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01 Sep 98 - 01:08 PM (#36704) Subject: Lyr Add: THE FOGGY DEW (Fr. O'Neill) From: Maelgwyn I turned up a version of 'The Foggy Dew' that has more verses than the one in the database. So, if anyone's interested, here it is. :) THE FOGGY DEW Fr. O'Neill As down the glen one Easter morn to a city fair rode I There armed lines of marching men in squadrons passed me by No pipe did hum, no battle drum did sound its loud tattoo But the Angelus bell o'er the Liffey's swell rang out in the foggy dew But the night fell black and the rifle's crack made perfidious Albion reel Through that leaden hail seven tongues of flame did shine o'er the lines of steel By each shining blade a prayer was said that to Ireland her sons would be true And when morning broke, still the green flag shook out its folds in the foggy dew But the bravest fell and the requiem bell rang mournfully and clear For those that died that Eastertide in the springing of the year And the world did gaze in deep amaze at those fearless men and true Who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the foggy dew 'Twas England bade our wild geese go that small nations might be free Their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves on the fringe of the grey North Sea Oh, had they died by Pearse's side or had fought along with brave Cathal Brugha Their names we'd keep where the Fenians sleep neath the shroud of the foggy dew As back through that Glen I rode again and my heart with grief was sore For I parted then with these gallant men I never would see more But to and fro in my dreams I go and I kneel and I say a prayer for you For slavery fled, oh you gallant dead when you fell in the foggy dew Does anyone know what Cathal Brugha is? |
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01 Sep 98 - 05:29 PM (#36731) Subject: RE: The Foggy Dew From: Benjamin Bodhra/nai/ I don't think Cathal Brugha is a "what", I think he's a "who" and presumably a leader of one of the rebellions. Occaisionally I've seen de Valera changed into that place (1916 uprising) but I think Brugha would be either 1798, 1869, or I think there was another one. BB |
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01 Sep 98 - 08:40 PM (#36737) Subject: RE: The Foggy Dew From: kevin ryan was cruisin' the site (I'm a 1st timer) and saw the question about Cathal Brugha. Maelgwyn and BB-- Cathal Brugha was involved in the 1916 Easter Rebellion; He sided with De Valera against Michael Collins when the Irish voted on free state status vs. independence. Cathal Brugha was killed during the Irish Civil War--I think around 1922 or so. Hope that helped. |
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01 Sep 98 - 08:52 PM (#36738) Subject: RE: The Foggy Dew From: O'Boyle To be a little more exact, Cathal Brugha was the minister for defence during the revolution. Collins was head of intelligence. There duties overlapped at times and that caused great tension between the two. They also had different views of how the war should be fought. Brugha wanting pitched battles and Collins wanting gueriila warfare. The song refers to Brugha's cunduct during the 1916 rising which was by anybodies account valorous. Slainte Rick Messages from multiple threads combined. Messages below are from a new thread. |
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15 Nov 99 - 02:10 PM (#136405) Subject: Lyr Add: THE FOGGY DEW (Fr. O'Neill) From: ChrisE Hello! I have a problem.....I'm from Austria and I have to analyze the song "The Foggy Dew". I haven't found any material where I can find out what this song really is about. The problem is that I have to have the source where I get the information from and even if it's just the e-mail address (books would be better). I hope that anyone can help me.....it's really important! Thanx ChrisE chris_moonstone@hotmail.com THE FOGGY DEW Fr. O'Neill 'Twas down by the glen one Easter morn, to a city fair rode I, When Ireland's lines of marching men in squadrons passed me by, No pipe did hum and no battle drum did sound its dread tattoo. But the Angelus bell o'er the Liffey's swell ran out in the foggy dew. Right proudly high over Dublin town they hung out a flag of war; 'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sudel Bar. And from the plains of Royal Meath strong men came hurrying through, While Britannia's sons with their long ranging guns sailed in from the foggy dew. 'Twas England bade our wild geese go that small nations might be free; Their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves on the fringe of the grey North Sea. But had they died by Pearse's side or fought with Valera true, Their graves we'd keep where the Fenians sleep, 'neath the hills of the foggy dew. The braves fell, and the solemn bell rang mournfully and clear For those who died that Eastertide in the springing of the year. And the world did gaze in deep amaze at those fearless men and true Who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the foggy dew. |
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15 Nov 99 - 02:33 PM (#136413) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: Amos Try researching the Easter uprising, the role played by Valera, and the political issues of Irish being drafted to serve in British campaigns -- Suvla and Sudel Bar. You should be able to find a lot using an pordinary search enginer; I would do the legwork for you but I am in a crunch at the moment.
