|
07 Feb 07 - 08:21 PM (#1960611) Subject: Dear old Skibbereen From: GUEST,Jim Clark London England I have just posted a rather delightful version of the Irish rebel/famine song "Dear old Skibbereen" on youtube,and I have been trying to find out the =history of the song. Yes I know its a famine song, but I am wondering if it is actualy known who wrote it and exactly when and what the earliest sound recording of it is.plus any other interesting facts about the song such as what old time performers have recorded this amazing song. Heres the link to the wonderful Bob Love aka Bob n Along singing it in my video at youtube Dear old Skibbereen at youtube And heres the link to my profile at youtube where you can find over 200 of my original video recordings of acoustic musicians and poets under my youtube name of vidlad.. Hundreds of original videos of acoustic musicians here Acousticaly yours Jim Clark.London.England |
|
07 Feb 07 - 08:28 PM (#1960614) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: Peace http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/histories/irish/origins/skibbereen_1.htm |
|
08 Feb 07 - 02:35 AM (#1960776) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: GUEST Thanx Peace that is a very interesting article about this utterly shocking and dreadful famine.It just boggles the mind how such an awful event could have been allowed to happen to a nation that even in 1847 was qiute reachable by ship. One could dismiss it as something that took place in a more cruel time,but then we remember all the starvation and killing happening in the world today and their isnt very much in the way of hope to cling to is there! The article fascinating and very sad as it was particularly as I am of Irish descent myself didnt realy answer the questions about the song itself. So if any of you who know about these things can tell me if the song is directly attributable to anybody and when it was first recorded in sound form etc that would put me mind at rest on this matter. Acousticaly yours Jim Clark unique acoustic archive of original videos at youtube |
|
08 Feb 07 - 03:15 AM (#1960807) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: Joe Offer I try to post at folkinfo.org and rec.music.folk when I know there will be a lengthy outage. If it's just a matter of a few hours, I don't bother. My usual e-mail is joe@mudcat.org - but that often doesn't work when Mudcat is down. Many of the "regulars" know my other e-mail address joe-offer[at]msn.com, and you can find me in the phone book in Colfax, California. The Help Forum used to be more useful during shortages because it was on a different server. Alas, the second server is no more - so if the server goes down, so do both the Help and the regular forum. -Joe- |
|
08 Feb 07 - 03:38 AM (#1960823) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: GUEST Joe I think you might have posted this on my thread by mistake ? Acousticaly yours Jim Clark Hundreds of original acoustic music videos at youtube |
|
08 Feb 07 - 05:50 AM (#1960907) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: GUEST,Martin Ryan There seems to be little hard info on the origins of this song, oddly enough. My own guess is that it was probably written in America, sometime in late 19 C. I'll have another trawl through the Irish Traditional Music Archive, next time I'm in Dublin. Regards |
|
08 Feb 07 - 06:23 AM (#1960930) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: Peace I wish I knew more, Jim. I've never seen the song before, so thank you for starting this thread. I'll do more 'looking' in a few days. Am away from the computer for a few days. |
|
08 Feb 07 - 08:04 AM (#1961007) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: The Sandman I live 8 miles from skibbereen,and have sung this song frequently. James Healy has it in a collection of ballads from the pubs in ireland,pubLished by Mercier. Here are his notes,Skibbereen is a town in west cork.the ballad obviously dates from some time after the famineof 1846 -7-the dreadful timeof starvation and disease which drove so many people out of Ireland. Herbert Hughes mentions it being collected in Tyrone,but neither I[HEALY]or the people of skibbereen have any doubt it belongs to them. The final line in this version is Remember SKIBBEREEN[ sometimes sung as revenge for Skibbereen]. |
|
08 Feb 07 - 09:28 AM (#1961105) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: GUEST,Martin Ryan The point, in a way, about Healy's comment, is that he would have been very familiar with the ballad literature of the 19 C. This suggests that he hadn't seen it there, wither. Regards |
|
08 Feb 07 - 09:39 AM (#1961117) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: GUEST,Martin Ryan either not "wither", of course! |
|
08 Feb 07 - 09:40 AM (#1961119) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: GUEST,Jim Clark London England Thanx Everybody I will keep my eyes peeled for updates on this subject. Acousticaly yours Jim Clark Hundreds of original videos of acoustic musicians here |
|
