We are delighted to present an extract from Best-Loved Irish Ballads by Emma Byrne and Eoin O'Brien, published by The O'Brien Press.
A collection of Ireland's greatest and best-loved ballads, including the lyrics, music and chords, along with an introductory piece on each song. Illustrated with photographs and woodcuts. Best-Loved Irish Ballads is an essential guide to the cream of the Irish ballad tradition...
Ireland is the only country in the world with a musical instrument as its national symbol. We have an amazing musical heritage, and a big part of this is our ballad tradition. Here you will find songs about tragic love, tragic emigration, tragic uprisings against the British Crown, tragic rovings and ramblings, tragic drinking sessions ... Pretty much every form of tragedy is covered. A very few of the songs are cheerful.
Every county of Ireland has its own county song, and most medium-sized towns and medium-sized landmarks seem to have their own local song too, celebrating the scenery or commemorating some tragically courageous act in the area's history.
For this book, we have picked the cream of the crop of Irish ballads, songs that have stood the test of time, that stir the soul, get the toes tapping and oblige the listener to sing along. They have infectious melodies and evocative lyrics. You don’t have to be a great singer to sing these ballads – it’s all about the passion you put into it.
There are plenty of familiar characters to be found in these pages: the spurned lover, the sweet and innocent country girl, the brave freedom fighter, the sly recruiting sergeant, the dissolute drunk, the sweet-tongued rogue, all drawn larger than life. Some more surprising figures too: migrant labourers, highwaymen, train drivers, bricklayers, poitín makers, murderers and ghosts.
The origins of many of the songs are unclear, lost in the passing of time and the wanderings of feet. Many were written in the nineteenth century, but some of them go back several hundred more years.
These songs have been passed down orally through generations, and so there are many variations – in the words, in the melodies and in the phrasing. Many have optional extra verses. We have chosen our favourite versions, and in some cases what are presented here are compounds of a few different versions. These songs have been interpreted and accompanied in many different ways, and the chords for backing them are also open to interpretation. Again, we have chosen how we like to hear them.
The woodcuts are reproduced from Irish Street Ballads, a collection published in 1939 by Colm Ó Lochlainn’s Sign of the Three Candles Press. They had been reproduced in that valuable book from original 'broadsheet’ copies of the songs, also printed in Dublin.
It has been an amazing journey, becoming immersed in these songs. Most of them are very familiar, and yet we have discovered clever turns of phrase and lyrical gymnastics, powerful evocations of people and times long gone and yet still living, beautiful melodies and chord structures, subtlety and power. We hope that you will enjoy them as much as we do.
Are Ye Right There Michael?
This was written by Percy French (1854–1920), one of the country's foremost songwriters and entertainers, whose other hits include The Mountains of Mourne and Phil the Fluter’s Ball. The song was inspired by an actual train journey French took in 1896, on the famous West Clare Railway service. He left Sligo in the early morning and arrived so late for an eight o’clock recital that the audience had packed up and left.
The song caused huge embarrassment for the railway company, which took a libel case against French. The story goes that French arrived late to the court hearing, and when the judge questioned him on his tardiness, he responded, ‘Your honour, I travelled by the West Clare Railway.’ The judge duly dismissed the case.
Boulavogue
Boulavogue was composed by Patrick Joseph McCall, who also wrote Kelly the Boy from Killane and Follow Me Up To Carlow. Written for the centenary of the 1798 Rebellion, the song was first printed in the Irish Independent on 18 June 1898, entitled Fr Murphy of the County of Wexford. It has become something of an anthem for Wexford.
Boulavogue commemorates the campaign of Father John Murphy and his army in County Wexford in 1798. Father Murphy, a local priest, at first tried to persuade people not to take part in the Rebellion, but he became a reluctant rebel leader after soldiers burned down his parishioners’ homes.
The Wexford insurgents fought bravely against professional troops, routing the British cavalry at Oulart Hill and raiding the garrison at Enniscorthy. They were eventually defeated at the Battle of Vinegar Hill on 21 June 1798. Although evading capture that day, Father Murphy and other leaders were tracked down, tortured and hanged.
Notable recordings of Boulavogue include versions by Brian Roebuck, The Dubliners, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Irish tenor Anthony Kearns, ballad group The Flying Column and recently The High Kings.
She Moved Through the Fair
The narrator here is looking forward to his wedding – his prospective in-laws don't mind his lack of 'kine’, or cattle. He watches as his lover moves away from him through the fair, having told him that ‘it will not be long, love, ’til our wedding day’. How she comes to her end isn’t specified, but she returns to him as a ghost, repeating the same words, suggesting perhaps their imminent reunion in the afterlife.
The melody is in Mixolydian mode – in a major key, but with a minor seventh note – giving it a haunting and ethereal sound. It was first collected in Donegal by poet Pádraig Colum and musicologist Herbert Hughes. There are many variants of the song, in some of which the spouse-to-be runs off with another man.
English folk group Fairport Convention recorded the song in 1968, and Art Garfunkel recorded a version in 1977. The song Belfast Child by Simple Minds incorporates the melody. A spine-tingling version by Sinéad O’Connor was used in the film Michael Collins.
Best-Loved Irish Ballads (published by The O'Brien Press) is out now and available to purchase here.