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15 Nov 99 - 02:35 PM (#136414) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: Frank Howe it's about the Easter rising of 1916 which eventually lead to Irelands independence. DO a search at your local library on "the Easter Rising - 1916" or such names as Pearse, Clarke, Ceannt, Conolly, etc. you'll find plenty good luck |
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15 Nov 99 - 02:44 PM (#136421) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: WyoWoman Hi, ChrisE This song is about the Easter Rebellion, also called the Easter Rising, which was the 1916 republican insurrection in Ireland against the British government there, which began on Easter Monday, April 24 in Dublin. I'll find a URL for you and post again in a minute. Best wishes -- I love this song and sing it as often as I can! WyoWoman (An American mutt with both Irish and English ancestry) |
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15 Nov 99 - 02:46 PM (#136422) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: WyoWoman ChrisE:
This should at least get you started: Best, WyoWoman |
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15 Nov 99 - 03:15 PM (#136432) Subject: Lyr Add: THE FOGGY DEW (Fr. O'Neill) From: paddymac Chris - I've taken the liberty to "polish" the verses you posted THE FOGGY DEW [1] As down the glen one Easter morn, to a city fair rode I. 'Twas Ireland's lines of marching men in squadrons passed me by. No pipe did hum and no battle drum did sound its dread tattoo. But the Angelus bell o'er the Liffey's swell rang out in the foggy dew. ["city fair" is a common colloquial pseudonym for Dublin.] [2] Right proudly high over Dublin town they flung out their flag of war. 'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud el Bar. And from the plains of Royal Meath, strong men came hurrying through, while Britannia's sons with their long range guns sailed in through the foggy dew. [Suvla and Sud el Bar are references to battles where Irishmen fought under England's flag] [3] Oh, the night fell black and the rifles' crack, made perfidious Albion reel. 'Mid the leaden hail seven tongues of flame shone o'er those lines of steel. By each shinning blade a prayer was said, that to Ireland her sons be true, and when morning broke still the war flag shook out its folds in the foggy dew. [4]'Twas England bade our wild geese go, that small nations might be free. But their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves or the fringe of the great North Sea. Oh had they died by Pearse's side, or fought with Valera true, their graves we would keep where the Fenians sleep, 'neath the shroud of the foggy dew. [5] Oh the bravest fell, and the requiem bell rang out mournfully and clear, for those who died that Eastertide, in the springing of the year. All the world did gaze in deep amaze at those fearless men but few, who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the foggy dew. [6] As up the glen I rode again, my heart with grief was sore. For I parted then with those valiant men whom I never shall see more. As to and fro in my dreams I go, I will kneel and say a prayer for you, for slavery fled, O Glorious dead, when you fell in the foggy dew. I have added the other two verses. There may be more which have "evolved" since the song was originally published. It is attributed to a priest, P. O'Neill, and is a tribute to those who fought in the Easter Rebellion of 1916. |
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15 Nov 99 - 06:14 PM (#136502) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: Lesley N. I have some information at The Foggy Dew (2) (http://www.contemplator.com/folk4/fogydew.html). I hadn't found the attribution to P. O'Neill. I'll have to add to the page! Thanks paddymac! |
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15 Nov 99 - 09:44 PM (#136611) Subject: RE: A bit o' background: The Foggy Dew From: AMos Connolly was the prime fire behind the Easter uprising, and one of the issues which inflamed the Irish was the induction of Irish men into British armed forces to fight in far places. One of those places was Gallipoli, Turkey, where the British lost many lives attacking a reinforced enemy location at Suva. Some remarks on Connolly from http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~socappeal/Connolly.html follow: Writing on the need for an Irish insurrection to expel British imperialism Connolly wrote in relation to the World War: "Starting thus, Ireland may yet set the torch to a European conflagration that will not burn out until the last throne and the last capitalist bond and debenture will be shrivelled on the funeral pyre of the last War lord." As an answer to the demand for conscription which had been imposed in Britain and which was supported by the Irish capitalists for Ireland too, where the employers were exerting pressure to force Irish workers to volunteer, Connolly wrote: "We want and must have economic conscription in Ireland for Ireland. Not the conscription of men by hunger to compel them to fight for the power that denies them the right to govern their own country, but the conscription by an Irish nation of all the resources of the nation - its land, its railways, its canals, its workshops, its docks, its mines, its mountains, its rivers and streams, its factories and machinery, its horses, its cattle, and