08 Feb 07 - 01:38 PM (#1961363) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: Gulliver There's a lot of information on this song in this thread Dear Old Skibereen (note the incorrect spelling!). I remember reading, in connection with Joe Heaney, that some folks thought it had been written by one of the contributors the The Nation newspaper, which published similar stuff. Anyway, the above thread has lots to think about. Now, I really have to start packing for Portaferry... |
|
08 Feb 07 - 03:15 PM (#1961506) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: GUEST,Martin Ryan I've never come across it in any the books of the songs/poems from The Nation. Regards |
|
09 Feb 07 - 05:58 AM (#1962077) Subject: RE: Dear old Skibbereen From: GUEST Thanx Gulliver, That looks about as detailed an answer as we are likely to get.I had wondered why a popular song like Skibbereen didnt register as a conversation at Mudcat when I did a search it was the spelling ha ha. I just feel in my bones that this song must have had some renowned songwriter behind it,I was suspicious that it might actualy not be as old as the event itself,but a song written much later even in the 20yj century, but its looking like whoever did write it is a mystery buried in the mists of time. I've only had a flick through that archive thread so need more time to digest it so might get to amend the notes I placed on my video on youtube yet. Thanx for your marvelous help. Dear old Skibbereen at youtube Acousticaly yours Jim Clark PS...See all my hundreds of original acoustic music videos at youtube under my youtube name of vidlad |
|
17 May 12 - 03:25 PM (#3352132) Subject: RE: Origin: Dear Old Skibbereen From: GUEST,mg I have read it was written by a famine survivor, name of Patrick Campbell. It is sung on our new CD coming out called "Songs for our ancestors..An Gorta Mor The Potato Famine. mg |
|
18 May 12 - 10:34 AM (#3352438) Subject: RE: Origin: Dear Old Skibbereen From: GUEST,John Moulden The thread referred to above - Dear Old Skibereen - makes it clear that the author was one Patrick Carpenter. I'll paste the relevant entry below: QUOTE Subject: Lyr Add: OLD SKIBBEREEN (Patrick Carpenter) From: Goose Gander Date: 13 Dec 09 - 04:30 PM Here's a text, possibly a source for the song, from the Wearing of the Green Songbook. The title page is missing, but on the front inner cover is signed "Patrick Kenny, Derby, Conn. 1889" . . . but just below that is written, in the same hand, "Mr. Patrick Kenny, Derby Conn. 1904 . . ." (crossed out) and then "1889", again(?). Could be a birth date? Hard to say for certain. Unfortunately, no publishing information remains anywhere on the book, but it looks like something that would have been published late 19th / early 20th century in North America, almost certainly in the Northeast (New York City?). That's what I have. Anyone else? OLD SKIBBEREEN By Patrick Carpenter Air, - 'The Wearing of the Green' 'O Father, dear, I've often heard you speak of Erin's Isle, Its scenes how bright and beautiful, how 'rich and rare' they smile; You say it is a lovely land in which a prince might dwell; They why did you abandon it, the reason to me tell?' 'My son, I've loved my native land with fervor and with pride Her peaceful groves, her mountains rude, her valleys green and wide, And there I've roamed in manhood's prime, and sported when a boy, My shamrock and shillelagh sure constant boast and joy. 'But lo! a blight came o'er my crops, my sheep and cattle died, The rack-rent too, alas! was due, I could not have supplied The landlord drove me from the cot where born I had been, And that, my boy's the reason why I left old Skibbereen. "O, what a dreadful sight it was that dark November day! The sheriff and the peelers came to send us all away; They set the roof a-blazing, with demon smile of spleen, And when it fell, the crash was heard all over Skibbereen 'Your mother dear, God rest her soul! fell upon the snowy ground; She fainted in her anguish at the desolation round; She never rose, but passed away from life's tumultuous scene, And found a quiet grave of rest in poor old Skibbereen. 'Ah! sadly I recall that year of gloomy Forty-Eight. I rose in vengeance with 'the boys' to battle against fate. We were hunted thro' the mountains wild, as thraitors to the Queen, And that, my boy, 's the reason why I left old Skibbereen. 'You were only two years old, and feeble was your frame; I would not leave you with my friends, you bore my father's name! I wrapped you in my 'cathamore' at the dead of night unseen, We heav'd a sigh and bade good by to poor old Skibbereen.' O father, father, when the day for vengeance we will call, When Irishmen o'er field and fen shall rally one and all, I"ll be the man to lead the van beneath the flag of green, While loud on high we'll raise the cry, Revenge for Skibbereen!' END QUOTE |
|
18 May 12 - 01:02 PM (#3352489) Subject: RE: Origin: Dear Old Skibbereen From: GUEST,Lighter The only tune I've ever heard for it is that which also carries the American Civil War song "The Cumberland and the Merrimac." Not exactly the one in DT, but a similar one in Silber's "Songs of the Civil War," noted by Ellen Stekert from N.Y. lumberjack Fuzzy Barhight. You can hear a snippet: http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=507 |
|
19 May 12 - 02:39 AM (#3352737) Subject: RE: Origin: Dear Old Skibbereen From: GUEST,mg Thanks for putting the correct name in...I would have had it as Campbell...mg |