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04 Nov 02 - 03:00 AM (#817938) Subject: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: Big Tim I suspect this song is about the execution of Irishman James Daly in India in 1920 for leading a "mutiny" in the British Army, in protest against Black and Tan activity in Ireland. Can anybody confirm or deny? And any more info on the song and the historical facts? |
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04 Nov 02 - 11:11 AM (#818048) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: masato sakurai See THIS PAGE. ~Masato |
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04 Nov 02 - 12:55 PM (#818176) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: GUEST,Ard Mhacha From the "Last Post" published by The National Graves Association, James Daly, Tyrrellspass, County Westmeath. Executed at Jullunder 1920, for his involvment in Connaught Rangers Mutiny. buried Dayshai India. Reinterred Tyrrelspass, 1st November 1970. "Lay him away on the hillside" was composed as a tribute to Daly. Ard Mhacha. |
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04 Nov 02 - 02:09 PM (#818237) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: GUEST,Q Not in DT? Would like to see the words to "Ly Him Away...." |
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04 Nov 02 - 03:16 PM (#818311) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: Big Tim Thanks Ard for confirmation that the song is about James Daly. I suspected so, a line in the song is "a young Connaught Ranger lay sentenced to death" and I knew that JD was a member of the Connaught Rangers. The execution date was 2 July 1920 (according to O'Farrell's Who's Who book), JD was aged 20. The song is quite a long one, I have a recording of it, if nobody can find the lyrics more conveniently I will transcribe and post, probably tomorrow. |
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04 Nov 02 - 04:21 PM (#818367) Subject: ADD: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: Big Tim LAY HIM AWAY ON THE HILLSIDE The grey dawn has crept o'er the stillness of morning, The dew drops they glisten like icicles breath, The notes of the bugle have sounded their warning, A young Connaught Ranger lay sentenced to death, No cold-blooded murder had stained his pure conscience, He called as a witness his maker on high, He'd simply been fighting for Ireland's loved freedom, Arrested and tried he was sentenced to die CHORUS Lay him away on [or, "o'er"] the hillside, Along with the brave and the bold, Inscribe his name on the scroll of fame, In letters of purest gold, My conscience will never convict me, He said with his dying breath, May God bless the cause of freedom, For which I am sentenced to death. He thought of the love of his feeble old mother, He though of the cailin [colleen] so dear to his heart, The sobs of affection, he scarcely could smother, Well knowing how soon from them both he must part, He feared not to die though his heart was near broken, Twas simply remembrance of those he loved well, His rosary he presssed to his heart as a token, The prayer cheered his soul in the felon's lone cell CHORUS To the dim barrack square, the doomed hero was hurried, In the grey of the dawn er the sun rose on high, With head held erect, undaunted, unworried, The gallant young soldier went proudly to die, I blame not my comrades for doing their duty, Aim straight for my heart, were the last words he said, Exposing his breast to the point of the rifles, The smoke cleared away, the young soldier lay dead CHORUS The song is about James Daly, aged 20, from Tyrellspass, Co. Westmeath, Ireland, who was executed in India in 1920 for leading an an army "mutiny" in protest against British Black and Tan atrocities, as he saw it, back home in Ireland. He was a member of the Connaught Rangers Regiment of the British Army. BT. Transcribed from "26 Irish Rebel Songs - Volume 2". Derry records, 1997. |
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04 Nov 02 - 04:37 PM (#818389) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: GUEST,Q Thanks for the lyrics. Surprised it wasn't in the DT |
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05 Nov 02 - 12:39 PM (#819120) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: GUEST,Ard Mhacha This song often sang in my youth by the local balladers has a lovely air, I have a recording from about 40 years ago, the young lady singer certainly does this song justice, pity I never got her name. The words are the same as those produced by Big Tim. Ard Mhacha. |