its men and women, all co-operating together under one common direction that gather under one common direction that Ireland may live and bear upon her fruitful bosom the greatest number of the freest people she has ever known." He looked at the employers who were opposing conscription too from a critical class point of view: "if here and there we find an occasional employer who fought us in 1913 (the Great Dublin lock-out in which the employers tried to break union organisation, but were defeated in this object by the solidarity of the Irish workers and their British comrades too) agreeing with our national policy in 1915 it is not because he has become converted, or is ashamed of the unjust use of his powers, but simply that he does not see in economic conscription the profit he fancied he saw in denying to his followers the right to organise in their own way in 1913." Answering objections to the firm working class point of view which he expounded he declared: "Do we find fault with the employer for following his own interests? We do not. But neither are we under any illusion as to his motives. In the same manner we take our stand with our own class, nakedly upon our class interests, but believing that these interests are the highest interests of the race." It is in this light that the uprising of 1916 must be viewed. As a consequence of the struggles of the past Connolly who was the General Secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union had organised the Citizens Army for the purpose of defence against capitalist and police attack and for preparing for struggle against British imperialism. The Citizens Army was almost purely working class in composition: dockers, transport workers, building workers, printers and other sections of the Dublin workers being its rank and file. It was with this force and in alliance with the more middle class Irish volunteers that Connolly prepared for the uprising. He had no illusions about its immediate success. According to William O'Brien, on the day of the insurrection Connolly said to him: "We are going out to be slaughtered." He said "Is there no chance of success?" and Connolly replied "None whatsoever." Connolly understood that the tradition and the example created would be immortal and would lay the basis for future freedom and a future Irish Socialist Republic. In that lay his greatness. What a difference from the craven traitors of the German Socialist and Communist and Trade Union leaders who despite having three million armed workers supporting them, and with the sympathy and support of the overwhelming majority of the German working class (ready to fight and die, capitulated to Hitler without firing a shot. Having said this, it is necessary to see not only the greatness of Connolly, sprung from the Irish workers, one of the greatest sons of the English speaking working class, and the effect of the uprising in preparing for the expulsion, at least in the Southern part of Ireland of the direct domination of British imperialism, but also the faults of both. There was no attempt to call a general strike and thus paralyse the British Army. There was no real organisation or preparation of the armed struggle. No propaganda was conducted among the British troops to gain their sympathy and support. The leaders of the middle class Irish Volunteers were split. One of the leaders Eoin MacNeill countermanding orders for "mobilisation" and for "manoeuvres" and in the confusion only part of the Volunteers, joined with the Irish Citizens Army in the insurrection. Thus at the last minute the insurrection was betrayed by the vacillation of the middle class leaders, as they have betrayed many times in Irish history and in the history of other countries. |
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15 Nov 99 - 11:06 PM (#136651) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: Liz the Squeak You seem to have been given a lot already, but I'm going to add my two pen'orth anyway. I used to work in a military museum, and we had a lot of stuff pertaining to the Easter uprisings, because my regiment was involved. Now, thanks to the Ministry of Defence (War Department it was then) having a 50 or 75 year rule for publication, you'd think that the Easter uprising information would be available, in the same way that a lot of WWI stuff is now. BUT, the MoD being what they are, everything concerning Ireland back to Cromwell, and William III has been 'red flagged', meaning that it is still covered by the official secrets act, and unlikely to be published ever.... Yes, I know, typical really but there we go. If you get serious about researching this subject, you may come across this blockage, and I'm afraid there is nothing you can do, unless you are also subject to the British Official Secrets act, or have diplomatic status.... There has been a very successful wall built around this subject since it started - it was considered a serious threat to the war effort, taking valuable men away from the front, at a time when we could least deal with them, and what you do find is likely to have a mostly Irish viewpoint. However, there are some relatively good books giving a fairly even handed account of both sides, if you are willing to look for them. Look for sites that specialise in military history, and try to steer clear of anything stamped War Department or Ministry of Defence!!! LTS |
