er
Its there our fortune for to try and leave sweet shamrock shore.

On the 1st day of April from Belfast we set sail
Fortune did favour us with a sweet & pleasant gale
And on the 24th we came to Baltimore,
Where in full bumpers we did toss[=toast?] the boys of Shamrock shore.

In Baltimore we staid until our money was gone
Still waiting for employment but here we could find none,
In this place it was the case with many a hundred more,
They often wish'd themselves back again upon sweet shamrock shore.

Through the wild of America for six months stray'd,
Sometimes the sky to cover us and cold ground our bed
Wild beasts and poisonous insects us ready to devour,
None of those reptiles we e'er saw when on sweet shamrock shore.

At length my loving comrades and I had to divide
We being four in number three with hardships died
The loss of my dear comrades it grieves my heart sore,
They'd to live to leave their bones on the Shamrock shore.

While I am alone I sigh and moan, no comfort can I find,
The loss of my dear comrades it often fills my mind
I've travelled through this country four hundred miles and more
But I could find no friend so kind as on the shamrock shore.

Ye Sons of Hibernia I now bid adieu
My mind never ease since I first parted you
I am expectation that I again once more
Roll in splendor with the mains[?] of shamrock shore.

Ye sons of Erin be advised and stay at home I pray,
And do not venture this Land called America
I assure it is not now as it was in the days of yore
There's numbers here could wish themselves back on the shamrock shore

09 Nov 11 - 11:55 AM (#3253629)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: MartinRyan

Refresh

17 Apr 14 - 10:31 AM (#3619726)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: GUEST,Connie the Soldier

There's a song called "Alone on the Shamrock Shore", which was collected in Newfoundland I think. Does anyone know the what melody it was sung to?

18 Apr 14 - 02:02 AM (#3619950)
Subject: ADD: Alone on the Shamrock Shore
From: Joe Offer

Hi, Connie - Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on "Alone on the Shamrock Shore." I'll try to get around to posting the melody over the next day or two, but it's too late in the day now.

Alone on the Shamrock Shore (Shamrock Shore III)

DESCRIPTION:

AUTHOR:

EARLIEST DATE:

KEYWORDS:

FOUND IN:

REFERENCES (1 citation):

Peacock, pp. 418-419, "Alone on the Shamrock Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)

Roud #9786

RECORDINGS:

Mrs Mary Ann Galpin, "Alone on the Shamrock Shore" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]

BROADSIDES:

Bodleian, Harding B 28(158), "Shamrock Shore" ("Come all you fair maidens draw nigh"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 28(154), "Shamrock Shore"; Harding B 11(2239), "New Shamrock Shore"; 2806 c.17(382), "Shamrack Shore"; Harding B 11(919), "Disdained Daughter of the Shamrock Shore"

ALTERNATE TITLES:

NOTES:

Last updated in version 2.6

File: Pea418

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

ALONE ON THE SHAMROCK SHORE

Come all you fair maids take a warning,
With a handsome young sailor don't wed,
Try all that you can for to slight him,
Or to banish him out of your head,
For once I lived light-hearted and cheerful,
Such pleasure I never had before,
But now I am lief for to wander
Alone on the shamrock shore.

It is down by the banks of the water
My father's grand castle do stand,
And there like a lark in the morning
Contented there my time I did spend,
Till a sailor first entered our dwelling,
Such pleasure I never had before,
But now he has left me to wander
Alone on the shamrock shore.

We kissed and we courted each other
Till at length he had won my fond heart,
We got married unknown to my father,
And we vowed that we never would part.
But to Spain he was now called to battle,
And I'll not behold him no more,
And this was the cause of him leaving me
Alone on the shamrock shore.

'Twas in Portsmouth their ship lay at anchor,
On board my young sailor did belong,
He had a trifle dispute with his captain
And condemnèd he was to be hung.
And they hung my love up on the yard-arm
And I'm to behold him no more,
And this is the cause of him leaving me
Alone on the shamrock shore.

So I'll press my tender babe to my bosom,
Hoping that kind fortune will him restore,
Since his father's no more in my arms,
He's no more on the shamrock shore.

Collected by Kenneth Peacock, Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, pages 418-419

Click to play (joeweb)

18 Apr 14 - 02:05 PM (#3620103)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: Joe Offer

I posted a MIDI in the message above. Is there anybody who knows the song who can tell me if it sounds right?

18 Apr 14 - 09:09 PM (#3620176)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: Joe Offer

I posted a MIDI in the message above. Is there anybody who knows the song who can tell me if it sounds right?

22 Apr 14 - 06:02 AM (#3621107)
Subject: RE: the shamrock shore - not the usual one
From: GUEST,Connie the Soldier

Joe, that's the one I was looking for, many thanks.