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06 Nov 02 - 04:26 AM (#819681) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: IanC Folks It's a pity Masato didn't post the relevant part of the link above, or else you would probably have read it. I'll do it now to avoid too many red faces. Re:George Dunn - Chainmaker - 2: Dear Rod, I've just seen the booklet and notes accompanying your recent George Dunn CD and can add the following information with regard to one of George' songs, Lay Him Away on the Hillside, and its connection to the circumstances surrounding the execution of Private Jim Daly of the Connaught Rangers in India in 1920. I should point out that what follows represents prolonged correspondence among and meetings with all the principals (living!) mentioned below to whom credit must be due for additions, adjustments and corrections. Firstly, Alfred Williams collected a version from a Mrs W(h)infield (the name was used variously) of Holwell Green, near Burford, Oxfordshire which was entitled Sentenced to Death. The chronology of Williams' activity puts this before November 1916, though Andrew Bathe, who is researching the collecting of Alfred Williams, points out that, since there is no forename attached to the singer, there are several candidates in the village to choose from. At any rate, this date of collecting throws some light on the Connaught Rangers episode - which Roy Palmer referred to first in his book, What A Lovely War (1990), but which connection had been made earlier by Gordon Cox in an article in Lore and Language (1982). Mr Cox's article contained two somewhat conflicting suggestions; the first to the effect that the song was 'about the mutiny of the Connaught Rangers' and the second, less specifically, that it was 'just one of the songs that was a fairly recent composition at the time'. Given the Williams version, it does seem that the Jim Daly affair must have been, as it were, an afterthought, attached to an earlier song-text. :-) Ian |
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06 Nov 02 - 11:01 AM (#819931) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: Big Tim Before I was just ignorant. Now I'm ignorant and confused. Who are all these people mentioned in Ian C's post? Surely the song has to be about JD: an execution, firing squad, "young Connaught Ranger"? |
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06 Nov 02 - 11:09 AM (#819938) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: IanC Tim I think the pertinent information is that Alfred Williams collected a version of the song about 4 years before James Daly died. Presumably, the words were later altered to fit the particular circumstances. :-) |
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06 Nov 02 - 11:29 AM (#819964) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: Big Tim Thanks Ian: if I can dredge up some inspiration I'll try and come up with a verse, in the language and style of the original song, that ties it more specifically to James Daly. Watch this space, but not for a few days! |
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06 Nov 02 - 01:38 PM (#820096) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: GUEST,Ard Mhacha I also read Masota`s Link, and I wouldn`t argue that the song was altered to coincide with Daly`s death. It wouldn`t be the first time that this has been done, all I can add is that I heard the song when a boy some 50 years ago and as my father was in the Connaught Rangers during WW1 he also associated the song with Daly. Ard Mhacha. |
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07 Nov 02 - 03:17 AM (#820553) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: Big Tim Does anyone know what actually happened in Jullunder in 1920? Was there any gunfire, loss of life, how many men were involved, were they Irish only, how long did the mutiny last, etc. Jullunder is in the Punjab province of north India. Jullunder (population 400,000) Only 80 km SE of Amritsar this was once the capital of an ancient Hindu kingdom...the town has a large serai built in 1857 [the year of the Indian Mutiny, if my memory is correct] and is a good place to get out and see some Sikh farming villages" - Lonely Planet guide to India, 1990 edition. |
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08 Nov 02 - 10:19 AM (#821434) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: ard mhacha |
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08 Nov 02 - 10:26 AM (#821441) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: ard mhacha Big Tim, Go to Wild geese today Site and type in James Daly for all of the information you require. Ard Mhacha. |
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08 Nov 02 - 10:37 AM (#821450) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: IanC Tim Looks like it was a bloodless protest, though it spread to other local barracks. 14 were sentenced to death, but all but James Daly had the sentences commuted to imprisonment. It was the last time the death penalty was used by the British Army. Useful article in this "Old Galway" page from the Galway Advertiser. Cheers! Ian |
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08 Nov 02 - 11:00 AM (#821474) Subject: RE: Origins: Lay Him Away on the Hillside From: Big Tim Thank you Ard and Ian. |