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16 Nov 99 - 12:41 AM (#136690) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: paddymac AMos & LTS: Thanks for putting the meat on the table. This thread illustrates the incredible intellectual wealth of our virtual family. And ChrisE, thanks for asking. |
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16 Nov 99 - 12:46 AM (#136693) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: Liz the Squeak Nice to know insomnia has a use, Paddymac, it is now 5.40am, time I was getting back to bed, because the alarm will go off in about 20 mins! LTS |
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16 Nov 99 - 01:01 PM (#136857) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: ChrisE I wanna thank all of you who helped me!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH ChrisE |
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16 Nov 99 - 04:33 PM (#136964) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: Martin _Ryan Cathal O'Boyle, in his book "Songs of the County Down" has this to say about the author: "The words of this song were composed by Canon Charles O Neill, who was parish priest of Kilcoo and later of Newcastle. In 1919 he went to Dublin and attended a sitting of the first Dail Eireann (Irish Parliament). He was moved by the number of members whose names were answered during roll call by "faoi ghlas ag na Gaill" (locked up by the foreigners) and resolved to write a song in commemoration of the Easter Rebellion. I have seen his song printed many times but have never seen his name mentioned and I think it is about time he was recognised. The music belongs to an old love song, recorded in 1913 by John McCOrmack and the original manuscript of the words and music, in the posession of Kathleen Dallat of Ballycastle, names Carl Hardebeck as the arranger. " Regards |
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16 Nov 99 - 07:12 PM (#137049) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: Lesley N. I'll do my small bit to see him acknowledged - I've updated my page with the information. It's a very moving story. |
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17 Nov 99 - 10:20 AM (#137328) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: paddymac Martin - My source for "P. O'Neill" is Soodlum's "Irish Ballad Book". Seems like I have also encountered "Charles O'Neill", but can't recall where at the moment. Your quote from O'Boyle certainly sounds the more authoritative of the two. Thanks. |
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17 Nov 99 - 10:29 AM (#137337) Subject: RE: Help: The Foggy Dew From: WyoWoman I think this thread should be referred to anytime the ubiquitous conversation starts about not being able to find "real" information on the Mudcat anymore. I've been clicking past numerous BS threads this week because I'm really busy, but keeping up with this one and a couple of others I care about. It simply blows me away how quickly this information came to meet the inquirer (ChrisE) and how much obvious affection there is for the history of the song. Times like these are when I REALLY know I've found my tribe. WW |
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03 Jan 07 - 08:44 AM (#1925557) Subject: Foggy Dew(1916)/Star Spangled Banner? From: JeremyC I might have posted this in one of the other discussion threads on "The Foggy Dew," but I'm not sure what the etiquette is on "bumping" threads that may be several years old. On most forums this is frowned upon, hence the new thread. Onto my question: Is it just me, or is the line: And when morning broke, still the war (or "green") flag shook out its folds in the foggy dew. intentionally similar to the "our flag was still there" line from "The Star Spangled Banner"? I may be overthinking this, but are there other examples of the "we fought hard, and in the morning our flag was still flying above us" image in other revolutionary songs? "The Star Spangled Banner" predates the revolutionary version of "The Foggy Dew," obviously, but I was wondering if the line was a reference to "Banner," or if they both drew from some commonly-used image. I was just discussing this with a friend of mine, and I thought maybe the knowledgeable folks here might have some insights. Thanks! |
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22 Nov 09 - 10:42 PM (#2771507) Subject: Lyr Add: THE FOGGY DEW (Fr. O'Neill) From: Jim Dixon This is the earliest version I can find with Google Books. It has only 3 verses. Does anyone know of an earlier published source? From an article "Ballads of 1916" by Donagh Macdonagh in The Bell (Dublin: Vol. 2, No. 1, April, 1941), page 29: [No title or attribution is given.] As down the glen one Easter Morn to a city fair rode I, There armed lines of marching men in squadrons passed me by. No pipe did hum, no battle drum did sound its dread tattoo, But the Angelus Bell o'er the Liffey swell rang out in the Foggy Dew. Right proudly high over Dublin Town they hung out the flag of war, For it's better to die 'neath an Irish sky than in France or in Sud-el-Bar, And from the plains of Royal Meath strong men came hurrying through While Britannia's sons with their great big guns sailed in with the Foggy Dew. 'Twas England bid our Wild Geese go that small nations might be free, But their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves or the shores of the wild North Sea, Oh, had they died by Pearse's side, or fought with Cathal Brugha, Their graves we would keep where the Fenians sleep 'neath the hills of the Foggy Dew. |
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23 Nov 09 - 04:49 AM (#2771585) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Foggy Dew (Fr. O'Neill) From: MartinRyan Hi Jim 'catter Minna did some good research a while back in THIS THREAD culling early newspaper references to the song. Also - I think McDonagh's collection of ballads is/was online. Wonder if it has his notes? My other comment would be that it is likely that the song circulated on ballad sheets and in ephemeral songbooks. I'll have a look in the Irish Traditional Music Archive when I get a chance. Regards |
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23 Nov 09 - 04:57 AM (#2771589) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Foggy Dew (Fr. O'Neill) From: MartinRyan The archive of McDonaghs collection is HERE - but no Foggy Dew. Regards |
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02 Mar 10 - 07:11 PM (#2854555) Subject: Foggy Dew - in Church! From: GUEST,Jed Marum - sans cookie I'll bet this is the first time this song was played in this church! OK, it was a concert and not really a service, but it looks a bit funny! We were in Louisville KY, on Sat Feb 27, 2010. Left to right are: Hugh Morrison on box, Me on vocal and guitar and Kendall Rogers on Keys. Too bad the mix doesn't pick up much of Kendall. He's a fine player and he adds a lot to the song. I've always loved this song - and some will note we dropped a verse or two, and we use lyrics might be modified a bit from the version you sing - but you know, this is the way we learned it! |
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02 Mar 10 - 08:53 PM (#2854614) Subject: RE: Foggy Dew - in Church! From: Mooh Cool, thanks. For those who are interested, there's a nice fingerstyle guitar arrangement in one of the Mel Bay Celtic Encyclopedia volumes too. Peace, Mooh. |
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01 Dec 14 - 01:53 AM (#3681335) Subject: RE: ADD/Origins: The Foggy Dew (Fr. O'Neill) From: Joe Offer Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song: Foggy Dew (III), TheDESCRIPTION: "As down the glen one Easter morn" the singer is passed by a silent army who raise the green flag over Dublin. The Irishmen who died fighting for others had better died fighting for Ireland. "But the bravest fell ... who died at Eastertide"AUTHOR: Canon Charles O'Neill (1919) (source: "The Foggy Dew" in _Wars & Conflict 1916 Easter Rising Rebel Songs_ by Franke Harte on the BBC site) EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (IRClancyMakem03) KEYWORDS: battle rebellion Easter Ireland patriotic derivative HISTORICAL REFERENCES: Apr 24, 1916 (Easter Monday) - beginning of the Easter Rebellion FOUND IN: Ireland REFERENCES (2 citations): DT, FOGGDEW4* ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 70-71, "The Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune) Roud #973 RECORDINGS: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Foggy Dew" (on IRClancyMakem03) Liam Clancy, "The Foggy Dew" (on IRLClancy01) CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "The Foggy Dew" (II) (tune) cf. "The Boys from County Cork" (subject) NOTES: By the time of World War I, most of the people of Ireland were basically loyal to the British crown; they wanted Home Rule, but as part of the British Empire (see, e.g., "Home Rule for Ireland"). Very many of them volunteered for the British army, and very many of them died in the trenches of Flanders. A relative handful of the Irish wanted complete independence; naturally none of them volunteered. A handful of that handful, led by Padraig Pearse, planned rebellion (see the notes, e.g., to "The Boys from County Cork"). On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, a small force (probably between a thousand and 1500 men) attacked Dublin. The center of the rebellion was the General Post Office, where Pearse read the proclamation of independence (which, since he read it in Irish, was mostly ignored by the Anglophone population). Over the building rose two flags: One, the harp on a green background, the traditional Irish flag; the other was the new tricolor whose orange and green bands stood ironically for a united Ireland. The whole thing was a fiasco. The rebels surrendered April 29. At first, the people cursed and spat at them -- after all, they had ruined Dublin and killed about 250 civilians. Had the British left bad enough alone, imprisoning the rebels but no more, all might have been well. But they started court-martialling the commanders on the spot; three leaders including Pearce were executed May 3, and twelve more in the next nine days. Gradually public opinion began to change: the fool rebels became martyrs for Ireland, and when the next rising came, after the war, Britain could not brush it aside. It says something about Irish politics that this song is allowed to be a slur on the memory of the Irishmen who fought for Britain in World War I. Unlike the Dublin rebels, the loyalist Irish killed no civilians -- certainly no Irish civilians! Their casualty rates during the war were higher (the Easter Rebellion saw 64 rebels killed and 12 executed, meaning the casualties were somewhere between 4% and 8%; roughly 11% of the soldiers in the British Army died during World Was I), and the wounds more frightful. And the loyalists spent years in trenches and mud, and died of gas and shrapnel and hanging on barbed wire rather than clean deaths by bullet. The British loyalists did not intrigue with the authoritarian regime of Wilhelm II. This is clearly the song of a man who had not been a soldier and had never been to Flanders. Which just shows how hard it is to be objective. As an American, I can't see that it would have mattered whether Ireland was independent or the Irish still part of Great Britain, as long as they enjoyed the same rights as British citizens. (Which, admittedly, they never had.) They would probably have been better off economically, too. The Irish however *do* see a difference. But Harte writes, "At this present time one hears the revisionists of Irish history express doubts as to whether the Easter Rising was really necessary or whether the men who fought and died might not have done so for the highest motives[;] this song tolerates no ambivalence but gives the full praise due to those men who gave their lives for our freedom." This of course does not change the fact that the song is unfair -- but it shows how important the Rising and related events are to Ireland. (To give Harte his due, in the notes to the next song in his book, the un-traditional "When Margaret Was Eleven," he says, "There was a certain sadness about the soldiers of the 1914-1918 war[;] they never quite got the glory they felt they deserved for their exploits on behalf of the crown. Their glory was overshadowed by the action of the men who stayed at home and fought for the freedom of their own country.") The two men mentioned in the song are, of course, Padraig Pearse, the organizer of the rebellion, and Eamon de Valera, a lesser leader who survived because he was an American citizen; he would eventually become the primary leader of the hard-line anti-English faction, helping lead Ireland to its Civil War but also guiding its destiny for many decades thereafter. For the stories of both men, see again the notes to "The Boys from County Cork." Some versions also mention Cathal Brugha, who was one of the most extreme nationalists. Since the song was written in 1919, Canon O'Neill could hardly know that Brugha would eventually die in rebellion against Ireland's freely elected government -- but he did; see the notes to "The Death of Brugh." According to Robert Gogan, 130 Great Irish Ballads (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 46, Canon O'Neill wrote this after attending the meeting of the first Irish Dail (parliament) and noting how many members were in British custody. Though it should be noted that this was a Sinn Fein assembly, with Unionist MPs instead going to London. It was a difficult time. - RBW Last updated in version 2.5 File: RcTFDIII Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2014 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
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01 Dec 14 - 02:55 AM (#3681343) Subject: RE: ADD/Origins: The Foggy Dew (Fr. O'Neill) From: Jim Carroll This is the text and note to a song we recorded with the same title, from Clare fiddle and concertina player, Junior Crehan Jim Carroll The Foggy Dew Martin Junior Crehan, Bonavilla, Mullagh Recorded in the singer's home, September 1992 Carroll Mackenzie Collection Oh, the sun shone on high, when I bade my love good bye, As she went forth in exile to a far-off land. And I smiled for her sake, though my heart fit to break Sank in dark, doom despair as I clasped her hand. Then I sighed for the rain, against the window pane, And the cold dark blast of the wintry wind. Through the long silent years of my hopes and my fears, For the blue sky would bring my sad grief to mind. But when twilight falls, oft' I'd dream that she calls, And the rich, soft music of the voice I love Makes the dusk grow bright, and the dark haze night Glow with heavenly light like the stars above. And when I wandered through, the dimmed foggy dew That falls o'er the hills when the sunbeams wane. Sure I know that at last, when the mists are all past, That we'll meet to be parted ne'er again. Conversation between Junior Crehan, Pat Mackenzie and Jim Carroll: Before the song: Pat: You mentioned 'The Foggy Dew' the other night. Do you have it all? Junior: I haven't the one about Dublin, but I have a small, shorter 'Foggy Dew'. After the song: Jim: Lovely. Where did you have that from? Junior: Oh, I heard that and I going to school. Jim: I never heard that. Junior: Didn't you? It's called 'The Foggy Dew' but there's another one: High over Dublin Town, they hung out the flag of war, Better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud-El-Bar. Note This song was written by Alfred Percival Graves and published in 'Irish Songs and Ballads' in 1880. Junior says he learned it when he was at school. It has nothing whatever to do with the erotic English song of the same name nor the Irish song celebrating Easter Week 1916, though it is highly likely that the attributed author of the Easter Week 'Foggy Dew', Canon Charles O'Neill (1887-1963), borrowed 'Graves' evocative title for his 'calm before the storm' scene-setter. The English title is said to be a corruption of 'bugaboo', the old term for the ghost that the gullible young woman is invited to hide from, under the young man's blankets." |